Time: 2 Hours
I started the the time in the shop priming and riveting the parts together that made up the transponder bracket and put it into position. I had received a package from Aircraft Spruce the other day which included several different parts including the ones I needed for the antennas.
The parts I would be using is RG – 400 cable (similar to cable tv wire but aircraft grade and has a braided center core vs a solid wire) and crimp in BNC connectors. I watched several videos, including SteinAir, on the process of making these cables. After feeling good about the process I went about making my first one. The BNC crimp ons have three parts, the connector, the crimp sleeve and the pin.
The goal is to remove two sections of the cable. The first is down to the center wire so that you can crimp the pin on. The second is just down to the inner braided sheath for the ground.
I then grabbed my label printer and printed the cable identification on 3/8″ shrink tube. This is a cool device that allows me to print directly onto white shrink tube that had a 1:3 shrink ratio.
I also got to use my new coax head for the crimpers. I will only be using two of the slots for this job. First is the .068 for the little pin then the .213 for the sleeve.
I crimped the pin then slid the sleeve in place. The connector them slides on and under the braided wire. You push hard enough to feel a snap as the pins ridge catches on the connector. Slide the sleeve back to the connector and crimp. Then check your crimp to check for a short between the pin and the shield.
I then figured out the final length needed for each cable and cut. I then put the cable in its place in the fuselage going through all of the snap bushings. I didn’t repeated the process of adding the connector on the final and as it’s now in place and not forgetting to put the label on this and before crimping. I secured the cable alongside of the flexible conduit with zip ties and put the 90° adapter on the end that will connect to the actual antenna. I left plenty of cable in the back to connect to the radio’s when they get installed.
A new skill learned and feeling accomplished!
