alex Posted April 13, 2011 Report Posted April 13, 2011 Is there any way to use the existing antenna and coax cable from factory 121.5 system under the dorsal fin with an artex ME406 ELT in order to avoid opening more holes on the fuselage or tearing up the dorsal fin? Quote
Barry Posted April 13, 2011 Report Posted April 13, 2011 No, Antenna are resonant at specific frequencies. While odd harmonic operation will work with antennae, the frequencies don't work out in this case. While it is possible to "trim" the antenna to the correct size, the old coax would probably lose more signal than it would transfer at 400 Mhz. Bottom line, would you stake your life on a sub-standard system ? Quote
danb35 Posted April 13, 2011 Report Posted April 13, 2011 It depends on the installation manual as to whether you can re-use the old coax--the ACK unit allows for RG-58 (which is almost certainly what yours is wired with), but I understand that some other models don't. If the manual allows for that variety of coax, there's no real reason not to re-use it, but really no benefit to doing so either (since the new ELT will almost certainly come with coax of its own). However, you'll definitely need to replace the antenna. Interesting you're in Schaumburg--'48Q was there when I bought her. Quote
alex Posted April 13, 2011 Author Report Posted April 13, 2011 The coax I can do without, It's the darn antenna that I wish I could use but I guess it is a definate NO because of the length. Mooney design flaw...48Q sounds familiar but I can't put a name or face on previous owner. How long ago? Quote
danb35 Posted April 13, 2011 Report Posted April 13, 2011 I bought '48Q a little over 3 years ago from Dick Tennerstedt (sp?). I heard since then that he's passed away. https://picasaweb.google.com/danb35/Flying#5177792864298363970 I wouldn't consider it a Mooney design flaw that the antenna can't be re-used--all antennae are designed for a certain frequency range, and though they can often work at even multiples of that range (so an antenna for 121.5 may work fine for 243.0), it's trickier to design an antenna that will work well on other frequencies. The fairing can be removed to remove/replace the antenna if you want to keep it hidden, or you can just mount it externally (which is what I'll probably do when I install a 406 ELT in '48Q). Quote
sellis Posted April 13, 2011 Report Posted April 13, 2011 See Mooney SI M20-116 which can be found at www.mooney.com Quote
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