This blog post covers the past 2 days.

Of which, I spent multiple hours over the past couple of days slowly figuring out the issue with my Push-To-Test feature on my panel indicator lights.  One issue was I had accidentally snipped a ground wire to the PARKING BRAKE ON indicator while wrangling all the wire together.  The wire was (or appeared) intact as I just cut 3/4″ of the way through enough to cut all the wires inside, but not snip the wire in two.  I cut and respliced that wire which solved the issue on my parking brake.

But why was I popping fuses?  I checked EVERY indicator light wire for a short and found NONE.  However, I noted as I pushed the PTT button in the millisecond before I saw the lights flash on and heard the pop of the fuse, I also heard a CLICKING sound.  Like a relay.

I put in a 5 amp fuse at which point it was robust enough to not pop the fuse.  But a row of LED lights should not require that strong of a fuse.  I narrowed the clicking down to relay #11 in the nose, for the taxi light actuator.  I ascertained the issue was the separate power circuit going into the lights for testing was going back through the power wire of the taxi light relay and triggering the relay.  Not sure how, as I tried to ensure no wires were touching, but as one of the two taxi light indicator white LED lights is currently dead, and the taxi light is inop for the foreseeable future (a rebuilding of that light on the future to-do list), I simply threw a diode on the offending wire and called it a day.

I then installed a 3 amp fuse and called it a day [this issue came about AFTER my work on the taxi light circuit final wiring and pivot arm testing].  Problem solved.

I then populated the GNS480 GPS mounting tube business end with its DSub connectors and 90° antenna connectors before mounting the tube into place.

I installed the front 8x #6 CS screws (4 each side) into the internal edge of the panel using Loctite as this is the final install.

I the wrangled and secured the wires on the GNS480 mounting tube before mounting the vertical securing arm into place.

With the GNS480 mounting tube wires and antenna cables in place, I was then able to determine the correct length required for the GPS antenna RG58 cable pigtail that connects the actual 90° antenna to the GPS antenna’s RG400 cable.

I cut the outer sheathing off as needed to then crimp on the center pin.

I then snapped on the BNC barrel and crimped the sleeve into place to secure it.  This is officially the last one of my antenna connector BNC connector installs on this bird! (barring any issues of course…)

I then spent well over another hour securing all the remaining stray wires on the left hand side of the Tri-paragon and avionics bay.

Here we have a long shot of the left side leg transit channel through the left side avionics area wiring that has been subdued… with prejudice!

Admittedly, I spent another good hour plus trying to get my GNS480 unit to seat inside the tube.  I need to keep working to find the interference issue.  But to eliminate unnecessary removal of the GNS480 GPS from its mounting tube —before I solve the clearance issue mystery— tomorrow I plan on installing a new internal battery inside the case to avoid it dying on me with the GPS installed in the bird… due to this caution message that’s popped up a couple of times.

I know, classic problem avoidance… ha!

Moving forward.

This post covers the last few days.

I used black RTV to secure the bottom “belly” video camera and aerodynamic encasing bump (a mold of the old Feather Lite composite nose puck) to the underside of the airplane.

While mounting the bottom video camera, I was in real time positioning the camera and encasement bump to get the video image framed as straight as possible.  I first started off with the landing brake down to align the bottom edge of the video parallel to the bottom edge of the landing brake (pic 1).  And for left-right windage I simply used the outside of the main gear wheels to align the video image (pic 2).  It did slip just a hair to the right as it cured, but still totally acceptable.

Once the video cameras were no-kidding programmed and operational, I spent a good 45 minutes finalizing the video connections with heat shrink and zip tying it all up with the video multiplexer (MUX) to secure it all.  I then mounted the MUX and bundle of wires up under the Tri-paragon’s top shelf.

After extending a couple of wires that were coming from the left sidewall and would not have clearance with the GNS-480 GPS mounting tube in place, I then spent almost an hour slowly positioning and installing the GNS-480 mounting tube into the panel, complete with a deconflicting components and rerouting wires for clearance.

After the GPS mounting tube was in place, I also spent a few hours extending almost a half dozen wires that were not able to allow installation of GPS indicator lights, GPS radio PTT wire, etc.

