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Archer com antenna

J

JFWilson

Member
Can the archer 1 & 2 com antennas be mounted next to each other in the same wing tip or next to the nav antenna?
Does anybody have any pics that you can share?

My objective here is to reduce the drag of bottom mounted whip antenna and to make things easier while cleaning the bottom. Can't tell how many times I almost poked my eye out. Obviously I want good reception and I'm looking for others who found the right fit.

Thanks,

Jim
 
No antennas should be mounted close to another antenna, in general, Two in one tip is asking for trouble.
Orient the leading edge as vertical as possible, as com's are vertically polarized. And expect fair, not good, results.
 
JFWilson said:
Can the archer 1 & 2 com antennas be mounted next to each other in the same wing tip or next to the nav antenna?
Does anybody have any pics that you can share?

My objective here is to reduce the drag of bottom mounted whip antenna and to make things easier while cleaning the bottom. Can't tell how many times I almost poked my eye out. Obviously I want good reception and I'm looking for others who found the right fit.

Thanks,

Jim
Click to expand...

A few considerations:
- Only one antenna per wingtip.
- If you make your own wingtip antenna you can adjust the dimensions so that the leg going out from the last wing rib goes out the whole width of the wingtip, and goes as vertical as possible. The leg that runs parallel to the wingtip is horizontal, but as the vast majority of radiated energy is from the leg that goes out from the wingtip you maximize the vertical radiation pattern. I built one of these for my 8A and went flying with a buddy in an 8 that had the standard Archer antenna but also mounted with the first leg as vertical as possible. The controllers were able to talk to me just fine. They could not hear my buddy.
- Even if you optimize the comm wingtip antenna as above, it will not be as good a performer as the bottom mounted bent antenna. The compromise is to use the bent antenna for comm #1 and the wingtip for comm #2.
- A wingtip Archer type antenna for VOR and ILS will do everything you need, if made and installed correctly.

Carl
 
While I tried a VOR antenna glassed into the top of the cowl, I quickly found RFI made it useless. I suspect the same would happen with a comm antenna.

I have used a simple piece of 37" long wire run along the bottom of the engine, tied to engine hoses and such for a Marker Beacon antenna. The wire is connected via a BNC bulkhead connector on the firewall. It works well.

Carl
 
Thanks Carl,

I have decided to put the archer antenna in the wing tip as com #2 and the #1 on the belly. I hate to give up on the idea of not having any on the bottom but it sounds like it's the only good option.

Thanks again for the input.

Jim
 
BobTurner said:
Make sure you follow Carl's advice and get the leading edge of the Archer com as vertical as possible.
Click to expand...

While we are talking about it, is it acceptable or beneficial to bend or alter the dimensions of the archer com antenna, or do we have to keep it all in one plane?
 
Archer ant.

I put an Archer com ant in the rt wing tip of my RV6. I also have a bent whip on the bottom for com 2. I get twice the range from the bottom ant as the Archer. Both Ant feed the identical radios. The Archer is mounted as vertically as possible in the wing tip.

The bent whip is not as good as the top mounted straight ant which is what I am going to put on the top behind the canopy. (slider)

Any one want a slightly used Archer com ant? cheap. It is coming out.
 
The joy of a antenna-less belly will quickly dissipate when you find the radio is pretty much useless.
Without a good antenna system, you might as well just save yourself the trouble and $$ of installing a panel mount unit and use a handheld.
 
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