David Whitley:
I now have the old post, forward top center of the fuselage, where the
ADF antenna wire runs back to the tail just below the rotating beacon.
Does someone have info about another spade-type antenna available, and
where it would be mounted? Could one be simply attached at the point
where the old post is now?
I’d like to leave that old wire setup far behind! (Actually I did
leave part of it somewhere on a ramp in Gulf Shores AL!!)
Willis Cooke:
David, it is not clear to me if you want another antenna to work with your present ADF, or an antenna to work with something else. ADF antennas are of two types; and the type that you use depends on the ADF. Some ADFs use a direction (‘loop’) antenna on the belly of the airplane and a wire ‘sense’ antenna (the long wire that you lost). If your ADF is the old type with the sense antenna, you need to replace the one that you lost (Ed. note: lower-cost kits are available with stainless-steel wire). If your ADF is a newer type (probably not very new?) the sense antenna is wound on a ferrite core and located in the direction (‘pancake’) antenna package on the belly. Your antenna must match the design of the receiver to work well, and they come as a package. Of course, many are replacing the ADF with a certified GPS and you can put the GPS antenna over the top fuselage hole if you do. (Ed. note: If you have the ADF removed, make sure that both the top sense antenna and its cable, plus the bottom loop/pancake antenna and all of its cables, are completely removed. Between them they add up to some weight, and the cables add to the clutter if they are left in place. Future work costs less if unused cables and hardware are out of the way.