Like Chris C, I have a switch on the panel that I can use to activate my ELT rather than waiting on the G-switch. Would it not be possible to wire in a better (solid-state accelerometer) switch that would do the same thing as my finger? In the case of an accident, this more modern switch might work better than the ELT internal switch. Electronics guys out there???

Greg

I also have and external switch on my panel, and the ELT back in the tail cone. My questions are, is it possible to wire my aera 500 into the elt? And can I do so through the external switch, or do I have to run wires all the way back to the elt?

David

GregA wrote:Like Chris C, I have a switch on the panel that I can use to activate my ELT rather than waiting on the G-switch. Would it not be possible to wire in a better (solid-state accelerometer) switch that would do the same thing as my finger? In the case of an accident, this more modern switch might work better than the ELT internal switch. Electronics guys out there???

Greg

That's a great idea! I wonder how the FAA would feel about such a thing replacing (or being in parallel to) a human finger...

A1Skinner wrote:I also have and external switch on my panel, and the ELT back in the tail cone. My questions are, is it possible to wire my aera 500 into the elt? And can I do so through the external switch, or do I have to run wires all the way back to the elt?

David

Some ELT's have NEMA inputs on the case. If your GPS has a NEMA interface, one could imagine it might be a minor integration to allow your ELT to query for the NEMA sentences. GPS boards are dirt simple and cheap to play with these days:

https://www.sparkfun.com/search/results?term=gps&what=products

You could mount the tiny antenna just about anywhere with a view looking up outside your aluminum fuselage. Many of these are configurable for data rate to make synchronization easier. If you want details, PM me. I think this might be easier than stringing a data line back to the ELT. You just wouldn't be able to verify the operation very well without plugging in and checking with your laptop or mobile device.

I also don't have a clue what the legality of plugging in a non-TSO'd NEMA device into your ELT would be, and I have my doubts given the 5x price differences between GPS equipped 406's and blind or GPS-ready units.

That's a great idea! I wonder how the FAA would feel about such a thing replacing (or being in parallel to) a human finger...

Although I'm flying an experimental where most anything goes (and if you build such a switch, I bet it would sell like hotcakes in the experimental community at the very least), I still bet the FAA would not have a major problem with such an arrangement in a certified airplane. Maybe I should apply for a STC to help fund my retirement....

Cheers,
Greg

Having a remote switch for your ELT is great as long as it is a 406 mhz. Just remember that if you activate the switch and then need to talk on 121.5 your transmission will be drowned out by the beacon noise. If someone is close by, they may hear you but it is not gauranteed. Just something to think about before flipping the switch.

prop

propeller26 wrote:Having a remote switch for your ELT is great as long as it is a 406 mhz. Just remember that if you activate the switch and then need to talk on 121.5 your transmission will be drowned out by the beacon noise. If someone is close by, they may hear you but it is not gauranteed. Just something to think about before flipping the switch.

prop

Good point. IIRC, most (if not all?) 406 units also emit a weak 121.5 wail for SAR to use for homing. So if one activates the 406ELT, you've pretty much eliminated communication on 121.5??? How about 406 PLBs, same issue?

Mark J

ACR 406 plbs emit on both 121.5 and 406. No such thing as a "weak" enough signal to let you talk when that thing is going off. You will need to shut either off to talk on 121.5 or any frequency close to it.

I just found this out last weekend. There is turbulence severe enough to set off an ELT - but I think mine is installed in a horrible place - the lid of my baggage compartment. The lid slamming shut after turb is probably what set it off.

Lee - you don't need to hack one of these gps interfaces up to the ELT if it has a NMEA interface. Dynon makes a standalone gps receiver for its skyviews - should plug right in, no? Or with a little wiring to whatever DB connector is required. It's probably nothing more than RS232 - which is 4 wires. Not TSO'd but it will work - and will work reliably. $200. The ELT won't care whether the signal comes from a TSO or not - only your A&P and the FAA will. And since you can velcro the thing to your skylight and plug it in/out for your annuals - I might be willing to take my chances.

http://dynonavionics.com/docs/SkyView_GPS_Module.html

I know these same damn waas-capable cheap ass gps receivers can plug into your mode-s compliant transceiver - but because of the wording of the TSO requirements for ADS-B IN you are not legal to use them - you have to have a very expensive TSO gps unit that weighs a poop-ton for the moment to comply w/ ads-b in.

