From: krnet-bounces+johnbou=speakeasy.net@mylist.net To: John Bouyea Subject: KRnet Digest, Vol 346, Issue 33 Date: 7/17/2004 8:59:54 PM Send KRnet mailing list submissions to krnet@mylist.net To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://mylist.net/listinfo/krnet or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to krnet-request@mylist.net You can reach the person managing the list at krnet-owner@mylist.net When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of KRnet digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Sport Pilot Rule (Mark Jones) 2. Update (Mark Jones) 3. radio noise fixed! (Mark Langford) 4. Re: radio noise fixed! (Louis Staalberg) 5. Re: radio noise fixed! (Mark Langford) 6. RE: Update (Doug Rupert) 7. Re: stability challenge (jscott.pilot@juno.com) 8. Re: stability challenge (Kenneth B. Jones) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2004 06:49:44 -0500 From: "Mark Jones" Subject: KR> Sport Pilot Rule To: "KR Net" Message-ID: <001401c46bf4$27af2b00$6401a8c0@wi.rr.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" The Sport Pilot Rule has been approved. The Government signed off on it yesterday and it is back in the hands of the FAA. I am off to the airport with my 6 year old son to do some flying. This is his first trip in a small plane. He loves flying the big commercial jets. Guess who woke me up this morning. Yep, my son. Mark Jones (N886MJ) Wales, WI USA E-mail me at flykr2s@wi.rr.com Visit my KR-2S CorvAIRCRAFT web site at http://mywebpage.netscape.com/n886mj/homepage.html ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2004 09:37:11 -0500 From: "Mark Jones" Subject: KR> Update To: "Corvaircraft" , "KR Net" Message-ID: <001c01c46c0b$8beb24e0$6401a8c0@wi.rr.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" My goal of flying to the Gathering Sept 23 is quickly slipping away. I will be flying by fall but hours flown off may be short of going to the Gathering. To see what Mt plane looks like as of right now go to the following link and it is the top photo. http://mywebpage.netscape.com/n886mj/homepage.html Mark Jones (N886MJ) Wales, WI USA E-mail me at flykr2s@wi.rr.com Visit my KR-2S CorvAIRCRAFT web site at http://mywebpage.netscape.com/n886mj/homepage.html ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2004 10:22:57 -0500 From: "Mark Langford" Subject: KR> radio noise fixed! To: "KRnet" Message-ID: <001a01c46c11$f0641070$1202a8c0@basement> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" NetHeads, I talked to several electrical engineers at work (one of which is also a big ham radio guy) about the wierd tone that I was getting when I keyed my radio mic. All of them frowned when they found out I didn't use shielded cable on all the lines that the schematic calls for (headphones, mic, push to talk, vox squelch, vox volume, speaker out), but the ham radio guy said "that'd do it for sure". It was about four years ago that I wired up my radio, and I thought I'd be smart and use a computer cable with a 15pin D shell connector, so I wouldn't have to bother soldering all those connections. The whole cable was shielded around the outside, so I thought that would take care of the shielding requirement. Apparently it didn't. And the funny thing (in 20/20 hindsight) is that the shielding ended where the cable came to the panel, and the wires split into a T-shape, half going to one side of the panel, and half going to the other. What I had here was a perfect horizontally polarized dipole antenna, perfect for picking up the output from the vertical stab-mounted antenna! So I dropped by TBE's electrical shop and picked up a few feet of left over "flight" (that means "space qualified") wire, and rewired the thing yesterday, just like the schematic required. Several shielded pairs, and several single shielded wires. It probably took about 3 hours total just to make the harness. Well, it really only took one hour, but I had to do it the usual three times! The first one was for practice, just to perfect the method. I've been soldering stuff since I was a kid, but this stuff required liquid flux to get it to flow it all, and I wanted to see what it took to melt the plastic around the pins and render the thing useless. My soldering pencil was almost incapable of melting the solder, much less the plastic. Apparently Radio Shack rates its soldering pencils like Craftsman rates its power tool motors, optimistically, but then it's 30 years old, so maybe that's the real problem. The second time, I just wasn't convinced that I had good solder joints because of the low temperature (it'd take at least a minute to melt the solder between wire and pin), and I didn't like the way it turned out. I changed to a more familiar solder, and things started to work like they should, so I did another one. Anyway, I've got it all reinstalled, and there's dead silence when you key the mic