Day 3: I got busy installing the fuel site gage video cameras, which took a good bit of trial and error to get them right.  Moreover, I had one 3D printed video mounting bracket on hand from about a year ago (or more), but needed another one for the other/left camera.  Apparently I hadn’t saved my latest CAD file because I needed to spend almost an hour updating it to get it “good” like the one I had on hand.

BTW, getting it “good” means the ability to insert the video camera into its mounting bracket without damaging anything.  Which I did just that by accidently ripping off 2 of the 3 wire leads to the camera board.  These wires are VERY tiny, and it took a lot of diligence and care soldering them back onto the tiny board without screwing them up!

That being said, here is the #2 version of the video camera mounting bracket (the right camera’s bracket is black, and I already had it taped into position inside the strake baggage area).

After another hour of assessing angles and video quality, as well as getting the cameras tucked away as best possible as to not get damaged whilst cramming bags and stuff into the strakes, I decided to do another mod and mount the cameras in the very corners of the strake baggage area just inside the opening on each side.

This meant having a mounting flange for the underside of the top strake skin, and the inside wall of the baggage compartment (aka the original aircraft side skin).

Here the left camera is installed into its mounting bracket, and ready for install.

I mounted the left camera first, using E6000 adhesive to secure it.  I then kept checking that it wasn’t slipping or falling away from its mounted position, as I assessed the business (wiring end) of the GNS-480 tube.  This lasted for just over 30 minutes at which point I then headed off for a break . . .

My wife, Jess, went out to the beach with a girlfriend to celebrate Mother’s Day and got back earlier than expected.  She wanted to go for a scoot on the Harley, and how could I deny her that!!  So we took a few hour break, went down by the water and had a snack while watching boats and dolphins do their thing.

Upon returning home, I then installed the right camera in its original mounting bracket (although I had one printing as we were out on the bike).  With the GIB map light mounted where it is, I could not mount the right video camera up against the inside wall in the corner as I did on the left side.

If I was forward of the light than obviously the map light would be in the way…

So the only other option I had was to mount the video camera outboard of the map light, and just slightly forward of it at an angle, which both hides and protects the camera a good bit, but it does affect the image quality slightly mainly due to the amount of light coming in towards the camera.  That being said, the video quality is still definitely good enough to see the fuel level… and remember, this is with all the shop lights on AND without the canopy installed.

I’ll note that when I went to check the install of camera #1 earlier, after flipping on the master switch I heard fans whirring as if I had just turned on a computer.  I had not heard that sound before and it was coming from the aft of the plane.  I then noticed the green light glowing in the engine electronics bay in the GIB headrest.  Ahhh, the cooling fans have a thermostat to start the fans anytime the temp is above 82°.  I checked the shop thermometer and it was 84°… a serendipitous component check, showing they work!

Back to the GNS-480… I terminated all the GPS annunciation Korry lights and then added a dab of RTV on the terminals to keep them secure.

I also finished installing the COM 2 radio, which entailed getting into the Hell Hole to loosen up an Adel clamp on the antenna cable to allow me to get a few inches of slack for the antenna cable to route underneath the Trio autopilot control head when it gets installed.

Pressing forward!

Ok, so after 2.5 days of troubleshooting the Video Camera System feed into the HXr EFIS, with Eric Page’s help I finally cracked the code!

How you ask?  Good question!

And admittedly I’m not quite sure.  I did attempt to roll the configuration back to exactly how it was depicted in the diagram I received with the Mux.  I’m note sure if collectively my 3 configuration changes —along with serendipitous ham-fisted trial & error button-mashing— did the trick.

But here is a bit of an overview of both the cameras and some of what I did to get the system functioning as designed.

And with that, I’m calling it a very late night.  Back to the grindstone tomorrow.

I failed to show in last night’s post that I had pulled out the safety block on the nose hatch door latch pull handle… since messing around with it I realized that the RTV was not holding it in place as I had expected it to.

Now, I went back into my Fusion 360 CAD to find the model, tweak it with 2x #4-sized screw holes and reprint it the new center block to install it with screws.  However, I simply could not find the CAD file for this safety block.  My guess is that I didn’t save it, and with the constant uncommanded reboots of my laptop with MicroSoft putting all the censo… uh, “security” patches on it, I lost it somewhere along the line.

