More fun flying The Predator.

[Tyger]

A bit of duplication there, Vance 😊

 

[Vance]

A bit of duplication there, Vance 😊

Sorry, I am still trying to learn to use my new laptop (the old one died). My head is filled with radio questions and I am anxious to get down to the hangar to resolve the radio challenges.

 

[j4flyer]

Vance could the antenna on your gps be going bad ? I know on some Garmin units the antenna actually has power going to it. I’m not sure if the portables have that too. But, if you could swap out the GPS for another it might change the noise level. Just a thought.

 

[Vance]

A good thought thank you. I found simply unplugging the GPS and leaving it on the bench made no difference. The noise seems to be coming from the voltage adapter for the GPS. I pulled the fuse and it solved that particular problem.

Listening to the video I feel I have too problems, an intermittent connection and the alternator is whining. Six years ago I purchased a used lone star aviation The Eliminator filter and never installed it. I am in the middle of mounting it and hooking it up. I am hoping it will solve the GPS panel power problem and get rid of the alternator noise. I located the power wire to the radio and have tapped into it. I hope to get the filter mounted and hooked up tomorrow.

Today I grounded the radio again and hope that was the source of the intermittent noise.

I hope to test her tomorrow.

 

[DavePA11]

Did the capacitor after the alternator fail?

 

[DonBishop]

I'd smuggle in Vodka by putting it in a Scope bottle and adding a few drops of food coloring.

 

[Tyger]

I'd smuggle in Vodka by putting it in a Scope bottle and adding a few drops of food coloring.

We used to put "white" in mineral water bottles, and "brown" in iced-tea bottles. No need for food coloring! 😁
In the theatre, conversely, tea is often used to simulate whisky...
(Sorry, Vance)

 

[Vance]

Did the capacitor after the alternator fail?

That is a very good question Dave. I don't have a capacitor on the alternator and in the past I only picked up alternator noise when my diodes were going out. I am going to explore that further.

 

[Sv.grainne]

That is a very good question Dave. I don't have a capacitor on the alternator and in the past I only picked up alternator noise when my diodes were going out. I am going to explore that further.

Alternators don't require the large electrolytic capacitor.

 

[Vance]

I like trying cheap easy solutions. Some people feel a capacitor has value with an alternator. I will let you know how it turns out. I will try The Eliminator first. Ed and I are both down with some sort of cold or flu so it may be a bit before I get back to work. As usual Ed has it worse than I do. I thought marrying a child bride would mean I had someone to take care of me in my old age.

 

[Sv.grainne]

You cradle robber! Hope it's nothing serious.

 

[Martin W.]

Sorry, I am still trying to learn to use my new laptop (the old one died). My head is filled with radio questions and I am anxious to get down to the hangar to resolve the radio challenges.

Tyger said:
A bit of duplication there, Vance

Vance .... laptop issues are one thing ... as long as your mind works OK ... My head shut down 2 weeks ago while posting on an automotive forum ... I had gathered several pictures and technical content in preparation .... after posting somebody pointed out I had already done it the previous week .... they are still teasing me about it.

Your picture of Ed is photographic proof that aviators and motorcycle guys always get the good looking girls. Very nice.

Resasi .... I enjoyed your story .... here is mine .... 1980's I was riding with my boss in his Bell 47 on a ferry flight in the far north .... landed beside a remote Indian reserve to refuel from Jerry cans we had strapped to the skids ..... muskeg was melting and the machine began to sink in the mud ... boss kept power on and collective lift to stop the sinking but when I was done refueling the helicopter could not lift itself out of the mud .... he reached under his seat and pulled out a bottle of Seagram's 5-Star whiskey and waved it at the group of reserve citizens who had been watching us flounder in the mud .... 4 big guys immediately came over .... almost knee-deep in the mud .... lifted on the skids until we got into a hover .... boss then tossed the bottle out to them but rather than hit somebody in the head he threw it to one side .... and it promptly sank in the mud .... my last glimpse was of them arms-deep in the mud trying to find it.

At one mining camp we had a Muslim worker who would skip two (daytime) meals on Ramadan .... breakfast and dinner ..... but after sundown he was allowed to eat again ... and he sure did ... the equivalent of four or five meals in one feast .... it did not seem like much of a sacrifice to me , he ate more than the rest of us..

.

 

[Vance]

After a couple days of bed rest with what I think is the flu I headed down to the hangar to finish what I had started with the Lone Star Eliminator filter.

I figured a way to mount the filter and wired her up. I worked on the grounds and after a careful pre-flight inspection went flying for about 40 minutes doing eight patterns.

I would have flown for longer but a C130 was doing pattern work and I have a low fear threshold when it comes to wake turbulence from a heavy.

