Tracker Placement and Antennas Orientation
Tracker mounting position shall be decided as such it is not shielded by radio signal impenetrable
elements. Covering it by metallic or carbon canopy as well as placing it into centroplane of carbon
or metallic airplanes will result into weak or no data signal at all. Please also consider the distance
from other sources of electromagnetic noise as magnetos or the entire engine in general when
mounting into powered ships.
The unit orientation is depicted on the sticker at the back of the unit where also the radio antenna is
connected. Under ideal circumstances the box shall be put flat so the integrated GPS antenna could
be facing the sky as much as possible. In case the sticker gets lost you can determine the correct
location without opening the box very easily: place the box flat so the SMA (radio) connector would
be facing the observer and be on the right side of the unit at the same time Then the GPS antenna
faces the sky.
The external radio antenna shall be in vertical orientation, no matter whether up or down. Antenna
tilt (also when circling in thermals) influences its gain (efficiency) in case when transmitting data to
other planes or ground stations. And again, to avoid shielding by metallic or carbon elements that
prevent radio waves propagation is strongly recommended.
OGN CUBE3 Installation and User’s Manual
Page 4 of 12
Illustration 2: Orientation of GPS (white-
brown box on the left) and radio (right)
antennas
Illustration 1: Orientation as depicted on the
label
