Michael, your Stormscope installation sounds fine.  Please expand on the
following:

Is the BC alternator really "standby", or is it on all of the time?  

The are two busses, the primary, powered by the B&C, providing juice to the
flight instruments, autopilot, and Garmin.  The current draw at cruise is
about 4 amps, 28 volt system.  It is "on all the time, but there is a
SCR/switcth for connecting the main alternator and secondary bus, which
powers everything else.


When it is off line do you still get the strikes?

No.  I pull the field breaker to the B&C, tie the busses (sp?) together, and
the Strikefinder works fine.  

The radial clusters that form when the B&C are up and running point directly
to/from the relative bearing of the antenna to the physical location of the
alternator on the vacuum pad mount.

Where is your antenna installation (inside or out)?

Outside in the center of the triangle between the main gear doors.

and what did you do for a
ground plane ( how large, etc.)

No ground plane other than good contact with the bare carbon.  The cables to
the hydraulic pump are off to the fuselage side.  Only things around are
pressure switch for hydraulics, landing gear micro switches.  I found a 24
volt in line blower for the cabin air, very light in weight, and that is
mounted for aft.

Hope this helps.

 Also, what electrical devices or cables are
nearby?

Marshall Michaelian (SQL)



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