techie49

Just had a quote from Todd Silver of US$400 for a canopy for the 601. Interestingly he said a second canopy in the crate would not increase the shipping cost. If anyone needs a canopy from the U.S. and wants to split the shipping, the cost of which I will confirm, let me know asap. I'll be ordering by the end of this month. This offer is only for a canopy. It's too much trouble to try to get anything else into the box to save on shipping. Paul

What a brilliant piece of work. To actually conceive that, build it and it actually runs is fantastic. Puts my rebuilding a Subaru EA81 firmly in the shade ! Paul

When you say it generates a lot of static how do you know? Can you hear it on a radio? Try the GPS and power supply in a car. Does the GPS work ok in the car, if so there's no problem with the GPS or power unit. If your trike is generating that much electrical noise I'm surprised you can get any radio reception. I'd be looking at the actual socket on your aircraft. I wonder, as someone suggested, if you do in fact have a bad connection to the positive centre pin and it is arcing, which would account for the 'static' noise. If you find the cause make sure you post it so everyone can say ' I knew that's what it would be......' Paul

I've got a XGPS150A that I use with my IPad. Funnily enough it's on charge now. It seems to do what it says on the box, was easy to set up and does what I want. I've had it for some time now and although it's for the aircraft, I've been getting some use out of it in the car. Paul Toone

I didn't want to suggest perhaps a hint of vested interest in the criticism of my suggestion to buy a Rotax if you want a tried and tested product, but since you mention it ...............! Paul Toone

Sorry but what's nonsensical about suggesting that someone who expects immediate performance and a proven product goes and buys a Rotax? I'm trying to suggest if you don't want problems, changes or any mods to an engine, then go and buy something that is fully established. I certainly would if I could afford their prices. The sarcastic comment about 'reasoned decisions' is a little strange also. People generally do read available information and there's plenty to be had on the Viking engines. Paul Toone

I've no axe to grind here, having no connection with the Viking engines. I don't have one or plan to buy one. Don't you think that knowing his history, JE's customers will themselves be wary and intelligent enough to make a reasoned decision on whether to buy his products? Do we really contribute anything by continually criticising his business practices? His product will stand or fall on its performance and the post purchase service he offers. He may well be a 'scammer' as suggested by FT, but he's managed to do quite a reasonable job on the basic engine from what I've read. If you've got a poor product, one buyer will tell others and the product will not sell any more units. It doesn't really matter with the sales pitch. Surely prospective purchasers know they are buying an evolving product, one which is being changed due to their feedback or JE trying to improve his product. This is the nature of experimentation and anyone buying ought really to have their eyes open. There will always be dissatisfied customers who feel they've been conned. They should perhaps think of buying a Rotax instead. Two adages spring to mind, 'If you buy cheap you may buy twice ' (John Ruskin) and definitely 'Caveat Emptor'- (Unknown -to me anyway!) As to weight and balance issues, shouldn't you as the builder know what can go under the cowling? Paul Toone Subaru Experimenter by economic necessity !

With all due respect to Ian and Mark, what they say about the type approval process is absolutely correct. What they fail to mention is that pricing in Australia is purely determined by what price can be squeezed from a small, captive market. Whilst Mark makes the point about the harmonic suppression on transmit, most radios come out of the factory with identical boards. The output power and receive filters and maybe channel spacing may be country dependent but to all intents and purposes the radios are identical. No manufacturer produces an inferior radio for certain markets. What unfortunately we are paying for over here is to bolster the vested interests of the regulatory committees that generally contain 'industry experts' , (read manufacturers or importers). I know it's slightly off topic but as a prime example I've just bought a Garrett pin point metal detector for $58. The SAME product here is advertised for $199. Now don't try and tell me that it's down to importing costs and overheads. The Oz importers of this one product are more than likely paying even less than me at source. It's blatant greed. I would maintain that this is the case with anything here marked ' aircraft .....' Paul Toone 40+ years in radio and electronic design.

Close to an AM transmitter your headset ANR components may pickup the transmission and you will hear the voice content. With any other kind of modulation you may just hear noise or unintelligible sounds. Where you pass close to a number of co-sited transmitters, on top of a hill for example, you can get a spurious response from your receiver on a frequency unrelated to the actual transmission frequency of any of the transmitters. This is a mixing process that occurs in the front end of the aircraft receiver known as intermodulation or intermodulation distortion. Various frequencies mix and produce a spurious transmission that your receiver demodulates as noise or speech on the monitored aircraft frequency. I worked in telecoms some years ago and had a complaint from a business that at certain times of day their telephone system was unusable due to a 'Donald Duck' voice on it. I guessed immediately the cause of the problem. Close by the business premises was a radio amateur who used an HF transmitter on SSB ( single sideband ). His aerial passed close by the business and the transmitter broke into the telephone system which tried to demodulate his transmission. SSB sounds to the ear, when not correctly tuned, like a 'Donald Duck' sounding voice. Some filtering and a change to the aerial location solved the problem. Paul

Sorry. Also forgot to ask what your radio tech did to bench test the set. He should have run the set into a dummy load to test the transmit at lowest and highest frequency and monitored the transmission with a monitor receiver to test for modulation and carrier strength. Paul

