Hi Mike,
I have an XS mono with a Garmin GNS 430 which drives a Mid Continental
VOR/LOC//GS/GPS CDI, I believe this is equivalent to the GI 106. I can only
refer you to my antenna setup which has been completely trouble free and which
has given excellent performance.
GPS antenna - Garmin supplied "bubble" antenna and aluminium mounting plate
mounted on fiberglass channel bracket in rear upper fuselage behind bulkhead.
The plate is essential as it is the ground plane.
COM antenna - Bob Archer type SA 006, bonded to inside face of fin
VOR antenna - Bob Archer type SA 007, bonded to bottom suface of outer port
wing
Transponder - Bob Archer type SA 005, bonded to bracket at starboard fuselage
split line aft of bulkhead
Bob Archer antennas can be found at A/C Spruce, see www.aircraft-spruce.com/
(If possible, it is instructive to borrow a VSWR meter from a ham radio
enthusiast and check antenna performance with a hand held radio. I did this
with my Bob Archer antennas and discovered a shortcoming on the COM which
turned out to be a manufacturing defect. Bob has corrected this.)
My remaining antennas are copper tape constructed from a kit of parts from Jim
Weir at RST Engineering. see http://www.rst-engr.com/ . Jim supplies a very
inexpensive package of 100 ft of copper tape and toroids with a text book at
$29.00. (I have tape left over.) The rear fuselage does become rather crowded
and I maximised the distance from the antennas to various other metal items and
other antennas. These distances did end up being less than Jim's careful
recommendations but I have not seen any penalty on performance. The tape strips
can be "dog legged" within reason. If I had to do things over again, I would
have evaluated Jim's copper tape for the VOR and COM and transponder. No reason
to expect that they would not work.
Glide slope - RST type, rear fuselage
Marker beacon - RST type, rear fuselage
ELT - RST type, rear fuselage (duplex for 121.5 & 243 KHZ)
As you can see, I now have 7 antennas ! Although I am not an IFR certified
pilot, I hope to obtain that qualification next year. In the US, IFR for sport
and general aviation pilots is quite common. I have no intention to do any
heavy cloud time, the plan is just to gain additional competency and
flexibility for changing conditions on long distance trips. I am very aware
that the Europa was not designed for IFR flying.
I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any further questions.
Cheers, John
N262WF, mono XS, 912S
Mooresville, North Carolina
> Dear List Members,
>
> I am a new forum member building an XS TriGear Kit 510 in South Africa - I
> started building in Oct 2001 and I'm about 7/8ths the way through the build.
> I would like to hear from anyone who has fitted a Garmin GNS 430 with the GI
106
> A - VOR/LOC/GPS/GS especially with reference to the aerials required (other
> than
> the GPS!) - can I make my own or are off the shelf versions better. Any other
> advice with the installation would be gratefully appreciated
>
> Regards
> Mike Toft
> watervet@mweb.co.za
|