My ADS-B install

[aftCG]

I'm going to start by saying that if I didn't live inside a mode C veil I would probably not be installing a compliant transponder. With that out of the way, buckle up.

My plane will technically turn into a pumpkin in a few days. Call me a procrastinator if you would like. I've remained mostly silent over the last few years as owners drank the Kool aid and threw down early adopter cash to avoid the rush.

I passively read how one should skip the 978 and buy 1090 "because Canada". A recent kitplanes article describes how Canada will require installations with antennas top and bottom, and that current 1090 installations are not ready.

Score one point for procrastination I guess.

Early on I was going to go with the Garmin GDL82 and pick up one of the very plentiful 327 transponders coming on the market. I still like that as a solution.

My Avionics friend was willing to sell me any of the options but I wasn't high on his priority list and my $500 FAA refund expired (twice) waiting for him to get the GDL82 in stock..

Meanwhile he got a pile of Stratus ESGi bundles and offered me a good deal.

Unrelated, my uncle and I have a T-6 which was in need of a radio and transponder. So we pulled the trigger and got a Garmin 255XL nav/com and the stratus bundle.

Before his inventory dried up I scraped together the money to get an identical transponder for my Citabria.

And there it is.
Going sort of clockwise the white thing is the GPS wart which I'm likely to install right on the glare shield, transponder unit and the prewired harness, silver thing is a new ACK altitude encoder, black thing is the AHRS unit with ADS-B "in". In the foreground is the mega dollar USB power outlet sold by Stratus.

Where people have been fascinated by their ADS-B "in" solutions, I've detested the idea of a contraption glommed onto my panel or windows with the cords necessary to keep them alive.

Thankfully the black unit in the picture has no antennas and can be anywhere in the plane as long as it is oriented with the arrow pointed in the direction of flight. It gets all its power and information from the transponder and GPS antenna. Huge relief.

The USB port will be handy to keep my Dynon D3 charged while flying and for power to a tablet or my iFly 740.

I have to finish the T-6 installation but I'll post up details as I get started

 

[aftCG]

I'm short one piece of coax cable for the T-6, which will be made up for me Monday.

I had to go to my hangar today to unload airplane related tools and equipment because I'm headed to Death Valley next weekend.

Stopped to pet my Citabria and of course, next thing you know...

I've pulled the Narco AT-150 and encoder completely out. The tray for the Stratus is the same size (big relief). Looks to be a pretty straight forward install.

 

[Joesf]

How long did it to install the usb outlet and where did you put it?

 

[aftCG]

Okay so I'm back from my motorcycle trip in Death Valley and getting my head back into the airplane thing.

First picture below, a real forehead slapper for me. I've owned this plane going on three years now. I've had the top of that panel off half a dozen times. The contortions I've gone through to situate something on the forward side of the instrument panel while being able to see it through the windshield have been quite involved. I usually pull the front seat and invest a lot of time on my back. Why it has never occurred to me to jettison the door and gain easy access is one I got a good laugh out of yesterday.

I began working randomly yesterday and had four main tasks. I needed to install the "tray" for the transponder of course. I have to also install the GPS wart, the ADS-B "in" contraption, and also my new altitude encoder.

Mounting the altitude encoder in the T-6 took under five minutes. It will be the most challenging part of the Citabria for reasons I'll explain in a minute. Two of the easier jobs turned out to be the black ADS-B "in" contraption, and the GPS wart.

Unlike the cheap ADS-B in units which were all the rage for the past few years, this one does not need to be mounted up where its stubby antennae can see the sky, accompanied by the sprawl of loose cords. The only restriction is that it be oriented with the arrow pointed in the direction of flight, and apparently being near the centerline of the aircraft is desirable.

Mine found a home quite quickly on the upper section of boot cowl, adjacent to the brace from the panel to the boot cowl. I picked up one existing hole and made one more. There are two cables that plug in to the unit and you can see them both in the image below. I will of course zip tie the cables so the weight of the cables isn't putting a load on the plugs or connectors.

For the GPS wart I have decided to mount it right on the glare shield cover ahead of the compass. I had it all worked out last night but didn't drill any holes and didn't take any pictures. So I'll come back and update the thread tonight showing what I did there.