So I simply drilled the holes into the current center block.

Then after drilling some pilot holes into the interfacing flange, I simply filled the center block as best I could with flox, slathered up the mating surfaces with flox, and then screwed the screws into the flange (pic 1).  This morning I flipped the block down over the handle and tested it out (pic 2).  All good. Task complete.

In other news . . .

My WxWorx Sirius XM weather receiver manual was a casualty of Hurricane Dorian and is fused together in what is now a thick piece of cardboard that resembles a users manual.  Their website didn’t have any downloads, so I emailed them and had one sent to me by the next day.

In the manual I noted a picture of the WxWorx receiver in a mounting plate, as it described how to first install the plate and then secure the receiver in it.  Hmmm? I don’t have said plate and thus looked for such a plate on eBay and elsewhere online, only to find a pic of it… as you can see here.

So I took the pic and converted it into a CAD model and over the last few days I’ve been tweaking and dialing in the design of my own WxWorx receiver mounting plate.  This is version #4 I believe, and it actually works quite well.

On the receiver’s underside there are two small indentions that a tang on each of the extended arms snap into.  As you can see along the side there are interfacing grooves that the mount slides into.  This serves to make a very solid fit and locks in the WxWorx receiver quite nicely.

To remove the WxWorx receiver from the mounting plate you simply press down on the two tabs while lifting and pulling the unit slightly to disengage the tangs from the indentions and it pops right off.  EZ-PZ!

I spent nearly 2 hours today finishing up the final wiring of the video cameras and the video camera MUX unit.  I then mounted and secured the video camera leads and the MUX unit to the underside of the Tri-paragon shelf.

I also tweaked the final configuration for the static tubing crossing over from one sidewall to the other, meeting in the middle (in front of the HXr).

With all my final prerequisite tasks out of the way, I then got busy with the final install of the GRT HXr EFIS… here it is on its temporary base that allows me to get the wiring harnesses to the HXr without too much hassle.

And here are the 3 wiring harnesses’ D-Sub connectors screwed into place on the backside of the HXr EFIS.  The only other connections besides these 3 D-Subs are 2 USB connectors (the short one to the USB hub proved to be quite a challenge and took a good while to finally get installed on both ends).

I was on the phone with my daughter during a good bit of this install process, so not shown is the feeler gauges that I slipped under each of the top row indicator lights to allow me to push them up slightly in a wedging fashion as I slowly threaded in each of the EFIS corner screws.  Three of those feeler gauges took quite a bit of force to yank free of the grip they had between indicator light bottom and HXr top edges… but brute strength won out.  Ha!

And Voila!  The GRT HXr EFIS is now officially installed.

I then fired up the panel to test my EFIS install in general, but specifically to check the video camera system.  I’m super happy that my wiring to the fuel site gage video cameras are all good, as you can see the left one in the lower left inset screen of the HXr EFIS (camera is pointed at the ceiling).

However, my happiness that the video cameras themselves were operational and functioning nicely was dampened a bit with an issue I’m having with the Video Camera MUX cycling through the respective video cameras as it was designed to do… as in it is not doing so at this time.

Each camera feed I’m showing in these pics is all connected to the exact same camera input on the MUX.

Something is clearly not right, but it may be something as simple as it’s currently programmed to only receive one camera input.  I fired off an email to the primary developer of this unit, my ‘Electronics Guardian Angel‘ Eric Page, and will await his answer to see if he has any input (I have a list of possible fix actions that I will try in the meantime).

That all being said, here is the right fuel site gage video camera putting out a nice, spiffy video feed as well.  I am SO GLAD that the wiring for these fuel site gage cameras are operational and I do not have to get up into the bowels of the strake baggage compartments to fix them… bullet dodged!  Whew.

And to reiterate again: these video feed shots are all on the same single input (out of 4 hardwired on the unit).

This feed is the 5V aft-looking video camera mounted in the top of the pilot’s headrest (which is connected via Eric Page’s spiffy 12v-to5v “buck converter” that I just recently received from him).  As a point of note: the Video Camera MUX can handle up to 8 video cameras, but Eric knew I was only utilizing 4 cameras… so to minimize the footprint he only added 4 camera video connectors.