now, so that was apparently the problem. Having said that, Jeff Scott tells me he's using exactly the same radio without shielding, and he has no problems. Just consider this a warning to just go ahead and shield it, rather than possibly have to do it twice (or four times). I've been thinking that my 20 year old wire strippers were worn out, because I always have to pull really hard when dealing with aircraft wire, and often end up with a couple of strands broken in the process. One of the EEs told me that the secret was to clamp down on the insulation with the strippers, then let up slightly and rotate it 90 degrees and cut it again before stripping. This way the insulation is fully cut, and it comes off a lot easier than the other way. Another helpful thing was the long backshell they gave me, which allows plenty of room for all these shielding connections to ground. You can see the end product at http://home.hiwaay.net/~langford/04071705m.jpg . There's a layer clear shrink tubing on the whole works where it exits the backshell. Oh, and before somebody berates me for soldering these connections, all I can say is "go blow it out your ear!". First of all, they are totally immobilized in this backshell, and just for kicks I tried to break one of these wires by bending it back and forth 90 degrees times, and didn't see any broken wires. That's good enough for me. And if it's good enough for the space station and space shuttle, it ought to be good enough for you too. So now I need to tidy up the installation, and then it's on to installing my new Ellison carb I got yesterday. I'm with Mark Jones, I don't think I'm going to make the Gathering. I had hoped to take a month off from work and finish it, but it looks like we're about to get a big job that I was the main designer on, and it has an extremely short fuze. More than likely I'll be doing overtime, rather than taking time off. Still, I'm very close, and working steadily on it. Now I'll have more time to do it right. I'd rather do my test flying in cooler weather anyway. Sounds like we'll have some new KRs there to fondle though... Mark Langford, Huntsville, Alabama N56ML "at" hiwaay.net see KR2S project at http://home.hiwaay.net/~langford ------------------------------ Message: 4 Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2004 09:40:52 -0700 From: "Louis Staalberg" Subject: Re: KR> radio noise fixed! To: "KRnet" Message-ID: <000d01c46c1c$d30c4fa0$6401a8c0@CenterDesk> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" < < radio noise fixed! << required liquid flux to get it to flow it all, Please allow me to make a remark to the guru of all guru's. Nowhere in the electronics world is there ever a need to use a liquid flux. Perhaps you used the wrong solder. For the benifit of all readers: Use *only* 60/40 Rosin Core Solder. Look at how your plummer solders copper pipe and observe the green gue running down the pipes! That is due to the flux he is using. Perhaps you used the lead free solder which is 95 %tin and 5 % antimony. Regards, Louis. N9FL@cbiwireless.com Payson, Arizona. ------------------------------ Message: 5 Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2004 12:38:43 -0500 From: "Mark Langford" Subject: Re: KR> radio noise fixed! To: "KRnet" Message-ID: <002e01c46c24$e82e7e00$1202a8c0@basement> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Louis Staalberg wrote: > Nowhere in the electronics world is there ever a need to > use a liquid flux. Perhaps you used the wrong solder. > For the benifit of all readers: > Use *only* 60/40 Rosin Core Solder. Of course I used 60/40 rosin core solder in both cases, only because I haven't seen any 63/37 locally (that's what Bob Knuckolls at http://www.aeroelectric.com/ recommends). For some reason the old Radio Shack stuff I used years ago seemed to work better than the new roll of Kester I bought a few months ago, and it made a difference in the end result. I don't claim to be an electronics expert (although I've built plenty of electronic stuff over the years), but when the guy at the electronics shop recommended a bottle of liquid flux that says "Liquid Solder-Flux" (sold by GC Electronics at http://www.gcwaldom.com/catalog.html ) to fix my problem, I went for it. This guy had been in the electronics business for 25 years, so I assumed he knew what he was talking about, but maybe he was just trying to sell me some overpriced snake oil. This stuff is "pure rosin base and non_corrosive", so I figured it couldn't hurt, and might just help. The guys in Teledyne Brown's electronics shop tried to send some paste flux home with me also, some sort of special stuff for that particular plated wire (nickel, I think it was), but I declined because I already had some from wiring up my strobes with the same kind of shielded wire years ago. Of course I couldn't find it when I got home, and by then everybody was gone, so I was at