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1 or 2 Wingtip NAV antenna(s)?

ppilotmike

ppilotmike

Well Known Member
Thoughts on whether or not to use 1 or 2 of the Archer wingtip NAV antennas for an IFR ship..? It seems most people use one with a diplexer, but can you bring in two VOR signals this way (i.e. looking for VOR intersections)? I will have WAAS GPS navigation capabilities, but want ground based navigation as well...
 
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Archer Wingtip Antenna

ppilotmike said:
Thoughts on whether or not to use 1 or 2 of the Archer wingtip NAV antennas for an IFR ship..? It seems most people use one with a diplexer, but can you bring in two VOR signals this way (i.e. looking for VOR intersections)? I will have WAAS GPS navigation capabilities, but want ground based navigation as well...
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I have had since I built my RV-8 a VOR Archer antenna in the right wingtip and an Archer Comm antenna in the left. I get 80 miles pickup range, based on altitude, for VOR and excellent ILS. The Comm antenna for my secondary SL-30 radio, which has to have vertical orientation, gets good range but is dependent upon angle from the plane, excellent high or low, not as good level.

I have a Garmin 420 WAAS as primary radio and GPS nav.
 
ppilotmike said:
Thoughts on whether or not to use 1 or 2 of the Archer wingtip NAV antennas for an IFR ship..? It seems most people use one with a diplexer, but can you bring in two VOR signals this way (i.e. looking for VOR intersections)? I will have WAAS GPS navigation capabilities, but want ground based navigation as well...
Click to expand...

You only need one antenna. I have the archer NAV in my right wingtip and use a triplexer, stripping out Nav1 (gns430), Nav2 (sl30), and the Glide Slope for NAV 1. It seems to work very well.

Don
 
ppilotmike said:
What about the in-wingtip marker beacon? Like/Don't like..?
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I made my own using a piece of coax with the shield stripped back. My poor memory says 42 inches was the dimension, but search the forum for examples. The MB is very high power and close, so a simple antenna works quite well.

Don
 
Two antennas will give you a bit more range, and a bit more redundancy; but I would vote with my pocketbook. You did not say what radios you have, and if you need a splitter anyway for the GS. If you need a splitter for GS, I would just put in one antenna. But if you have two SL30s (no splitters needed) I might put in two antennas, especially if you were up to cloning the first one to build the second yourself, at no cost except for the coax.
 
I made my marker beacon antenna from a piece of coax and placed it in the bottom of the tunnel. Works fine.
Jim Berry
RV-10
 
These boxes are "impedence matched splitters". They split one signal from the antenna to multiple receivers while constantly maintaining a 50 ohm impedence, so there are no odd reflections running around in the coax.
Diplexer has two outputs, triplexer has three.
 
I have one Archer Nav to feed a G430w and SL-30. Works fine.

I didn't put in a marker beacon antenna. Never missed it. They are being decommissioned.

I had one Arch Comm on my G430 which acted as my secondary radio. (it may seem odd to use the SL30 as the primary rather than the freq loading G430 but it was a pattern of use I was already in the habit of using)

Everything was fine until I lost the SL30 one day a thousand miles from home. I found that I could not rely on my G430/Archer Comm for primary communications. It was somewhat limited in range and had blind spots including some when on the ground. Had to do a field swap of antennas to get home comfortably.

I later installed a second whip.

Two whips on the RV10 belly work great as does the Archer Nav in my experience and installation. Archer Comm works fine on a second radio unless it becomes your only radio.

Bill "2.5 years, 430 hours" Watson
 
The archer nav antennas will always work better than the archer comm antennas in an RV wingtip, because the antenna has to be attached horizontally.

The VOR signals are transmitted with a horizontal polarization, and are received nicely by a horizontally mounted antenna.

Our comm signals have vertical polarization. A horizontally installed antenna will have a harder time with this.

The glass planes have the advantage here, as you can just glass in a vertical comm antenna in their tails.
 
To use an Archer-type antenna for com, you need to bend the short arm (where the current is a max) up (or down, if you rivet the antenna along the top) as much as the wingtip allows, to get as much vertical polarization as possible. You want it to look like a 'bent whip', often used under the fuselage.

I think everyone agrees the wingtip com is not as good as an external antenna; how much worse seems to be subjective, and installation dependent. e.g., I riveted the ground side to the upper side of the tip. Because the tip is not symmetric up/down I could get a little more vertical component that way.
 
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The nav in our -10

worked (OK?), but not as sensitive as an external "V". The comm antenna was poor enough that we installed an external antenna.
 
I guess I will counter Ronsim with my experience.
I have an Archer Nav in the right wingtip. I do get interference when the Duckworks HID lights are on. With them off I received the OMN VOR this weekend at 123 miles @9k'.
 
ppilotmike said:
What about the in-wingtip marker beacon? Like/Don't like..?
Click to expand...

Just my opinion, how I am doing my RV-10. Marker Beacons are disappearing faster than NDBs. I have a hard time finding one to see that my receiver is still working in my flying aircraft.
I am putting in 2 Archer nav antennas. A diplexor or splitter reduces signal strength by 50%. I have 2 nav coms, each with GS. I want each to receive 100% signal. Also, when needles from each straddle the HSI centerline, I will know I am on course. :D
 
Kellym said:
Just my opinion, how I am doing my RV-10. Marker Beacons are disappearing faster than NDBs. I have a hard time finding one to see that my receiver is still working in my flying aircraft.
I am putting in 2 Archer nav antennas. A diplexor or splitter reduces signal strength by 50%. I have 2 nav coms, each with GS. I want each to receive 100% signal. Also, when needles from each straddle the HSI centerline, I will know I am on course. :D
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This is the way I'm thinking too, although i had considered the MB as being important. My lack of IFR knowledge (not rated yet) makes it difficult to make these decisions. I plan to fly in Europe and Canada, so I want to be sure to consider areas where ground-based navigation may still be the only/best way...
 
ppilotmike said:
My lack of IFR knowledge (not rated yet) makes it difficult to make these decisions.
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I would recommend either getting your ticket or flying enough to get comfortable with using gages under the hood. Your perspective in what information is important may (and probably will) change as you move from VFR to IFR operation.

I started my ticket knowing that I wanted the experience before designing my panel. It made some difference. It was also a useful way to keep current during the build.
 
rzbill said:
I would recommend either getting your ticket or flying enough to get comfortable with using gages under the hood. Your perspective in what information is important may (and probably will) change as you move from VFR to IFR operation.

I started my ticket knowing that I wanted the experience before designing my panel. It made some difference. It was also a useful way to keep current during the build.
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Good advice, Bill. Since I am a ways off from installing my panel and picking my instruments, I have time, and was planning, to do exactly that. I've been flying to stay current and plan to not only have my IFR ticket before finishing my build, but also a taildragger rating and, of course, transition training.
 
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