The #4 video camera is also aft looking, only on the bottom of the bird… just behind the front nose gear wheel well (straight below the instrument panel).  I didn’t test this camera because it’s connector is buried in the thatch of wires in the middle of the panel, under where the HXr is now situated.  This junction was the meeting point for nearly ALL wires coming from the right, left, forward, aft, up and down sides of the bird… and yes, it’s super busy, crowded and not as streamlined as I would like it.  But it is what is —wrangled, routed and secured to an acceptable level (IMO).

I will also note that I had a gremlin pop up in the top row indicator lights.  I believe I’ve isolated it down to one my “double-stack” 2-row lights and will investigate that tomorrow.

In addition, the mounting location of the Video Camera MUX is such that it needs to be mounted in place BEFORE I can mount the GNS-480 mounting tube, so resolving the MUX camera cycling issue is a priority in getting this panel installation completed.

But all that being said, STILL pressing forward!

Where does the time go?  This post covers the couple of days . . .

Yesterday I spent many hours wrangling wires and zip-tying them into place to keep them put.  I also bundled the GNS-480 GPS cable into a circular wrap and set it in place on the left lower sidewall.  I then used JB Weld to affix 3 zip-tie points to the firewall to secure the GPS cable… and left those to cure for 24 hours.

Something I also did with a single zip-tie point on the outboard of the left rib in the pilot’s thigh support to secure the GPS reporting cable to the ELT.

I also worked a good couple of hours laying out, planning and splicing in 2 of the 4 video cameras, toning out wires to ensure I had the correct ones and splicing on wire extensions.  This was for the top-of-pilot-headrest 5V video camera and the belly camera (both face aft).

Speaking of splicing, I also needed to extend 4 wires in length simply so they could routed properly with clearance… all around the quite intrusive GRT HXr EFIS when it’s installed.

I also collected up all the connector fittings for the MFJ-259B Antenna Analyzer, as well as ensuring that any minor battery compartment corrosion was cleaned up.  I then loaded up the analyzer with batteries, ensured it powered up, and then put in my vehicle to use in the morning.

DAY 2: This morning I headed over to the hangar with Antenna Analyzer in hand, connected it up the right wing —said a little prayer— and tested out the VSWR.

Not bad at all.  The main reading is of course at the center of the frequency bandwidth being tested (pic 2… 127.00 MHz) which reported a 1.5 SWR (top right of display).  As a reminder, any SWR over 3.0 may result in radio transceiver damage due to returning transmission energy coming back down the line from the antenna.

Out of curiosity I then slowly tuned the analyzer down to 118.00 MHz, hitting 2.0 in a couple of spots… clearly meaning I had the majority of SWR readings from 1.5 to 2.0.  As you can see, at 118 MHz the SWR is a solid 1.5.  I’ll also note the lowest SWR was 1.3 for the right winglet antenna.

Lastly I tuned the meter up to the top end frequency for our radios: 136.00.  On the way I hit 2.0 again before settling at 1.8.  Not as stellar as the lower end of the frequency band, but still wholly acceptable.

When I tested the SWR on the left winglet antenna it also tested out very well, and while the far end of the bandwidth both on the high and low ends resulted in higher SWR readouts than the right winglet—2.2 @ 118 MHz and 1.9 @ 136 MHz— the middle area of the bandwidth was apparently a sweet spot as it consistently had lower SWRs: 1.2 to 1.5.

I then again spent a good 3 hours securing and organizing wires, focusing this time on the left sidewall (GPS cable bundle secured), the wiring crossing above the left leghole opening, and along the left side of the Tri-paragon.

Here we have the wires in and around the left sidewall, just forward of the instrument panel, secured and ready for the GNS-480 GPS mounting tube to get installed.

I also did a good hour of organizing, wrangling and securing the wires in and around the E-Bus fuse panel on the forward left side of the Tri-paragon.

I then spent another 2 hours plus on the video camera MUX and USB interface system with the HXr EFIS, as well as soldering in more power, ground and video leads for the individual video cameras.   Again, the top and bottom aft facing cameras wiring is done, while here I’m working on finishing up the wiring harness for each of the fuel site gage video cameras.

