MAN_DZ7_001 Rev 1.1 Flightcell® DZMx Plus Installation Manual
Page 18 of 61
Effective Date: 28 Jun 2021
Installation of Iridium and GPS Antennas
Installation drawings for the above antennas are available on the Flightcell website
The Flightcell Iridium/GPS antenna and Iridium antenna should be installed on the top of
the aircraft where they will have an unrestricted view of the sky, mounted as close to
horizontal as possible. The following should be considered when determining a mounting
location:
»
Maintain good separation from other antennas. Preferred separation is 750mm from
L-band (GPS), TCAS or transponder antennas, but a lesser separation can be
applied if there is limited space on the aircraft.
»
On a helicopter, the antenna can be installed below the rotor blades, but avoid
installing it close to the
rotor hub, as the hub and inner rotor can block the antenna’s
view of the sky.
»
Keep coax cable lengths short to minimize attenuation of transmit and receive
signals.
Installation of Cellular Antennas
A Flightcell cellular antenna should preferably be installed on the underside of the aircraft
to provide best connection to the cellular network. Typical location is below the cockpit to
minimise antenna cable length. The minimum recommended separation between the cell
antenna and other antennas is 600mm.
Guidelines for Antenna Cables
Iridium antenna cables must be selected to keep signal loss within accepted levels. Total
signal loss on the Iridium connection between the DZMx P l u s or Iridium phone cradle
and the antenna should not exceed 3dB at 1645MHz.
The maximum recommended length for different common antenna cable types is:
Cable Length
Cable Specification
Up to 3m
RG58C/U or RG400
Up to 6.5m
LMR200 or RG142A/U-
9006 cellfoil
Up to 8m
RG213
Up to 17m
LMR400
Up to 26m
LMR600
Antenna connectors on the DZMx Plus and Flightcell antennas (as well as the supplied
mating connectors) are colour coded to reduce installation errors, as follows:
Antenna Type
Colour
Iridium
Red
Cellular
Green
GPS
Blue
