What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Broke my transponder antenna today

kaweeka

Well Known Member
My transponder antenna broke while cleaning the belly today. Will I damage the transponder I power up the system? I ordered one from ACS but it won't be here until next week and I'm trying to get some hours on a new cylinder.
 
My transponder antenna broke while cleaning the belly today. Will I damage the transponder I power up the system? I ordered one from ACS but it won't be here until next week and I'm trying to get some hours on a new cylinder.
Is the transponder part of some integrated unit that you need to have powered up? If not, just pull the fuse/breaker for the transponder. If the transponder can't transmit from a lack of antenna its not serving any purpose by being on. (Of course you'd need to stay out of airspace requiring the transponder, but you'll have to do that without an antenna anyway.)
 
My transponder antenna broke while cleaning the belly today. Will I damage the transponder I power up the system? I ordered one from ACS but it won't be here until next week and I'm trying to get some hours on a new cylinder.

Probably not, but it is possible. Just to be sure, pull the circuit breaker. No reason to take a chance.
 
Last edited:
Depends, a mode S/ES unit will definitely be damaged as it transmits continuously, a mode C probably not as it only transmits after being interrogated and it probably won't see an interrogation without an antenna, either way safer to keep it off until new ant is installed.
 
I broke two on my Rans during the build, one when I flipped an air hose and the otherwhen crawling under the fueselage.

Turn it off like recommended and replace with a blade type. Save money in the long run
 
Glad I didn't do anything after I snapped it off with my big head. I remembered something about comms and needing an antenna connected and thought this might be similar.
Thanks everyone for confirming before I did anything stupid.
 
The blade type might appear stronger, but if you bang it with your head while cleaning the belly, it will break just as easily. It might not fall off the airplane, but will likely be damaged internally and not able to transmit. This is exactly what happened to me while cleaning the belly of my RV8 - twice. The first one was the little post and ball type. It didn?t break off, but it was bent and when I straightened it out, it would just spin with my fingers, obviously not connected inside. So - I bought the much more expensive (but no better functionally) blade type antenna. I broke this one doing the same thing - cleaning the belly. This one was harder to discover because it looked fine, but when I went to get my IFR transponder cert, it wasn?t working unless I wigggled it - it was slightly loose. I bought another blade antenna, and started jacking up my tail to clean my belly.
BTW - I epoxied the damaged blade antenna back solidly to the mounting base and it appears to be fine now. I?ll sell it to you (cheap) if you?re interested......
 
The blade type might appear stronger, but if you bang it with your head while cleaning the belly, it will break just as easily. It might not fall off the airplane, but will likely be damaged internally and not able to transmit. This is exactly what happened to me while cleaning the belly of my RV8 - twice. The first one was the little post and ball type. It didn?t break off, but it was bent and when I straightened it out, it would just spin with my fingers, obviously not connected inside. So - I bought the much more expensive (but no better functionally) blade type antenna. I broke this one doing the same thing - cleaning the belly. This one was harder to discover because it looked fine, but when I went to get my IFR transponder cert, it wasn?t working unless I wigggled it - it was slightly loose. I bought another blade antenna, and started jacking up my tail to clean my belly.
BTW - I epoxied the damaged blade antenna back solidly to the mounting base and it appears to be fine now. I?ll sell it to you (cheap) if you?re interested......

Moral of this story....don't clean your belly !! :D
 
Back
Top