However, it was getting quite late and Jess had made dinner, so I called it a night and will resume/finish the video camera wiring tomorrow.  Once the video camera system wiring is complete, this will allow me to do the final install of the GRT HXr EFIS (and also video camera tests) and the GNS-480 mounting tube.

Pressing forward!

Three days ago on Saturday I went with some friends down to Carolina Beach to attend an airshow there.  We got to see a few aerobatic airplanes do their stuff and then a couple of old WWII-era trainers doing some beautiful formation flying.  We got back mid-evening, met Jess at a local restaurant and had dinner.  So zero work done on the plane.

This blog post covers the past couple days since Saturday, with yesterday being a LOT of research and CAD/3D printing modeling on the WxWork antenna mount… I’ll show that when the design is finalized.

I also brushed up on my BNC connector install how-to since it’s been quite a number of years since I’ve done any.  My first victim was the RG400 cable for COM1 that connects the GNS-480 to the right winglet radio antenna, with that connection inside the CS spar. Since most of my cables’ BNC connectors attaching to the GNS-480 are the male version, I decided to go female here to help avoid any possible cable mixups.

This morning first thing I went to the hangar and knocked out the BNC connector installs on the winglet radio antennas that use RG58 cable (the standard when I started building).  The left wing (pic 1) got a female BNC connector installed, while the right wing got a male BNC connector attached (pic 2).

When I get a chance I’ll bring the MFJ-259B Antenna Analyzer to the hangar and check the VSWR on each antenna.

Back at the house I gathered up the 3 right angle/90° antenna connector brackets that attach the GPS, COM and NAV antenna cables, respectively, to the GNS-480 mounting tube.  I’ll note that these brackets are designed to “float” a bit to allow inserting and removing the actual GNS-480 unit in and out of the mounting tube.

Since VOR/LOC/ILS will be the lesser of my navigation capabilities used with the GNS-480, that was the antenna lead I started with… of course using the instructions spelled out in the manual.

Here we have the RG58 pigtail with the end stripped and prepped, ready for insertion and securing into the 90° antenna connector.

Which involved a bit of soldering: the center core of the RG58 to the center pin of the antenna connector (pic 1) before then closing and sealing that off with a protective threaded cap (pic 2).

Voila!  Here is my first antenna cable pigtail to connect the GNS-480 NAV (VOR/LOC/ILS) antenna output to the antenna on the canard.

Next up was the RG58 cable pigtail for the COM1 antenna lead, that I showed the mating connector install up above.

Here is the COM1 antenna cable pigtail after soldering it inside the 90° antenna connector.

For the RG400 GPS antenna cable terminating into the GNS-480 I had originally planned to lop off the original/existing 90° BNC connector and then connect it straight into the GNS-480’s 90° connector… but with how the cable is configured and runs inside the avionics bay, I realized an interconnecting pigtail would make life much easier.  I know RG400 is the standard for GPS antennas, but I don’t have any on hand.  So I’m using about a foot of RG58 for the pigtail and will assess how the GPS signal fairs with it.  I don’t expect any issues.

After I finished the GPS antenna cable pigtail install into the 90° antenna connector, I then set them into place on the backside of the GNS-480 mounting tube.  And no, I have not installed the interconnecting female BNC on this GPS cable pigtail yet, choosing to wait until I know the best length it should be once all is installed inside the bird.

I also did an initial assessment of my strake-to-wing light connectors as well, deciding to use a D-Sub DB9 on each side due their compactness and limited space between wing and strake end.  I had originally planned (and bought) on using Deutsch connectors, but those appear to be too thick.  That all being said, I measured everything out and will be moving forward on terminating both wing-side and strake-side light wires soon.

More to follow…

Although I failed to report it in yesterday’s blog post, late last night I spent about 2-1/2 hours soldering up the wiring harness on the Left wing Nav/Strobe and leading edge landing wig-wag lights, respectively.

So this morning I headed off to the hangar with the lights and a bunch of ancillary tools and gear in hand to install the left wing lights.

Guy Williams was coming over to my hangar to help me out, and while I waited for him to show up I assembled a utility cart for the hangar.  I also prepped the wing end by drilling out the protective saran plastic wrap from the Nav/Strobe light bracket threaded mounting holes, that I had embedded into the holes to protect the threads during paint.