GregA wrote:Maybe I should apply for a STC to help fund my retirement....

Maybe the FAA will be fast enough to issue your grand kids an STC before they retire.

soyAnarchisto wrote:$200.

That's my kind of price range...

As regards to transmitting on 121.5 after turning on ELT remotely -
I would most likely be in a place where I am talking on 122.9 or other local freq.

Chris C

wannabe wrote:As regards to transmitting on 121.5 after turning on ELT remotely -
I would most likely be in a place where I am talking on 122.9 or other local freq.

Chris C

Try it. Happened to me last weekend. ELT went off due to turbulence and drowned out my whole radio and I couldn't hear or xmit on 122.74. Of course this was a handheld and it was within 2 ft of the ELT. If your installation is far away like remote install and antenna in tail section and radio a
Is up front and antenna on the wing it may be a little better but I doubt it.

I didn't read the original e-mail and I have had mixed feelings on the CAP. Seems like a private flying club for some, a good volunteer endevor for others. Probably matters who is in it and who is in charge. I know some of the members here and they would be first out to try and help. When my dad crashed in Fairbanks the Fairbanks CAP was unbelievable. They flew MANY hours and glady worked with the many pilots who turned out to help look. It was really a humbling effort, I can't thank all those people enough. People turned out just because someone was missing and wanted to help. I would put some names down but there were so many involved, I don't know if there even was a list. Some of the people we recruited to help didn't want anything to do with the CAP and wanted to just do their own thing and act on their hunches. Can't turn anyone down but we didn't want them buzzing through where people were doing the grid searches. I learned a lot about S&R in that. The wreck was eventually found by the third plane flying through that grid. Once we knew where it was things were pretty obvious but at least two others had missed it. After an initial "look see" I think a search has to be done by the grid method and the method has to be done thoroughly to consider the area searched. Just before the plane was found they were going to greatly expand the search area and we insisted that they keep on the flight path he was on and this was just for a well traveled 50 mile flight, sure enough the plane was found almost right on course. In my dad's case the ELT burned up so that didn't do any good. This was 7 years ago and a 121.5 ELT. Now I leave specific instructions with my wife that if I am not heard from and over due by a set amount call a list of phone numbers for people near the intended flight or the last SPOT tracking pin. Then if they don't see anything call the authorities and then get as many people as possible on a coordinated search using the CAP methods in that area. Fill the seats of the plane, don't count the pilot as a spotter if possible, fly at 800 feet and don't try to look to far to the side. Also you are looking for small parts or signs of a plane. If there is no signal or I (or any pilot) isn't making efforts to be seen though it starts to lean towards helping the life insurance process move along more quickly. In my dad's case the Anchorage (Elmendorf?) rescue coodination center was awesome too.

I am new to this site and I am not a pilot. I subscribed and was accepted (thank you for that) so that I may learn from pilots themselves. If this post is in reference to the botched S&R job with the plane lost near Fillmore, Utah there are many facets to the whole issue that were messed up. Yes, additional resources interested in assisting the search were repeatedly refused. I look forward to learning as much as I can about ELT's and small aircraft. From time to time I may ask silly questions, but I am just trying to learn so I apologize in advance. The Piper aircraft and S&R has negatively impacted my life tremendously and I want to know as much about them as I can. Again thank you in advance.

ShysDad wrote:I am new to this site and I am not a pilot. I subscribed and was accepted (thank you for that) so that I may learn from pilots themselves. If this post is in reference to the botched S&R job with the plane lost near Fillmore, Utah there are many facets to the whole issue that were messed up. Yes, additional resources interested in assisting the search were repeatedly refused. I look forward to learning as much as I can about ELT's and small aircraft. From time to time I may ask silly questions, but I am just trying to learn so I apologize in advance. The Piper aircraft and S&R has negatively impacted my life tremendously and I want to know as much about them as I can. Again thank you in advance.

Wow. Welcome. I hope you are able to find what you came for. FYI there are others on this site who are here to pay tribute or work through their own losses. This group understands better than most that aviation has some of the highest highs and also the lowest lows.

I'm so sorry for your loss.

