Gold Wing conversion

[PaulJ]

Some may remember that about a month ago Mike K aquired a set he had never seen before and asked if anyone knew anything about them. As it happens they were made by a guy called Roy Tiller who lived not far from me in Sussex back in the early 80s and I had owned one, and very fine sets they were too! So this prompted me to see if my old set still existed and if so, to try to get it back....... When I "upgraded" to a Simprop SAM I gave my old Gold Wing to my nephew for a project he was doing at school and then it had been stuck up in the loft where it had been for the last 20+ years. When I eventually got it back it was in quite a sorry state both inside and out and it was a case of strip everything out, clean it up and "do a Phil" on it....... So here are some "before" and "after" pics......

I have done what has become my standard way of doing the antenna which is to make my own and "hide" it within a false frequency pennant. I have never had a problem with range but invested in a VSWR meter, really just out of curiosity and in the interests of improving the breed. Most of them seemed to have a VSWR of around 1.2 to 1.4 but I just had to show you this one.......

Paul.

[Wayne_H]

Top job Paul

(but you had better make a box for it before Ron gives you any grief )

[Mike_K]

Well done Paul, you have got you Gold Wing converted to 2.4GHz before I've even tested my Gold Wing with the Rx you kindly gave me. I must pull my finger out

It's nice to see something a bit different to normal converted, I don't think anybody else will have one of those at the patch, you'll certainly stand out from all those Spektrum and Futaba owners.

I must admit I'm pretty impressed how well matched you've got your 2.4 antenna. Have you used the OrangeRx antenna and taken the case off or have you had your own? For years I converted transmitters in complete ignorant bliss until I bought a SWR meter. I've never had one as well matched as that, either commercial or home made.

Cheers

Mike

[PaulJ]

Yes, I was pretty pleased with the antenna on the Gold Wing and having built up a good head of steam, I got straight on with another "winter project", a 2 channel Horizon. When it came to the antenna I tried to make it IDENTICAL to the one on the Gold Wing....... Made from the same grade of cable (RG178), the tube was cut fron the same length of tubing, it was exactly the same length and the whisker too is exactly the same length as the Gold Wing's antenna. It is pretty well spot on 2.4Ghz but the VSWR is only 1.2 and a bit....... Still OK but why wouldn't it be the same?

FWIW, both Gold Wing and Horizon antennas, cable is RG178, whisker is 29mm and tube is 27mm