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MY ELT Works!

S

stewartb

MEMBER
…
Quicky!

Bad EarthX. Changed the battery today. Followed the instructions and connected the + side, then the common. Turned on the master. ELT went off. G3X went wonky. I had the E-04 manual and it had no info. Ater a minute or two I went to the ELT itself and turned it off, then back to armed. That did the trick, but not soon enough to stop RCC from calling me. The duty guy was great. I apologized and finished my chores. But now I know my ELT works! :)
 
Last edited:
I wonder what caused the electrical issue? I had to cycle the G3X and the ELT and now both work fine. The battery has been in and out several times with no problems. The master was off when I changed the battery this time. I'm stumped.
 
stewartb said:
I wonder what caused the electrical issue? I had to cycle the G3X and the ELT and now both work fine. The battery has been in and out several times with no problems. The master was off when I changed the battery this time. I'm stumped.
Click to expand...

charged backwards? check with a meter
 
stewartb said:
I wonder what caused the electrical issue? I had to cycle the G3X and the ELT and now both work fine. The battery has been in and out several times with no problems. The master was off when I changed the battery this time. I'm stumped.
Click to expand...

you hooked up BOTH ground leads at battery??
 
The RS232 circuit that supplies GPS position also supplies 12v power to the ELT. Just built the harness for my E-04.
 
Eddie Foy said:
The RS232 circuit that supplies GPS position also supplies 12v power to the ELT. Just built the harness for my E-04.
Click to expand...

NOT CORRECT!!!

All RS232 circuits are data lines only. If you check the wiring diagram for the E-04, pins 2 and 4 are the RS232 data lines. Pin 3 is to airframe ground and pin 1 is power in (+10 to +30 volts). RS232 voltage ranges from 0VDC to +5VDC and are completely separate from any power circuits. Note that power wires run with data wires are not part of the data circuit.

It's very common for digital equipment such as ELTs to 'fire up' when you connect the battery. And remember that this ELT is connected directly to battery power so having the master off won't make any difference.

Web
 
I did not word that well. What I meant was that in addition to the RS232, 12v is supplied.
F3031735-4FF2-452B-A8F9-3404EDAE8E6B.jpeg





wireweinie said:
NOT CORRECT!!!

All RS232 circuits are data lines only. If you check the wiring diagram for the E-04, pins 2 and 4 are the RS232 data lines. Pin 3 is to airframe ground and pin 1 is power in (+10 to +30 volts). RS232 voltage ranges from 0VDC to +5VDC and are completely separate from any power circuits. Note that power wires run with data wires are not part of the data circuit.

It's very common for digital equipment such as ELTs to 'fire up' when you connect the battery. And remember that this ELT is connected directly to battery power so having the master off won't make any difference.

Web
Click to expand...
 

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Eddie Foy said:
I did not word that well. What I meant was that in addition to the RS232, 12v is supplied.
Click to expand...

wireweinie said:
NOT CORRECT!!!

All RS232 circuits are data lines only. If you check the wiring diagram for the E-04, pins 2 and 4 are the RS232 data lines. Pin 3 is to airframe ground and pin 1 is power in (+10 to +30 volts). RS232 voltage ranges from 0VDC to +5VDC and are completely separate from any power circuits. Note that power wires run with data wires are not part of the data circuit.

It's very common for digital equipment such as ELTs to 'fire up' when you connect the battery. And remember that this ELT is connected directly to battery power so having the master off won't make any difference.

Web
Click to expand...
And the 12V only supplies the ACK E-04 position circuit. No need to hook directly to the battery; avionics power or GPS circuit breaker is fine, since the position will only be available when the external GPS is powered up.
 
sjohnson said:
And the 12V only supplies the ACK E-04 position circuit. No need to hook directly to the battery; avionics power or GPS circuit breaker is fine, since the position will only be available when the external GPS is powered up.
Click to expand...

Where does the book say that?

Web
 
Do NOT CONNECT directly to battery. The 12 volt just a signal to tell it you have an external GPS signal hooked up and functioning at the moment


Sent from my iPhone using SuperCub.Org
 
Mine is wired thru a 2A breaker off the avionics bus. The manual say to protect with a 1A breaker. I used what I had. The breaker only protects the wiring.



mike mcs repair said:
Do NOT CONNECT directly to battery. The 12 volt just a signal to tell it you have an external GPS signal hooked up and functioning at the moment


Sent from my iPhone using SuperCub.Org
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
mike mcs repair said:
Do NOT CONNECT directly to battery. The 12 volt just a signal to tell it you have an external GPS signal hooked up and functioning at the moment


Sent from my iPhone using SuperCub.Org
Click to expand...

Mine gives one aubible beep when I turn on the av master. Yesterday it beeped 9 times, went silent for some time, and repeated the 9 beeps. I guess that's what it does when transmitting. The panel reset button didn't turn it off, either. The toggle on the unit was the solution. It works just fine today.
 
wireweinie said:
Where does the book say that?

