Help with simple circuit

Most of us fly with strobes on all day long without the nav lights just to minimize the possibility of both aircraft trying to occupy the same airspace at the same time. At least that's what I teach MY students -- and that's what the FAA suggests that we teach.

What marque of homebuilt?

Jim

(a). I said COMPASS, not gyrocompass.

(b). We postulated a light aircraft. So far as I know, there are no gyrocompasses installed on anything smaller than a bizjet.

Jim

Jim,

Even if the FAA OKs this mod, the OP should be made aware that this mod can affect other systems in the aircraft, particularly heading compass that uses magnetic sensing (flux valve).

It's good practice to use two wires (signal and return). They should be twisted wires to reduce magnetic effects on the compass system.

Of course, none of this matters if you don't care if you arrive at your intended destination...

Max

One word...

GPS

To turn the nav lights and strobe on???

BTW, I think this would make a good subject for my column in Kitplanes. This month's (due on Monday) is going to be the design and construction of a marker beacon generator but certainly this is a good idea for NEXT month's column (due out in the March '06 issue).

Jim

{;-)

Jim

Wag-aero Supercub (metal spar wings) is the first intended testbed. But if this works out, I am going to put it on a 1966 Cherokee 140 as well & then get the field approval. I have a very cool mechanic that is more than happy to help make this happen on the cherokee legally.

Gyrocompasses, both rotating and laser, don't rely on magnetism. They work fine at the poles.

Cheers,

Phil Hobbs

To add to the complexity - one must take care to keep both wings in sync if the switch is cycled trough the desired states.

(the positive thing is that I did not see any "use a PIC / 555" answers :-) (I would use a 4017 or a Tiny15)

Well, if you're defining "compass" specifically as relying on magnetic sensing, then it isn't much use saying that you don't know of one that doesn't. However, that's a private usage of yours.

Saying that a gyrocompass isn't a compass does sort of suggest that emotion has eclipsed thought in this discussion. Not that that's unusual on s.e.d, of course.

Cheers,

Phil Hobbs

Hey John thanks for reading... The spars are really the ground, but for all intensive purposes it's the whole wing minus the fibreglass tip. Not looking to profit from this, just want to get it done. I just don't see much of a market for it. Not too many planes are out there these days without strobes already installed. At least not at my airport. I am really looking for a jpeg diagram & parts list, as I am having trouble following the ascii diagrams in this page. Thanks so much for any help you can offer. I honestly thought this was going to be a simple circuit! snipped-for-privacy@cox.net

ISTR he said it's an experimental plane, so I'd think he can do pretty much whatever he wants to. ;-)

Cheers! Rich

Or straight down ?:-)

...Jim Thompson

-- | James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | | | E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat | |

I read in sci.electronics.design that Phil Hobbs wrote (in ) about 'Help with simple circuit', on Wed, 5 Oct 2005:

So what do they indicate at the North Pole?

Straight up ;-)

Jeroen Belleman

In article , petrus bitbyter wrote: [...]

I like this idea. You don't need a very good sinewave so you could use a

Actually, I think you want 2 sine waves. One tone means "strobe only" and the other means "lights only". Both tones should cause both on, not both off, as should no tone.

"MacGyver" schreef in bericht news: snipped-for-privacy@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...

What about the old, analog way? Insert a sinewave of - let's say - 1kHz/1V on the nav lights line when you want the strobes on. At the tip you filter the sinewave, amplify it and power a relay with it which switches the strobes on. As you send the signal from a central point, sync will be no problem. Of course, you will have to do some extra work as you want to keep that sinewave out of the rest of your boardnet.

Another method may be to interrupt the nav lights periodically. Let's say every second for one ms or less. Lightbulbs will not be effected but these interrupts can be detected by electronics relative easily. (Supposing DC power of course.)

In AC nets, signaling is often done by shorting the sine shortly before zerocrossing. I know it is done in 240/380Vac mains nets but I don't know what it needs to detect it.

I have no idea whether safety regulations will be effected.

petrus bitbyter

...

Well, after all of the suggested circuits, discussions about FAA regs, production circuits, and all of that crap, you could have already fished a new wire through the wings. ;-)

Good Luck! Rich