That leaves the tray and the altitude encoder. My old one never caused me any grief but when my avionics guy who is supervising me made up the complete wiring harness he encouraged me to get a new encoder. You know when an avionics guy does a double take after you tell him what equipment you have it is probably old, or was always junk (or both).

The new ACK encoder with RS232 is a bit larger than a pack of cigarettes and not much heavier, instead of the Campbell's soup can I removed. The old one was on the front side of the panel above my radio and transponder, extending forward. The new one takes up a little more real estate, and of course its mounting tray has a different bolt pattern. Realizing I would have some challenges figuring exactly where it would need to go to allow access and room for the cable connection (reference above discussion about removing the door), I decided to let that idea bake and work on the tray install.

It was about then that I realized that removing the entire right section of the panel would only take five fasteners, none of them particularly hard to reach. Oh and removing all the jacks and switches for hand mic, aux speaker, ELT and intercom - but that isn't hard.
I will be able to easily reach all the fasteners to mount the tray, easily line up and drill the encoder tray from the front side, get my spacers all figured out, and then slide the whole mess back into the corner.

I almost wish I could find a new (or newer) one and freshen up on 55 years of scabbed together ideas of what a radio stack should look like.

Edit: Oh, don't sweat the blue tape. It was temporarily applied labels when I was reconciling the COM radio with the Intercom system. I won't say there is no jury rigged automotive crap under my panel but I certainly haven't done it, and I'm correcting those shortcomings as I go.

 

[Joesf]

Thanks

 

[aftCG]

Thanks

The power receptacle plan is as follows: I'm going to mount it in the empty hole right under the Dynon D3 in the picture above. That it is the only plastic instrument hole plug that I have not replaced with metal is not coincidence. The receptacle will just barely slide through a 1" round hole, so I will be going with that. From there I can use a USB C cable only 6" long and plug into the Dynon for full time power (with 6 hour backup in the event of electrical system failure). I'm not OCD by any stretch but I hate loose cables and cigarette lighter adapters.

My old Narco radio had two +12V and two ground wires coming from the Avionics Master, and the VAL only needed one of each. The extra wires have been capped and stowed waiting for just this occasion. I need to crimp the wires to the connector pins provided and push them into the connector.
I'll post up more when I get to that stage.

 

[JimParker256]

The reason your "black" Appareo Stratus doesn't need to be mounted with a clear view of the sky is actually pretty clever engineering on Appareo's part... They designed the Stratus ESG transponder unit so that it allows the Stratus itself (the black box) to receive both the GPS positioning data and the ADS-B IN signals from the transponder antennas. They patented this "pass-thru" capability and it works extremely well, only requiring the cables from the ESG to the Stratus unit. Pretty slick!

I've got the same setup in my 7ECA, but since I already owned a Stratus 2, I was able to use a glareshield mount, along with the "passthrough cable kit" so I could easily transport the Stratus between multiple airplanes.

 

[aftCG]

Not sure why that's sideways when I upload it.
The tray is mounted. Even doing it this way getting the nuts on the screws was tedious. I'm sure I saved hours of laying on my back, repeatedly dropping nuts and losing them.

I worked out a strategy for mounting the altitude encoder but have to fabricate a piece and buy some hardware.

 

[Bartman]

Was the photo taken with an iPhone?

 

[aftCG]

Was the photo taken with an iPhone?

Nope. Google pixel. First time that has happened

 

[Bartman]

there's been a problem with iPhones, they tag the photo with an up reference but that reference in the code doesn't transfer to other platforms unless you trick-f' it just right. haven't heard of pixel phones doing that now.

i'll keep an eye on it

 

[aftCG]

Looks like I'm ready to head back to the hangar and get serious about this ADS-B thing.

I just finished fabricating a thin aluminum adapter plate to locate my new altitude encoder to the front side of the radio panel, pretty much exactly where the old one came out.

One problem I faced was the hole patterns were completely different and I couldn't salvage even one existing hole. I didn't really want to drill three new holes and leave four empty ones even though my plane isn't exactly Oshkosh Grand Champion material.
i also faced a challenge because the orientation of the new, lighter encoder had to be located in just the right spot to not interfere with the back structure of the radio panel, while still leaving room for the wire harness and access to the thumb screw.