-Denalipilot

Deleted

lesuther wrote:

A1Skinner wrote:I also have and external switch on my panel, and the ELT back in the tail cone. My questions are, is it possible to wire my aera 500 into the elt? And can I do so through the external switch, or do I have to run wires all the way back to the elt?

David

Some ELT's have NEMA inputs on the case. If your GPS has a NEMA interface, one could imagine it might be a minor integration to allow your ELT to query for the NEMA sentences. GPS boards are dirt simple and cheap to play with these days:

https://www.sparkfun.com/search/results?term=gps&what=products

You could mount the tiny antenna just about anywhere with a view looking up outside your aluminum fuselage. Many of these are configurable for data rate to make synchronization easier. If you want details, PM me. I think this might be easier than stringing a data line back to the ELT. You just wouldn't be able to verify the operation very well without plugging in and checking with your laptop or mobile device.

I also don't have a clue what the legality of plugging in a non-TSO'd NEMA device into your ELT would be, and I have my doubts given the 5x price differences between GPS equipped 406's and blind or GPS-ready units.

You cannot legally adapt a GPS input to an ELT that wasnt' designed and certified for that purpose. The good news is that the cheapest 406 ELT available on the market right now (the ACK 406) is certified to connect to almost any GPS. I have mine connected to a Garmin 396 and it works fine. Tyndall RCC verified that last summer . Those ELTs will also interface with any small GPS receiver with the NMEA output, so you could mount a separate GPS if you wanted. I thought about this, mounting a remote GPS back near the ELT, to avoid having to run the connection cable from panel mounted GPS to ELT. But, I'd have had to run a ship's power cable to the remote GPS.....

The ACK 406 sells for about $580 right now, and it is the least expensive 406 with GPS connectivity I believe.

MTV

Just to warn folks about the ACK 406 ELT. I was duped into thinking it was a good deal. We put one into a customer's aircraft last month. It turned out to be a nightmare. First off it requires three different batteries. The instructions for continued airworthiness requires tests every 90 days entered into the logbook. Then to dip that paper cut into a bit of lemon juice, if you interface it with a GPS, it requires a field approval for the 337. So it ends up as a 4 page 337, a visit by the FAA and a continuing nightmare to keep the bloodily thing legal. Buy a Spot and an ME406, which may be in trouble due to the velcro strap mounting…

One more 406 beacon adventure. I have been trying to re-register my 406 to me, since I bought the 185 last March. It took six call to NOAA to make it happen. Only two calls actually netted humans. The others where message machines that told me to leave a number, they are all at meetings, but will return your call within two hours. Well, they never called back. It seems until they call the previous owner and get a release you cannot re-enter the information on the web page. I finally had to resort to threatening them with a call to the Ombudsman to get them to actually call the previous owner and return my call. Almost 13 months to get this done. I now remember why I left NOAA, it stands for No Organization At All.

One more 406 beacon adventure. I have been trying to re-register my 406 to me, since I bought the 185 last March. It took six call to NOAA to make it happen. Only two calls actually netted humans. The others where message machines that told me to leave a number, they are all at meetings, but will return your call within two hours. Well, they never called back. It seems until they call the previous owner and get a release you cannot re-enter the information on the web page. I finally had to resort to threatening them with a call to the Ombudsman to get them to actually call the previous owner and return my call. Almost 13 months to get this done. I now remember why I left NOAA, it stands for No Organization At All

HOLY CRAP! That's something to remember when buying a aircraft.

ShysDad wrote:I am new to this site and I am not a pilot. I subscribed and was accepted (thank you for that) so that I may learn from pilots themselves. If this post is in reference to the botched S&R job with the plane lost near Fillmore, Utah there are many facets to the whole issue that were messed up. Yes, additional resources interested in assisting the search were repeatedly refused. I look forward to learning as much as I can about ELT's and small aircraft. From time to time I may ask silly questions, but I am just trying to learn so I apologize in advance. The Piper aircraft and S&R has negatively impacted my life tremendously and I want to know as much about them as I can. Again thank you in advance.

Sorry for your loss..... I posted and then removed the email I got pertaining to the Fillmore crash... I have since reposted it in another thread to help get the word out on how a S&R mission can go soooooooo frigging wrong.... If you don't find it on the other thread , let me know and I will repost it here........

Ben.
Jackson Hole Wy.