How did your radio tech do a 'ground test' on the aircraft antenna ? Paul

Thanks everyone. I'll have a ride to Moorabbin and find them. Paul Toone

I know this one comes up now and again but can anyone recommend a supplier preferably near Melbourne. Now that Aviaquip has decided to get out of the general supplies market, I need a decent supplier. Paul

Hi Don, I'm using a Bolly 72 x 60 on a Subaru EA81. Where are you measuring the angle on the blade? I seem to recall you should be 75% of the blade length from the hub end. Obviously if you're measuring at a different point the comparison is difficult. I set my Bolly to limit the Subaru to 5600 rpm WOT. regards, Paul

I know it's slightly off thread, but on the subject of interference to radio and tv reception , it's not only inverters in PV systems that are a rising problem. If you are replacing halogen down lights with LED units - beware. I bought a pack of 12V LED units from Bunnings. Two went into the lounge to replace halogen lights in an alcove. They worked great. Recently though, we changed to digital TV around here. I'd installed a second antenna outside to cover one end of the house rather than tap in to an existing one. All was well until nightfall. The picture was breaking up badly and was unwatchable. What the hell was the problem? Bear in mind the lights had been in weeks before digital TV. A thought struck me - a rarity ok! Turned the lights off and Bingo! I ended up putting ferrite rings on each of the short twin cables to the actual LED lamps. All became quiet. So can someone tell me, how the hell can we be importing all this Chinese crap with apparently no constraints on EMC? HF radio in Australia will become unusable very rapidly with all the interference being generated by the plethora of poor quality electronic devices. The problem is of course it's a gradual slide into the noise and most people would not be aware. From my experience , digital TV will potentially be severely affected by RF noise so maybe the overall problem will come to public awareness when we are all on DTV. Paul

Hi Russ, Apart from the physical aspect of trying to get wires in the split ferrite, there's no problem. Ideally if there's slack enough, you need to try to wind at least one turn through the ferrite, but clamping one on will stop noise coming out of an instrument or noise going into a radio if you put it on the radio wiring. I'd try to find out which instrument or device is causing the problem, but brute force (i.e. doing everything) won't hurt. Paul

Russ, What you really need to do is, if you have electronic gauges or EFIS, is turning the lot off and bringing each one on in turn and checking the radio. You'll find that one or more will unsquelch the radio. Deal with the instrument in question with a ferrite ring on at least the power wires. Unfortunately the EFIS and electronic gauges generate noise as they are microprocessor controlled. I've got this radio and have used a split ferrite ring on the wiring from each instrument and on the radio wiring. Mine seems ok. If you don't have any electronic instruments I'd do the same with the alternator. Paul

Hi Geoff , I've just done my Zodiac which has a Subaru engine and it was quite easy. I think the form and hints is on the SAAA website. If you get stuck give me a shout and I'll see if I can help you. Paul

Hi Hongie, The 601HD or HDS didn't have the alleged wing problems of the 601XL. They're a completely different animal. I've not heard of any problems or mods to solve problems on that model. Be interested to know what engine it's got. The Subaru EA81 is a favourite. Paul

Hi Bill, Must admit from your description it sounds like the radio again. If you haven't changed the headset especially, it's unlikely it's RF feedback. You sound like you're on top of it. Post what you find though. It could help someone else. Regards, Paul

Hi Bill (?), I don't think you need to rush off and get someone with an SWR meter. Ask yourself some questions: a) Has this problem suddenly developed? b) Have I altered anything on the aircraft concerned or has anything been added around the antenna? c) Have I changed the headset? If the problem has suddenly developed and there's nothing to account for it, check the connector on the end of the coax at the radio end. If it's a crimped connector, is it properly connected to the braid of the coax? Pull the cable gently to see if the connector comes adrift. If all is well, check the antenna end of the cable. Again if there's a connector, check as before. If all's well get a multimeter and possibly with a friend, check the cable between inner and outer, if you can disconnect it from the antenna. It should measure no continuity , i.e. A resistance greater than 1 Megohm. Check the continuity of the inner conductor and of the outer braid. Both should be a few Ohms depending on the length. If all this is OK, connect the antenna cable to the radio and antenna. If the answers to your questions don't give you a clue then perhaps it may be worth a test of the antenna, but problems such as this develop due to a cause. If all your investigations prove nothing, I'd suggest if possible connecting a borrowed handheld radio to the antenna if possible. Check transmission and reception from that and again it should give you a pointer to the problem. You've not said what aircraft this is happening on. Is it a rag and tube job, composite or metal? Also what type of antenna is it? Is it a whip type or a dipole, perhaps on a rag and tube. These can all have a bearing on the problem. Hope this long reply gives you some help or clues. Paul

Hi Robert, I can claim no experience of this engine but would suggest you check around your ignitions. What I mean to say is unless one was gone when you bought it, it's unlikely both have died together. Is there a common 12V supply? What triggers the ignition if it's separate to the CDI unit? I'd be looking for something common before splashing out on new parts. Paul

Hi Bones, Are you using an analogue MM or a digital? If it's a digital it may not be giving a true reading. I'd bet your aerial is faulty and it's reflected RF which can get into the MM. Try an analogue MM first then get a SWR meter on your aerial lead if necessary. Paul

Hi Ian, Yes I'd like to see some details of the PSRU . As I said, the only one on the horizon is the Rotax C box as it's the same as I have. Paul