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Project Blue Angels SeaRey
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Date: 12-2-2013
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Number of Hours: 4.00
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Manual Reference: None
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Brief Description: Antenna wiring for Xponder & ADS-B
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Wired the transponder and ADS-B antennas. A lot of thought when into this… well, like everything else in this project. The transponder is very high powered and prefers a shorter cable run for the antenna. Both these antennas need to point downwards because they communicate with ground stations. Both need a grounding plane to mount on for proper function. Both need to be placed minimum distance from other antennas. The signals will easily go through fiberglass, but are blocked by metal. Typically these are mounted on the bottom of a metal aircraft, but can’t do that with a seaplane like this.
To solve this, I created 6”x7” grounding planes to mount them in, then created 5” long brackets to be able to mount both them under the avionics tray. This position is under the level of the rudder pedals, under any metal of the tray, batteries or anything else that would block the signal, and this position keeps the antenna cable run short. These antennas are how I’m alerted to any other planes in the area, so I want to make sure I see the signal. Plus, I just invested so much in this technology, and I want to be able to rely on it. It is recommended that these antennas be no closer then two feet from each other, and I was able to place them exactly 24 inches apart.
I custom made the antenna cables, and connected them. All of them were female BNC connections, except the transponder itself was TNC, and I got a 90 degree angle there, which required some soldering, which takes me a little longer than the crimp style.
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Both antennas on their grounding planes
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Riveting them underneath the avionics tray
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How it looks with the tray back in place and antennas connected
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