So I used a piece of 0.020 aluminum to create an adapter plate which used the existing holes on the radio panel and located the base plate of the new encoder in the perfect spot AND cleared the back structure.
I picked up some threaded stand offs (coupling nuts). It took most of an hour but it came out exactly as planned.


And that just left mounting of the GPS wart.

 

[Bartman]

That is damn nice work sir! thanks for the explanation and photos, turned out great

 

[aftCG]

Managed to get the radio panel reinstalled today. While it took a while I still think removing it was the way to go.

I test fit both the transponder and my Val 2000 to check for issues. I expected some but there weren't any.
I got the encoder plumbed into the static system (no pics but I'll get some before it's done.

Next I test fit the glare shield. I had one of those "oh crap" moments when I realized my centrally located GPS wart 's coax cable might interfere with the instrument panel brace that goes forward to the boot cowl.

I'm happy to report that the brace is just off center enough that the coax will just miss it.

I routed the power wires and prepared to cut and crimp but the sun disappeared, taking my body heat with it.
I need to get two pieces of coax made up. One from the transponder to my existing transponder cable (the Narco had a stub piece hard mounted to the tray), and another to go from the GPS wart to the transponder.
Then it's time to power up and test it.

 

[Bartman]

that vinyl is a nice touch on the glareshield and the button head screws neaten up the avionics panel.

did that glareshield come from the factory like that you think?

 

[aftCG]

that vinyl is a nice touch on the glareshield and the button head screws neaten up the avionics panel.

did that glareshield come from the factory like that you think?

No clue on that padded glare shield. I've got to pay better attention to the other 7 series planes I see.
I've been given a vacuum formed plastic one in new condition but when I test fit the thing it turns out to be for a low panel

 

[Bob Turner]

Mine is aluminum, over which I stretched some simulated leather, using Barq's cement. It is the stretching that does the trick.

 

[aftCG]

I didn't get any pictures but today was "power on", including the USB aux power receptacle.

No smoke!

I still need to get the two short pieces of coax made up, and go through some configuration steps on the transponder.

 

[aftCG]

ADS-B installation is complete. Got my two pieces of coax made up and installed, then rolled the plane outside to see if it worked. I fired the plane up for the first time since late December and taxied out on the open ramp where I configured all the settings. There are many. ICAO number (you look up your tail number in the FAA database to find out what it is), tail number and data ranges for aircraft size and speed. You also make adjustments for location of the antenna relative to centerline and distance from the nose. Mine is right on center and 2M from the nose is as close as I can enter.

I wasn't sure about a couple of the other entries but eventually it found enough satellites and got signal from my encoder. It was a beautiful calm evening and I really wanted to fly it, but I still had not installed the glare shield or the cabin door. I also hadn't done anything like a preflight and it was getting dark. So I elected to live for another day and put the plane in the hangar.

I did fly the plane the next evening in marginal VFR, so I just remained in the pattern

Back on the ground I messed with the "in" side for a few minutes with no luck. There is some configuration change that needed to be made and if you are not a fan of Apple it is a rabbit trail.
I left defeated but at the trade show I talked to a rep at the booth and together we scratched our heads at why the android app on my phone couldn't connect. On the way home I slapped my forehead and realized that I needed to get my phone to log onto the WiFi signal put out by the 3i unit, and THEN connect. My iFly 740 was on the WiFi but it needed the GDL90 mode turned on and can't do it itself.

Not even a minute later I had my first traffic conflict. Since I was in my hangar with the door barely open I figured I had the right of way (subject to the laws of physics as final say of course).


I'll be back later to fill in details

 

[Rick]

What does the final product look like? I am curious bout going with this set up on my 96 citabria, looking at the Appareo website it says "If you are installing your Stratus ES/ESG in a certified aircraft (i.e. under TSO or STC), it must be installed by an Appareo dealer." Since ACA is not on the approved model list, installing the system and having an IA look it over seems is not an option. I ask because I would like to do the work myself to cut down on $3000 of install costs (or what every a shop charges).