I then prepped the wing end for running the wires for the Nav/Strobe light by using RG-58 cable to run a pull wire.  I also fished out the bracket ground wire.

I then installed the left wing end AeroLEDs Nav/Strobe mounting bracket with new screws.

After Guy arrived, we ran the Nav/Strobe light wires through the wing conduit and initially installed the light assembly.  I reiterate the word INITIALLY since the wing end surface wasn’t as aligned as I need it to be to get the light to mount without about a 0.07-0.085″ gap on the top aft interface between the light and wing end surface.  I’ll work that later.

Guy also helped me run the wiring for the left wing leading edge landing & wig-wag light.  I’ll do the final aiming alignment of both wings leading edge lights once the wings are installed, before the lenses are mounted.

Here’s a final shot of the left wing lights initial installation.

Back home in the shop I spent another 3 hours cleaning up and securing wiring, which involved also extending a handful wires to allow them the length to route around the installed GRT HXr EFIS and the GNS-480 mounting tube with good clearances.

Moving forward my assessment is that I’ll need to work the left side avionics bay and instrument panel wires for a good 3-4 hours as well to be ready to install both the HXr and GNS-480 GPS.

Still… pressing forward!

Last night I started getting all the wires squared away for the fuel site gages and strake baggage area lights connected to the dimmer, soldering the ends of both pairs of wires together.  However, when I went to insert the wire pairs into the dimmer switch terminal block, the combined wires were too fat to fit into the terminal socket.  I punted until today to finish this wiring job.

Now, it seems like a fairly easy job, but cutting off the soldered tips and resoldering the pair of wires so enough wire was left remaining to crimp on a pin took about 20 minutes all told.

But then getting them into the very tight space of the REMOVED (yes, removed… as unmounted) dimmer switch terminal block still took another 20 minutes of craziness.  Sheesh… nothing EZ on this bird it seems!

The dimmer on the left labeled “CABIN” is the one I just completed the final wiring and reinstallation of…

I then spent another few hours finalizing the install of all the components into the battery compartment.  First went in the IBBS (right side of pic), then the battery with all the cables attached, including the G0 battery ground bus.  Next came the tool box install.  Note that I also finally added Velcro to each side and installed the blue ANL-40 fuse link cover (left side of pic).

I then assembled all the hardware, hinges and nose hatch door and installed it onto the nose.

Here we have the nose hatch door installed and in the open position.  Note also that the Dual GPS puck is installed on its slide-on mount just aft of the Napster bulkhead.

Here we have the tool box cover in the open position (left side of pic) and the pitot tube in the unlocked, stowed position pushed into the nose, where it butts up against the battery strap.

This is what the front of the nose looks like with the pitot tube in the unlocked, stowed position… pushed into the nose.

I then closed the nose hatch door, locking it in place into the latch.

And one more shot with the nose hatch door closed and locked.

Pressing forward!

I finally got my hands on some butane to allow me to test the Fuel Fume Detector as per the manual.  A few weeks ago I held up a rag with fuel on it to the sensor, but I learned that just overwhelms it.  It’s looking for vapors, not a blast in the face.

And the butane test proved that out.  At first I didn’t think it was working, but I kept at it at and after about 90 seconds it went into alarm mode.  Nice to know the sensor works as well.

Here’s a quick video showing the control head in the alarm state from the test.

I will note that I was using the (very) old, small nose gear backup battery to power this test.  I believe with full power the top center red alarm light will be brighter.  We’ll see since it was brighter when I tested the alarm previously on startup.

With the test good I pressed forward with mounting it into the bird.  I slathered the inside of the gray sleeve with RTV, slid it in place onto the fuel detector’s perimeter flange then slid both of those firmly into place on the mounting tab (pic 1).  I then terminated and connected the wires and wrangled those with some zip ties (pic 2).

Fuel fume detector unit install complete.

Concurrent to testing the fuel fume detector, I spent a couple of hours finalizing the wire management on the right side of the Tri-Paragon/avionics bay.

Here’s a shot of that… it’s ready for flight operations to commence!