Web
Click to expand...
Ack E-04 manual, page 8, connect to "1A fuse or circuit breaker". The ELT GPS location function is powered by this line in the DIN connector and the GPS must be powered on as well (see page 9, para 3,4). For reliability reasons, the ELT transmitter is independently powered by the ELT battery and the battery is not charged via the DIN connection.
 
From the manual:


"When the ELT is activated, and transmitting the 406 Mhz distress signal. The cockpit remote will flash, and the audio alert indicator will emit a series of 9 beeps, approximately every 50 seconds to alert the crew that the ELT is operating. If there is no emergency, reset the ELT using the “Reset” button on the remote, (Page 11 Fig. 16) and immediately notify the appropriate search and rescue operations office, or ATC of the false activation."






stewartb said:
Mine gives one aubible beep when I turn on the av master. Yesterday it beeped 9 times, went silent for some time, and repeated the 9 beeps. I guess that's what it does when transmitting. The panel reset button didn't turn it off, either. The toggle on the unit was the solution. It works just fine today.
Click to expand...
 
Yeah I had got in trouble with ack in an email question when I asked how many amps the elt drew when powered by the +12, in order to choose wire size. Their response was that was just a signal wire to let it know the external gps was powered up. Hook it to your avionics buss


Sent from my iPhone using SuperCub.Org
 
I'd still keep it direct to the battery (through the fuse/breaker). If it needs the 12V to tell it to use the GPS signal data, I want it to be live all the way to activation (crash). Think about emergency procedures. The last thing you do before contacting the ground is switch off the master. If the ELT line is hot and the GPS has it's battery pack, both will be live when the accelerometer sets off the ELT.

Either way, make sure you have a properly installed and maintained 406 installed so we can find you.

Web
 
Not much of a load. I'd be surprised if it was even measurable when everything was powered off. Never had any issues with it anyways.

Web
 
wireweinie said:
I'd still keep it direct to the battery (through the fuse/breaker). If it needs the 12V to tell it to use the GPS signal data, I want it to be live all the way to activation (crash). Think about emergency procedures. The last thing you do before contacting the ground is switch off the master. If the ELT line is hot and the GPS has it's battery pack, both will be live when the accelerometer sets off the ELT.

Either way, make sure you have a properly installed and maintained 406 installed so we can find you.

Web
Click to expand...

Some of us follow the directions. Even if we learn slowly


Sent from my iPhone using SuperCub.Org mobile app
 
wireweinie said:
I'd still keep it direct to the battery (through the fuse/breaker). If it needs the 12V to tell it to use the GPS signal data, I want it to be live all the way to activation (crash). Think about emergency procedures. The last thing you do before contacting the ground is switch off the master. If the ELT line is hot and the GPS has it's battery pack, both will be live when the accelerometer sets off the ELT.

Either way, make sure you have a properly installed and maintained 406 installed so we can find you.

Web
Click to expand...

Please explain how elt 12+ being live will be useful after power to gps is off hence no gps data.

(I have left you 2 shovels to dig you hole :). )

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Wolfenstein


Sent from my iPhone using SuperCub.Org mobile app
 
Last edited:
My new Garmin GTX 335 Transponder has a "Keep Alive" circuit that is wired direct to battery. According to Garmin, it shortens the time needed to get a GPS fix.

[FONT=&quot]The keep alive draws (in microamps)
14 V
typical 65
max 85

28 V
typical 20
max 40

There are 1,000,000 microamps in an amp
The GPS keep alive, at it's maximum draw in a 14V aircraft will last 11,764 hours at 1AH.[/FONT]
 
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When I installed my GTX 335 I wired the keep-alive circuit into the hot wire at the oil pressure switch for the hour meter.
 
mike mcs repair said:
Please explain how elt 12+ being live will be useful after power to gps is off hence no gps data.

(I have left you 2 shovels to dig you hole :). )

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Wolfenstein


Sent from my iPhone using SuperCub.Org mobile app
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link to 'Castle Wolfenstien', but video games aren't really my thing.

You say that ACK states that the 12V is just a signal to tell the ELT to use GPS data on activation. Typically a pilot will try to turn off the master in the last seconds before touchdown during a forced landing (if possible). Therefore the ELT will not have the 12 volt signal present at the time of the crash. If connected directly to the battery, the ELT will be looking for the GPS data at the time of activation. Most portable GPS units have built in battery packs that power the GPS after loss of external power or for around 30 seconds depending on program settings. In that case, at the time of activation, the ELT will have the 12 volt signal present to tell it to look for GPS data and the GPS will (hopefully) still be sending that data.

Fun argument but whether anyone thinks I'm right or wrong, just make sure your ELT works. If you're alive we can always have another argument.

Web
 
Doesn't the E-04 store the last GPS position until it's overwritten by a new one? I'm pretty sure the RCC guy knew right where I was when he called.
 
If I turn off the master I'm close to the scene of the crash, and coincidentally I'll have already set my beacon to transmit.
 
I hope it never gets tested in 'real world' and just remains the subject of an argument.

I've stated what I do and why I do it. We're all adults (stop laughing) so make your own decisions.

Web
 
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