ADS-B, Anyone?

Bartman

Bartman

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Hi all,

Anyone using either the nav light mounted units or the tail light fitting on the rudder?

Thanks,
Bart
 
I will be doing the tail light mount in March 2020. I have plenty of Cubs for January and February. That's assuming it is approved.
 
Since I needed a transponder anyway (mine was failing), I went with an Appareo ESG. I'm very happy with it.

But if my transponder had been OK, I likely would have gone with either the uAvionix skyBeacon or the tailBeacon. For our planes, I think the tailBeacon is a better "look", but that's just a personal preference.
 
The sky beacon is GREAT except it’s a 2000 dollar light bulb. When I asked the guy at Oshkosh what happens if the light burns out he flat out didn’t know what to say.

I’m with @JimParker256. My transponder needed to be pulled and put on the bench 2 years ago and I don’t want that again. I’ll be going with the appareo as well, it’s a new transponder with a nice price. My only fear is putting in the skybeacon and then having to replace the transponder in 5 years when they only sell ads-b transponders by that point. It’s a perfect short term ads-b solution.
 
It depends on who you find. It needs to be tested and signed off by someone with their avionic stuff with the faa. Some will allow you to do some work but I’ve noticed they all want to do the wiring install.

Running a coax is the most time consuming part of the job that pretty much anyone can do to save time.

The stratus uses a gps antenna that needs to be installed usually on the top of the fuselage, a coax ran to the panel, a new tray put in, and then any wiring is up to the mechanic. Some want to see a circuit breaker put in while others are good with a fuse.

Tailbeacon is nice because it’s any A&P and no W&B change!
 
Thanks Cliff! The deadline, which seemed so far away when I was still flying, has come up on me and now it's time so maybe I'll just go with the tail mounted one and leave it at that. Like you guys said, a good transponder is still a good transponder so I might as well keep it and save the extra money.
 
I considered the Tailbeacon, but since my transponder in the original non-digital KT76a, decided to bite the bullet and upgrade with a Garmin GTX335. Garmin has approved A&P installation, so there should be some savings there. We'll see in a couple of weeks.
 
let's be honest here, if I get too fancy I might not be able to resist the urge to upgrade to the later version of the panel! An analog transponder is just the ticket to make an older panel look good with its original patina and all! lol
 
Yeah, my old KX-170 radio looks pretty sad sitting right below the Appareo Stratus ESG... And on my last two flights, it's acting like the internal squelch circuit is starting to fail, so I've got loud sidetone all the time... May be time to start looking at a radio upgrade...
 
We are having great luck with the Garmin GTR-200. I do not like the 200 B as much as the straight 200, and they need to make the RF squelch range bigger - we get external noise with it set at max. But it still is the best radio, with a great internal intercom and truly super memory circuits. And easy to install.
 
Skybeacon / Stratus /Foreflight /Ipad mini. Reminds me of the first time using TCAS - there's a lot of traffic out there! Works great, though still searching for a better ipad mount than a kneeboard.
 
I use an iPad Mini 4 in a RAM mount. My setup is a RAM Claw Yoke Mount (RAP-B-400U), a RAM Standard Arm (RAM-B-201U), and the RAM iPad Mini 4 Perfect Fit Cradle with 1” Ball (RAM-B-202-AP20U). It clamps very firmly to one of the tubes on the left side, and I'm confident it would hold firm and steady even through any aerobatics a CItabria can handle. The iPad itself blocks very little of the outside view, and the only instrument it blocks is the OAT gauge, which I rarely refer to in flight.
 
JimParker256 said:
Yeah, my old KX-170 radio looks pretty sad sitting right below the Appareo Stratus ESG... And on my last two flights, it's acting like the internal squelch circuit is starting to fail, so I've got loud sidetone all the time... May be time to start looking at a radio upgrade...
Click to expand...

I would just plan on a new panel and, while you're at it, an interior overhaul as well. If you do that then there's the headliner which means new fuselage fabric/paint. If you've learned anything from my mistakes, if you paint the fuselage you might as well plan on painting the wings. Cub owners don't have radios so this isn't a problem for them. :)
 
Bartman said:
I would just plan on a new panel and, while you're at it, an interior overhaul as well. If you do that then there's the headliner which means new fuselage fabric/paint. If you've learned anything from my mistakes, if you paint the fuselage you might as well plan on painting the wings. Cub owners don't have radios so this isn't a problem for them. :)
Click to expand...
Yup - my IA just told me it's about time to replace the (original) fabric on my '68 7ECA. (That's his way of saying "I probably won't pass it next year...") So I'm looking for a shop that can do it for less than a king's ransom... Not too many shops around here do fabric work at all.
 
A shop charges $100/hr. You may need to learn how to do it yourself - or, sell, and buy one with more recent fabric.

As a guess, $35 grand for a cover job with simple color scheme,assuming no work needs to be done on structure. Count on spar work being lots extra. $35 grand buys a pretty good Citabria!
 
Interestingly enough, there's an L-16 project up by me and I'd bet it wouldn't even be worth it to restore it if you had to buy an engine and pay a shop to do the fabric/paint. It's cheap but needs some fuselage/frame work. Step one is to see what it would cost to build a garage in the side yard...... :)
 
The fabric material is not to bad to buy but the labor will hurt if you are paying someone, I am an A&P and bought a project 79 ECA that was hail damaged so the structure is in good condition. This is somewhat of a starting to retire project and I just wanted one to play with I also have a Warrior to fly. The worst part of the labor in my opinion so far is the tear down sorting what you have then the dreaded remove old glue. I only work a couple of hours a day when I feel like it and think it will take about 1 year in my garage to cover and paint. I would suggest if you like the plane to find a club or EAA chapter that might help you and guide you though the project. This way its not a big surprise on hidden damage since you know the airplanes history and I think it's kind fun to do. The other option is find someone like me who needs something to do and will be more than fair for labor. This is not hard just time consuming. Good luck with your project.
 
JimParker256 said:
I use an iPad Mini 4 in a RAM mount. My setup is a RAM Claw Yoke Mount (RAP-B-400U), a RAM Standard Arm (RAM-B-201U), and the RAM iPad Mini 4 Perfect Fit Cradle with 1” Ball (RAM-B-202-AP20U). It clamps very firmly to one of the tubes on the left side, and I'm confident it would hold firm and steady even through any aerobatics a CItabria can handle. The iPad itself blocks very little of the outside view, and the only instrument it blocks is the OAT gauge, which I rarely refer to in flight.
Click to expand...
Just tried the RAM mount setup and it works great! Modified it a bit for Mini w/Otterbox, and mounting it on right side near G-meter. Much better than looking down at kneeboard mount.

Thanks!Mini with RAM.webp
 
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