Earlier in the day I stopped by the hangar to grab some measurements of the cable connectors for the antennas embedded in the canard.  My reference point in pic 1 is the center hole of the left upper canard mounting tab.  And in pic 2 I’m simply going off the trailing edge.

With those measurements, back in the shop in I was able to determine the length required for the NAV antenna pigtail and cut the new RG-58 cable I just received in prep of terminating it into a specific 90° connector for the GARMIN GNS-480.

As you can see, the remaining cable segment will be used as the COM1 pigtail out of the GNS-480, terminated as well into a 90° connector.

I did a good bit of work finalizing the plan for the pitot system as well and, again, deconflicting a bunch of wires to better organize them for HXr and GNS-480 install.

Pressing forward!

Another 2-day blog post here.  Day 1 was a lot of research on replacing the internal battery on the GNS-480, messing around with the nose taxi light and assessing the pitot tube cross-connection to the embedded pitot tubing in the nose.  I was supposed to get my antenna cables delivered, but realized that was not going to happen.

DAY 2: My ADS-B IN receiver antenna cables arrived today.  In order to have 90° female connectors on the antenna ends I had to go with the smaller diameter RG316DS cable (narrower version of RG400).  The 3 ft. black cable is RG58 with a male BNC and a female BNC connector at each end.  I’ll cut this cable into 2 pigtails that will connect to the GNS-480 for the VOR/LOC (female BNC pigtail) in the canard and the COM1 antenna (male BNC pigtail).  In the upper right corner is a female BNC connector to terminate the RG400 COM1 antenna coming in from the right wing (the CoaxRF bubbas were nice enough to throw that in for free).

I attached the longer 5 ft. ADS-B IN antenna cable to the “back” of the SkyRadar receiver for the bottom 978 MHz antenna.  I actually preferred a 4.5″ cable here, but they only make the cables in 1′ increments, thus the 978 antenna will be mounted further aft on the sidewall than the 1090 MHz antenna… also connected on the top of the receiver.

I then checked the connections to the antennas on the sidewall, initially with the storage bin removed.

I then spent the next couple of hours applying metal tape to the sidewall and the underside of the left armrest storage bin to create the antenna ground plane that is a requirement for remote mounting of the antennas as per the manual.

I also added some tape on the inside of the armrest for the inboard side of the ground plane.  I will note that I confirmed continuity between the sidewall and the underside of the storage bin.  However, I haven’t yet tested continuity between those and the armrest portion of the ground plane.  I’ll do that when I do the final install on the armrest.

I then did final check of the antenna positions, cable runs and storage bin clearance before making up the antenna mounting brackets.

Another couple hours later I finished hand-jamming some brackets up for the ADS-B IN antennas.  I didn’t want to glue, flox or RTV the antenna brackets in place since I want electrical continuity for the antennas to the ground plane.  I then planned to rivet the brackets to the sidewall but had near zero clearance between the throttle cables and configurations of the brackets themselves.  So I used multiple #4 wood screws on each bracket to secure them.

Another shot of the ADS-B IN receiver antennas mounted to the left sidewall in their respective brackets.  After I took these pics I overlapped the brackets with foil tape.

I then re-mounted the left armrest storage bin in place and confirmed continuity between the antenna brackets and the ground plane on the bottom of the storage bin.

In talking to Bob from TCW Tech regarding the IBBS install, he stated that the IBBS’s through-put power is fused… but after some thought, since my X-Bus/IBBS connected components are low-amp units, I decided to individually fuse them to ensure they’re protected (this renewed outlook was largely in part due to Marco’s issue with his Mini-X units getting damaged, even though they were both protected with 1-amp circuit breakers).

That all being said, I cut the power wire to the SkyRadar receiver and soldered in an inline fuse holder.   This officially completes the SkyRadar ADS-B IN receiver with remote antennas install.

My last task of the evening was to install right angle 90° swivel connectors onto the pitot tube and the pitot line coming into the nose battery compartment (pic 1).  And here is the pitot tube, with pitot line attached, deployed for flight (pic 2).

And finally, after a half dozen machinations, here is the pitot tube stowed for parking (pic 1) with the red pitot tube cross-connect not mangled or bent… thanks to the swivel connectors (pic 2).

And with that, I called it a night.