I called the tower on the phone afterward and Madison said the radio was loud and clear. She even went so far as to use the word “perfect”.

Unfortunately I am still hearing some loud intermittent static in the head set and it seems related to the power setting. I don’t get the noise at wide open throttle and I don’t get the noise when I pull the engine to idle. The most likely time for it to happen is when I pull the throttle back a little to maintain altitude. It stops making the noise as soon as I push to talk and the tower didn’t hear the static.

The panel is rubber mounted and I tried pushing on it when it was making the noise and it made no. measurable difference.

I feel it would be a distraction for a client so I am going to continue to work on her tomorrow.

I will dig around in the rotor tower making certain the grounds are clean with no resistance.

I think the noise from the panel power for the GPS is a bad male plug. It made the noise when I started her up, then I wiggled the plug and blew the fuse the noise stoped even when the GPS is on battery power.

Today was very satisfying even though I spent too much time upside down.

My video failed and that is where I heard the alternator noise so that is still an unknown.

I am excited with the progress.

 

[j4flyer]

Have you checked your headset plug ?

 

[JETLAG03]

After a couple days of bed rest with what I think is the flu I headed down to the hangar to finish what I had started with the Lone Star Eliminator filter.

I figured a way to mount the filter and wired her up. I worked on the grounds and after a careful pre-flight inspection went flying for about 40 minutes doing eight patterns.

I would have flown for longer but a C130 was doing pattern work and I have a low fear threshold when it comes to wake turbulence from a heavy.

I called the tower on the phone afterward and Madison said the radio was loud and clear. She even went so far as to use the word “perfect”.

Unfortunately I am still hearing some loud intermittent static in the head set and it seems related to the power setting. I don’t get the noise at wide open throttle and I don’t get the noise when I pull the engine to idle. The most likely time for it to happen is when I pull the throttle back a little to maintain altitude. It stops making the noise as soon as I push to talk and the tower didn’t hear the static.

The panel is rubber mounted and I tried pushing on it when it was making the noise and it made no. measurable difference.

I feel it would be a distraction for a client so I am going to continue to work on her tomorrow.

I will dig around in the rotor tower making certain the grounds are clean with no resistance.

I think the noise from the panel power for the GPS is a bad male plug. It made the noise when I started her up, then I wiggled the plug and blew the fuse the noise stoped even when the GPS is on battery power.

Today was very satisfying even though I spent too much time upside down.

My video failed and that is where I heard the alternator noise so that is still an unknown.

I am excited with the progress.

Hi Vance. If you blew the GPS fuse and the transformer stopped working but the GPS continued on internal batteries without interference, it could be the transformer is creating some of the interference

 

[dunc]

You might try attaching an oscilloscope to the power bus to see how clean the DC power is at various throttle settings. A storage scope model would be best. It would trigger from noise pulses.

 

[Vance]

Have you checked your headset plug ?

I good suggestion; thank you J4flyer.

I like to think I have checked the plugs but I will do it more deliberately.

I hear the noise in the video and it is plugged into the passenger headset plug.

The plan today is to verify grounds with an ohm meter while moving things around.

I once lost communication and trim because of a bad ground in the tower.

It was grounded to a large aluminum panel in the tower that is screwed to the tower frame in fourteen places. It took me a while to figure it out and I still find it puzzling.

There is one push to talk wire that I am particularly interested in where it crosses from the front of the tower to the rear. It is a shielded wire that I tapped into and then spliced.

I hope to fiddle with everything methodically while I listen to the radio for the noise.

The Predator first flew in 1999 and lives and flies near the ocean.

I rewired a lot in this last update but not everything.

I almost didn’t fly because of my recent illness.

I was pleased with how well I was flying after not flying for four months.

I did a short approach, a go around, engine at idle accurate landing and managed some complex radio communications dealing with a student flying closed traffic in a jet practicing no flap landings.

I found him hard to find because he was low and fast.

I have increased runway separation with a jet, 4,500 feet.

I feel currency is a very important part of aviation safety.

 

[Vance]

Hi Vance. If you blew the GPS fuse and the transformer stopped working but the GPS continued on internal batteries without interference, it could be the transformer is creating some of the interference

That is my thought as well JETLAGO3; thank you! The plug has gotten a little loose over time and I will replace them both. As far as the transformer goes that will require some parts. The first time it did it I removed the fuse to stop the noise, the second time I just wiggled the plug pulling it out and putting it back in and that blew the fuse.

 

[Vance]

You might try attaching an oscilloscope to the power bus to see how clean the DC power is at various throttle settings. A storage scope model would be best. It would trigger from noise pulses.

An interesting suggestion dunc. I don't have an oscilloscope and don't know where I would get one. My sense was the filter was doing a good job of filtering. This is pure conjecture on my part.

 

[Sv.grainne]

What video?