I could, I suppose. What I was initially wondering was what's inside the shell. I've answered that question--it's solid high-density foam all the way through. But I suppose I could dissect it farther, yes, by cutting through the foam. I can certainly do that. I have a pretty dense lineup for the next couple of months; I don't think it'll happen before August.
@@fsodn thanx for getting back.. actually I didn't know what a Marker Beacon was and by seeing a dissected antenna I thought it would have given me an idea of the frequency band these things worked on.. so I felt a little disappointed that the actual antenna details didn't get shown; no problem, googled it and all has been revealed! Regards, Vk3OLA
@@lmantuano6986 No problem, thanks for writing! Yeah, I have two older videos on my channel that mention marker beacons. I have a video from a few years ago that has "antenna tour" in the title. I go over all the antennas on my Mooney; the airplane I owned at the time, and it talks about the marker beacon antenna. Then I have one about a year ago that shows marker beacon antennas on two different airplanes (both not mine) that I saw tied down on a ramp at an airport. One of those was the old-style, like 3 feet long, and a much smaller one very much like the one I dissected here.
@@fsodn Ah, thanx again for expanding the subject! Confirmation of my google searches where ILS signals are on 75MHz.. the "old style 3ft long" one you mention matches 1/4 wave length at 75MHz as the full wave length for such frequency is 4 meters..! Next one to figure out is VOR, 108-117MHz (somewhat shorter antennas), but I don't suppose small GA planes are equipped with VOR, or are they? I'm not into flying, so that's why my curiosity, I am into boats thought, where we deal with HF and VHF comms, AIS (also VHF) and EPIRB beacons on UHF (older emergency beacons were on 121/243MHz for both Air and Marine). regards, vk3ola
@@lmantuano6986 Hi, thanks for the questions! I have a few corrects. First, please go look at my antenna tour video: ua-cam.com/video/a-uJzFEu2KU/v-deo.html Several of your questions are answered there as I walk around the Mooney that I used to own, which had a marker beacon antenna and receiver, and VOR/ILS (+ glideslope) antenna and other various antennas. However, as far as the various signals that a pre-GPS plane would use for approaches, here are my understandings of those signals and their antennas. First, there's VOR, which is VHF Omnidirectional Radiobeacon. The signals are two sub-frequencies (one is omnidirectional and pulses, one is constant amplitude that physically rotates) that use phase and amplitude together to allow the receiver to determine what direction from the transmitting station it is. The transmitting band is 108-118 MHz, horizontally polarized. Antennas are "whisker" antennas often on the tail tips of small GA airplanes. The antennas of usually bent forward or backwards so that there isn't a null spot if you happen to be side-on to the signal. For old-school IFR planes, VOR is used for horizontal navigation (range typically 50+ miles from the transmitter, often 80+). Also used for some non-precision approaches. A single VOR will give you a line from a beacon that you're on, but two beacons will give you precise position. VOR has a audio modulated on it., which most of the time sends a morse code identifier that tells the pilot that the beacon is up and valid. There's DME, "Distance Measuring Equipment". Airplane sends a pulse at a certain frequency, ground transceiver returns that pulse, time delay determines distance from the transceiver. Vertically polarized, 500-ish MHz. VOR+DME gives you precise position with a single pair of signals. Range is also out to 50+ miles. DME is used for many pre-GPS approaches. Small vertical blade, or stick and ball antenna on the bottom of the plane. Then there are the signals received by planes specifically for approaches. First there's localizer, which use the same frequency bands as VOR, 108-118 MHz, also horizontally polarized, typically same antenna. Uses two sub-beams for the left and right part of the beam modulated differently so that the receiver can tell very precisely where it is left to right, and presents that as a needle deflection. Also has an audio carrier that has the Morse code identifier on it. There are lots of localizer-only approaches. They're considered non-precision, because no vertical guidance. Localizers are useful out to 10 or 20 miles, but highly directional, transmitted up the glide path that the airplane will be travelling down for the approach. ILS, then, is a localizer beacon (above) on the same runway as a *glideslope* signal. Glideslope signals are roughly in the 500-ish MHz range, and are transmitted horizontally-polarized, highly directional up along the glide path. The glideslope signal frequencies are paired in a hidden way with the localizer signals. You never see the glideslope frequency, you just select the localizer frequency and the glideslope comes along with it if it's there. Through a physics miracle (which was of course known when these systems were designed) the glideslope frequencies can also be received on the same VOR/localizer antenna. So frequently planes will only have one antenna for all three, and then the glideslope signals will be split out by a passive splitter before being passed along to the receiver. Then finally, there's the marker beacons. Marker beacons alert the pilot to certain horizonal positions where they need to change configurations or do certain checks. They are a single frequency, 75 MHz. They're highly directional; straight up from a point on the ground. The airplane only receives them within a half mile or so of a certain position. There's only one frequency, but different audio modulated on the frequency tells the pilot (and receiver) that it's an "outer marker", a "middle marker" or an "inner marker", which are places along the precision approach.
OK... part 2 coming soon?
