Hey guys, I've been working on a new av bay for my Dynacom Anaconda, and needed to protect my antenna for my TeleMetrum.
Initially, I was going to drill a hole, that was a snug fit for the as-supplied antenna with the TeleMetrum, and have the remainder exposed in the recovery bay.
After monkeying around with the av bay for a bit, I realized that there is a very real risk of damaging the antenna.
I recalled that @Danno had experimented with 3D printed sleeves for his antennas, and I recall that they didn't survive (at the time).
I finally got to the hobby shop today and picked up some r/c antenna sleeves and took them to my shop promptly to see how they fit.
Good news, even if your antenna is not the straightest - it will still slide in with some resistance - but if they are straight, they will slide right in.
Now, I wasn't sure how to secure the antenna sleeve in the bulkhead.... At $1 per sleeve, I wasn't afraid to experiment.
I thought to myself - what if I run a countersink in reverse to flare out the sleeve? Went out to my machine shop and grabbed a countersink, chucked it up in the ol' Dewalt and spun it up in reverse.
Good news - it did exactly what I wanted! Next - I had to open up the hole that I had already drilled for my antenna - turns out the sleeve is 0.123" - perfect for a 1/8" drill bit. Grabbed one of those and went to town.
Assembled everything - and it looks great! I will probably grab a scrap piece of G10 and drill a 1/8" hole and see how well these sleeves accept CA. If they do, great! If not, maybe a strategically placed ziptie against the outside of the bulkhead, preventing any movement of the sleeve.
Now I will say I haven't tried this in flight, but I'm looking forward to it, I think it will hold up decent. And for the cost, I can afford to swap out the sleeve, if needed.
Just thought others might be interested in this.
Initially, I was going to drill a hole, that was a snug fit for the as-supplied antenna with the TeleMetrum, and have the remainder exposed in the recovery bay.
After monkeying around with the av bay for a bit, I realized that there is a very real risk of damaging the antenna.
I recalled that @Danno had experimented with 3D printed sleeves for his antennas, and I recall that they didn't survive (at the time).
I finally got to the hobby shop today and picked up some r/c antenna sleeves and took them to my shop promptly to see how they fit.
Good news, even if your antenna is not the straightest - it will still slide in with some resistance - but if they are straight, they will slide right in.
Now, I wasn't sure how to secure the antenna sleeve in the bulkhead.... At $1 per sleeve, I wasn't afraid to experiment.
I thought to myself - what if I run a countersink in reverse to flare out the sleeve? Went out to my machine shop and grabbed a countersink, chucked it up in the ol' Dewalt and spun it up in reverse.
Good news - it did exactly what I wanted! Next - I had to open up the hole that I had already drilled for my antenna - turns out the sleeve is 0.123" - perfect for a 1/8" drill bit. Grabbed one of those and went to town.
Assembled everything - and it looks great! I will probably grab a scrap piece of G10 and drill a 1/8" hole and see how well these sleeves accept CA. If they do, great! If not, maybe a strategically placed ziptie against the outside of the bulkhead, preventing any movement of the sleeve.
Now I will say I haven't tried this in flight, but I'm looking forward to it, I think it will hold up decent. And for the cost, I can afford to swap out the sleeve, if needed.
Just thought others might be interested in this.