the mercy of the guy at the electronics store. I figured anything was better than nothing, so I used it. Maybe I wasted my time, maybe not, but since it was maybe a minute altogether, I'm not going to fret over it much. I just did an advanced Google search using "electronic" and "solder" in the "all words" field, with "liquid flux" in the "exact phrase" field, and got about 600 hits on places where liquid flux is used on electronics. All I saw were applications and sales sites. I didn't look through them all, but I didn't see anything that said not to use it on electronics. There's a "how-to" regarding aircraft wiring, at http://www.vansairforce.net/articles/GoodSolderingTechnique.htm that some might find interesting. Maybe the reason I haven't had any problem in the past soldering with this pencil is because I use it on that thin solid PC board stuff to make teeny little 555 timer circuits and that sort of thing. The vast majority of my soldering experience is using a 30 year old Weller 245/325 watt gun that usually solders stuff instantly, so no problem there. Bottom line is it's now all soldered up and working, so that's good enough for me. On to the intake manifold... Mark Langford, Huntsville, Alabama N56ML "at" hiwaay.net see KR2S project at http://home.hiwaay.net/~langford ------------------------------ Message: 6 Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2004 14:46:23 -0400 From: "Doug Rupert" Subject: RE: KR> Update To: "'KRnet'" Message-ID: <002c01c46c2e$5fe86e20$793cd0d8@office> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Time to start getting up with the sun and go to bed after nightfall. Should get the hours off in a hurry that way. Doug Rupert ------------------------------ Message: 7 Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2004 14:01:52 -0600 From: jscott.pilot@juno.com Subject: Re: KR> stability challenge To: krnet@mylist.net Message-ID: <20040717.140153.992.0.jscott.pilot@juno.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii On Fri, 16 Jul 2004 18:07:24 -0500 larry flesner writes: > At 03:22 PM 7/16/04 -0700, you wrote: > >larry flesner wrote: > >> ...the stability charactistics of the KR. That is > >> all determined by airfoil shape and angle, distance between wing > >> and tail surfaces, size of the flying surfaces, etc. > >--------------------------- > >You forgot CG location. When comparing notes on stability, it is > >critical to know the CG position. Kris > +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > > You're right. I guess that was a critical part of the "etc." that > should have been stated. Thanks. Mine was (is) mid-range most of the > time I fly. > > Larry Flesner Larry, et al, Just to make sure I wasn't halucinating about having flown my KR hands off, yesterday morning I flew it hands off from Los Alamos to Taos, NM. 50 miles. Could have easily gone much further. I climbed to 9500', trimmed the plane for 150 mph cruise, then flew it hands off for 50 miles using fuel transfer from the wings to the header tank to keep the plane properly trimmed. I was able to maintain within 50' of altitude for the trip. My CG is a bit more forward than most, which probably enhances the stability. Jeff ________________________________________________________________ The best thing to hit the Internet in years - Juno SpeedBand! Surf the Web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER! Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today! ------------------------------ Message: 8 Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2004 20:10:08 -0400 From: "Kenneth B. Jones" Subject: Re: KR> stability challenge To: "KRnet" Message-ID: <003201c46c5b$966f0b20$647ba8c0@oemcomputer> Jeff, I would be interested to know what, if any, modifications your KR has that might be responsible for its better than average stability? Is it a KR2 or 2S? Where was your CG vs the aft face of the forward spar (or some other reference) during the recent "hands off" stability check? Thanks, Ken Jones N5834 > Larry, et al, > > Just to make sure I wasn't halucinating about having flown my KR hands > off, yesterday morning I flew it hands off from Los Alamos to Taos, > NM. 50 miles. Could have easily gone much further. I climbed to > 9500', trimmed the plane for 150 mph cruise, then flew it hands off > for 50 miles using fuel transfer from the wings to the header tank to > keep the plane properly trimmed. I was able to maintain within 50' of > altitude for the trip. > > My CG is a bit more forward than most, which probably enhances the > stability. > > Jeff ------------------------------ _______________________________________________ See KRnet list details at http://www.krnet.org/instructions.html End of KRnet Digest, Vol 346, Issue 33 ************************************** ================================== ABC Amber Outlook Converter v4.20 Trial version ==================================