FlyingDude Posted February 19 Report Posted February 19 Hello all, This question is more for IA/AP but please chime in with your experience. The question is, "how did your 406MHz ELT get tested during annual inspection to comply with 91.207?" Thanks.
EricJ Posted February 19 Report Posted February 19 13 minutes ago, FlyingDude said: Hello all, This question is more for IA/AP but please chime in with your experience. The question is, "how did your 406MHz ELT get tested during annual inspection to comply with 91.207?" Thanks. Many/most have a test button. Listen for the warble on 121.5 when you activate the test and check the manual for any test faults indicated. Not many people have a means to listen to the proper 406MHz channel, but if you do, it just sounds like brrt for a little less than a second. Bottom line is do whatever the manual for the unit says to do. 1
PT20J Posted February 19 Report Posted February 19 You also have to test the crash sensor (g switch). The manual for the ELT should have instructions. Tests are in sections 9 and 10 of my ACK E-04 manual. E-04-manual-V-1.12-single-page.pdf
FlyingDude Posted February 19 Author Report Posted February 19 Thanks... this is a Kannad unit. The installation manual refers to the self test but they also refer to a service letter for periodic tests. That in turn explains how to measure voltage and do the crash test. It does emit 121.50MHz signal during test but 406Mhz emission is not required by 91.207. It doesn't emit that during self test but only after 50 seconds of being at ON setting... I do have a decoder, I could decode the test signal but I don't want to be the guy who tested that the hangar wasn't enough of a Faraday cage - or deal with sending test request faxes... The reason I asked is some IAs online believe that self test suffices to fulfill 91.207. It sounded weird.
FlyingDude Posted February 19 Author Report Posted February 19 Thanks... this is a Kannad unit. The installation manual refers to the self test but they also refer to a service letter for periodic tests. That in turn explains how to measure voltage and do the crash test. It does emit 121.50MHz signal during test but 406Mhz emission is not required by 91.207. It doesn't emit that during self test but only after 50 seconds of being at ON setting... I do have a decoder, I could decode the test signal but I don't want to be the guy who tested that the hangar wasn't enough of a Faraday cage - or deal with sending test request faxes... The reason I asked is some IAs online believe that self test suffices to fulfill 91.207. It sounded weird.
EricJ Posted February 19 Report Posted February 19 24 minutes ago, FlyingDude said: Thanks... this is a Kannad unit. The installation manual refers to the self test but they also refer to a service letter for periodic tests. That in turn explains how to measure voltage and do the crash test. It does emit 121.50MHz signal during test but 406Mhz emission is not required by 91.207. It doesn't emit that during self test but only after 50 seconds of being at ON setting... I do have a decoder, I could decode the test signal but I don't want to be the guy who tested that the hangar wasn't enough of a Faraday cage - or deal with sending test request faxes... If the test is actived by a test button or test procedure, the signal transmitted by the 406 MHz modulator will (should, anyway), indicate that the signal is a test. This should be done within five minutes after the top of any hour, which is when ELT tests are supposed to be performed. If you do it this way the chances of a getting a call from a Space Force Sergeant go way down. 24 minutes ago, FlyingDude said: The reason I asked is some IAs online believe that self test suffices to fulfill 91.207. It sounded weird. You don't need to whack the ELT to "test" the crash sensor unless the manual or ICA says to do it and has a procedure for doing it. Otherwise you're guessing on how to test the unit. Many manuals just outline the self-test procedure which includes an internal self-test of everything the manufacturer determined needed to be done. Going beyond that without a procedure from the manufacturer is not required, and I'd opine may be a Bad Idea. The old gravity-bar switches on ancient ELTs were easy to manually whack-test because you could physically see the activation and test it and reset it as part of an inspection. A modern unit with an internal accelerometer is often better tested with just the self-test unless there is an additional procedure in the manual. 2
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