Stupid transponder...

Sounds like fun ... but not much! Dang. Well, at least you weren't DRIVING! :)
 
Ugh, Jesse. That sucks (listening now, but I can guess what happened).
 
Sorry again about that , that co-axial cable overheats sometimes and maintainance cannot figure out why.
 
That's cool! I take it Clay is the maintenance guy for the plane? Welcome to PoA, dude!
 
SkyHog said:
That's cool! I take it Clay is the maintenance guy for the plane? Welcome to PoA, dude!
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Clay is the owner.

Welcome to POA Clay.

Always interesting to see who lurks :)
 
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taters said:
Sorry again about that , that co-axial cable overheats sometimes and maintainance cannot figure out why.
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I know transponders operate in the microwaves but they aren't supposed to cook anything! :)

Clay, welcome to the board! :cheerswine:
 
jeez i think every pilot in Lincoln is on the forum. you guys should have a fly-in or something! welcome!
 
taters said:
Sorry again about that , that co-axial cable overheats sometimes and maintainance cannot figure out why.
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Hi Clay- Welcome!

I'm no mechanic or electrician, but having established my lack of credentials, I'll give a guess anyway. Heat in a cable is a result of resistance. Are the connections good? Also, impedance acts like resistance to an AC circuit- is the correct coax being used?

Best regards!
-->Jack
 
KennyFlys said:
I know transponders operate in the microwaves but they aren't supposed to cook anything! :)
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I assume that Clay meant that the antenna cable can be damaged by something hot next to it, not from the transponder output. While the peak power is usually a couple hundred watts, the average power (which is what could generate heat) is a fraction of a watt.

BTW FWIW, the frequency that transponders use is 1100 MHz with a wavelength of about 30 mm, hsrdly what is normally considerd microwaves.

Clay, welcome to the board! :cheerswine:
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ditto
 
lancefisher said:
BTW FWIW, the frequency that transponders use is 1100 MHz with a wavelength of about 30 mm, hsrdly what is normally considerd microwaves.
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I never believed it was from the unit, itself. But, when you compare that wavelength to when as a teen I would load up a long wire on 80 meters... :)
 
KennyFlys said:
I never believed it was from the unit, itself. But, when you compare that wavelength to when as a teen I would load up a long wire on 80 meters... :)
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What blows me away is that not very long ago, anything above 1.5 MHz was labeled "Shortwave".
 
lancefisher said:
I assume that Clay meant that the antenna cable can be damaged by something hot next to it, not from the transponder output. While the peak power is usually a couple hundred watts, the average power (which is what could generate heat) is a fraction of a watt.
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Possible- I didn't read it that way.

lancefisher said:
BTW FWIW, the frequency that transponders use is 1100 MHz with a wavelength of about 30 mm, hsrdly what is normally considerd microwaves.
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I thought microwaves were wavelengths between 1 meter and a millimeter. For example, microwave ovens operate at around a 12 cm wavelength. A 3 cm wavelength falls within this range. What definition for microwave are you using?
 
Stuck up approach control. Back before the ADIZ hysteria, I've operated in and out of Dulles with no transponder while they had their PRIMARY radar out of service (can you say invisible?).

I even managed to get in one night without a transponder or a comm transmitter.

As a matter of fact, just last June I was able to "flight of two" a avionics-dead queen air out of Dulles.
 
Cap'n Jack said:
Possible- I didn't read it that way.
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Whichever he meant, there's no possibility that a transponder can generate enough RF to thermally harm the coax antenna cable, and FWIW, the heating effects are proportional to power not frequency when the wavelength is shorter than the cable involved. Even if there was enough power coming from a transponder or other RF source to heat something up, a transmission line that's even roughly matched impedance wise with the source won't absorb much of it

I thought microwaves were wavelengths between 1 meter and a millimeter. For example, microwave ovens operate at around a 12 cm wavelength. A 3 cm wavelength falls within this range. What definition for microwave are you using?
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There are no doubt, several "definitions" of what constitutes the "microwave" portion of the EM spectrum and 1-1000 mm is indeed a popular one. My personal perspective is that microwaves are frequencies where waveguides are practical and that starts around 2.5GHz (12 cm) and to be fair, the 2.45 GHz frequency of most "microwave" ovens barely complies.

3 cm falls in that range, but 1100 M has a wavelength of almost 30 cm which makes for very unwieldy waveguides.
 
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hey jesse..kinda off topic but how did you get that pic in your avatar???

Who took that..were you flying formation....i want a pic like that :)

Ant
 
SupraPilot said:
hey jesse..kinda off topic but how did you get that pic in your avatar???

Who took that..were you flying formation....i want a pic like that :)

Ant
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Duct tape a camera on the wing with a remote trigger. :)

Or, was Tristan wing walking?
 
Yeah, not when you can clearly see the winglet on the end of the wing... :)
 
SupraPilot said:
hey jesse..kinda off topic but how did you get that pic in your avatar???

Who took that..were you flying formation....i want a pic like that :)

Ant
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Tristan took the picture. Kent (flyingcheesehead) was flying the other airplane (182). The purpose of the flight was to take some good pictures of the Diamond. The 182 and DA-20 have very similar performance characteristics.

There are some more pictures here:
http://jesseangell.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=11
 
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