I have mounted my comm, txp, and marker beacon antennas on my Legacy but
now need to locate the ELT antenna.  I see three options here.

1. Mount an external antenna on top of the fuselage
2. Mount an external antenna on the belly of the fuselage
3. Mount an internal antenna

The antennas that come with most ELTs are just a thin wires and in my mind
not designed to handle Legacy speeds.  Also, they would not look too
appropriate on a sleek airframe like the Lancairs especially if mounted on
the top of the fuselage.  

I am concerned that an internally mounted antenna will not work
effectively due to the carbon skin blocking the signal and that a belly
mounted antenna would not effectively transmit to the receiving
satellites.

One builder suggested a ribbon antenna bonded across the back of the seat,
however the length of the antenna is longer than the width of the seat
requiring the antenna to be bent or trimmed.

I am curious as to what other builders have done or are planning to do for
the installation of their ELT antennas.  Also, does anyone know of any
test data showing the effectiveness of the various installations?

Jim Thomas
Legacy #166




__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Platinum - Watch CBS' NCAA March Madness, live on your desktop!
http://platinum.yahoo.com