I could, I suppose. What I was initially wondering was what's inside the shell. I've answered that question--it's solid high-density foam all the way through.
But I suppose I could dissect it farther, yes, by cutting through the foam. I can certainly do that. I have a pretty dense lineup for the next couple of months; I don't think it'll happen before August.
@@fsodn thanx for getting back.. actually I didn't know what a Marker Beacon was and by seeing a dissected antenna I thought it would have given me an idea of the frequency band these things worked on.. so I felt a little disappointed that the actual antenna details didn't get shown; no problem, googled it and all has been revealed!
Regards,
Vk3OLA
@@lmantuano6986 No problem, thanks for writing! Yeah, I have two older videos on my channel that mention marker beacons. I have a video from a few years ago that has "antenna tour" in the title. I go over all the antennas on my Mooney; the airplane I owned at the time, and it talks about the marker beacon antenna. Then I have one about a year ago that shows marker beacon antennas on two different airplanes (both not mine) that I saw tied down on a ramp at an airport. One of those was the old-style, like 3 feet long, and a much smaller one very much like the one I dissected here.
@@fsodn Ah, thanx again for expanding the subject! Confirmation of my google searches where ILS signals are on 75MHz.. the "old style 3ft long" one you mention matches 1/4 wave length at 75MHz as the full wave length for such frequency is 4 meters..!
Next one to figure out is VOR, 108-117MHz (somewhat shorter antennas), but I don't suppose small GA planes are equipped with VOR, or are they?
I'm not into flying, so that's why my curiosity, I am into boats thought, where we deal with HF and VHF comms, AIS (also VHF) and EPIRB beacons on UHF (older emergency beacons were on 121/243MHz for both Air and Marine).
regards,
vk3ola
@@lmantuano6986 Hi, thanks for the questions! I have a few corrects.
First, please go look at my antenna tour video: ua-cam.com/video/a-uJzFEu2KU/v-deo.html
Several of your questions are answered there as I walk around the Mooney that I used to own, which had a marker beacon antenna and receiver, and VOR/ILS (+ glideslope) antenna and other various antennas.
However, as far as the various signals that a pre-GPS plane would use for approaches, here are my understandings of those signals and their antennas.
First, there's VOR, which is VHF Omnidirectional Radiobeacon. The signals are two sub-frequencies (one is omnidirectional and pulses, one is constant amplitude that physically rotates) that use phase and amplitude together to allow the receiver to determine what direction from the transmitting station it is. The transmitting band is 108-118 MHz, horizontally polarized. Antennas are "whisker" antennas often on the tail tips of small GA airplanes. The antennas of usually bent forward or backwards so that there isn't a null spot if you happen to be side-on to the signal. For old-school IFR planes, VOR is used for horizontal navigation (range typically 50+ miles from the transmitter, often 80+). Also used for some non-precision approaches. A single VOR will give you a line from a beacon that you're on, but two beacons will give you precise position. VOR has a audio modulated on it., which most of the time sends a morse code identifier that tells the pilot that the beacon is up and valid.
There's DME, "Distance Measuring Equipment". Airplane sends a pulse at a certain frequency, ground transceiver returns that pulse, time delay determines distance from the transceiver. Vertically polarized, 500-ish MHz. VOR+DME gives you precise position with a single pair of signals. Range is also out to 50+ miles. DME is used for many pre-GPS approaches. Small vertical blade, or stick and ball antenna on the bottom of the plane.
Then there are the signals received by planes specifically for approaches.
First there's localizer, which use the same frequency bands as VOR, 108-118 MHz, also horizontally polarized, typically same antenna. Uses two sub-beams for the left and right part of the beam modulated differently so that the receiver can tell very precisely where it is left to right, and presents that as a needle deflection. Also has an audio carrier that has the Morse code identifier on it. There are lots of localizer-only approaches. They're considered non-precision, because no vertical guidance. Localizers are useful out to 10 or 20 miles, but highly directional, transmitted up the glide path that the airplane will be travelling down for the approach.
ILS, then, is a localizer beacon (above) on the same runway as a *glideslope* signal. Glideslope signals are roughly in the 500-ish MHz range, and are transmitted horizontally-polarized, highly directional up along the glide path. The glideslope signal frequencies are paired in a hidden way with the localizer signals. You never see the glideslope frequency, you just select the localizer frequency and the glideslope comes along with it if it's there. Through a physics miracle (which was of course known when these systems were designed) the glideslope frequencies can also be received on the same VOR/localizer antenna. So frequently planes will only have one antenna for all three, and then the glideslope signals will be split out by a passive splitter before being passed along to the receiver.
Then finally, there's the marker beacons. Marker beacons alert the pilot to certain horizonal positions where they need to change configurations or do certain checks. They are a single frequency, 75 MHz. They're highly directional; straight up from a point on the ground. The airplane only receives them within a half mile or so of a certain position. There's only one frequency, but different audio modulated on the frequency tells the pilot (and receiver) that it's an "outer marker", a "middle marker" or an "inner marker", which are places along the precision approach.