While I was home last weekend, I finished the ADS-B installation in the Voyager. Wade had already mounted the GDL-82 box to the bottom of the floor board under the passenger seat. I ran the coax cables and connected them. I also replaced the transponder circuit breaker, which was 3 amp, with a 5 amp. I then connected the power and ground. One of the last steps was to mount the GPS antenna. I had thought about putting it above the baggage area on top of the fuselage. Since it is all fabric up there, I would need to get a piece of aluminum between the fabric and stringers for both mounting the antenna and also for a ground plane. Wade had seen on the web where some had mounted the antenna on the glare shield under the windshield with success. I decided to try that route as it would be simpler. I also mounted it on the pilot side as there was a lot less in the way. The radio and transponder are on the other side.
I had an eye doctor appointment Tuesday afternoon, where they dilated my eyes. I came home and decided to see if everything in the GDL-82 installation worked. There is a software tool you down load from Garmin to check it out. I initially had a GPS fault. I decided I needed to leave the relative darkness of the hangar and go into the bright light of the ramp, so the roof would not block the signal. So, I pulled out Wade’s Cessna and then got the Stinson out. Yikes! It was really hard to read the computer screen between the sweat and dilated eyes! The GPS signal was good and I ran though all the various steps successfully. Now I just need to go fly once the remainder of the annual is finished and I am back in Kansas.
Running the Garmin install tool
The GDL-82 is under the floor board
The GPS antenna on glare shield
