So everyone can get an idea what Mosquito owners are up against and why so many have radio issues here is an overview of a common layout. Chuck can let us know how similar his machine is to this. (Chook might cringe when he reads about this layout).
There is no specified radio setup from the factory. Most owners go with a Sirio MD 118-137 antenna (to use without a ground plane) and mount it near the rear end of the helicopters fiberglass tail boom. The most convenient path for the coax cable is then to follow the tail rotor control cable which runs along the tail then down the left side of the engine (very close to the ignition coils) and through to the front of the machine.
For the ignition side the engine setup works like this (this is the XE285 setup, the factory are working on a very different layout they call an XE290). Its a 2 stroke 2 cylinder. The stator in the bottom of the engine is separated electrically into sections to power different functions (one section provides ignition power, another fuel injection power etc..) The unrectified power goes from the stator to the engine ECU (which the factory recommends mounting inside the cabin on the RHS). In the ECU power from each section of the stator (except one) gets separately rectified. The ECU then has built in CDI to drive the ignition coils. The engine has 2 sparkplugs for each cylinder, and has 2 coils per cylinder WIRED IN SERIES (yes, you read that right). The coils get mounted on the engine just below the head. The ECU wiring to the coils runs from inside the cabin on the RHS to the rear LHS of the engine. Its all low grade unshielded automotive wire.
