A pager operated one would be a cheaper service. I'm contemplating picking up a
cheap pager and wiring it to a box to do just that. Tanis sells a box that
listens for the pager's beep, although it is pricey.

Andrew Gideon wrote:

Jay Honeck wrote:

Of course, the rub is turning the danged thing on 3 hours in advance.
Didn't someone rig up a "cell-phone-on/off-trigger" for their pre-heater
last year?

I remember thinking it was way cool, for those who don't have a hangar
with
electricity. (If you have a hangar, the best trigger, IMHO, is the
temperature-sensitive cubes. They go "On" at 35 degrees, "Off" at 40
degrees...)

My club has been looking at preheating solutions, and I wonder if this would
fit. But there are some aspects about this solution about which I'm a
little unclear.

First, we're speaking of an electrical system that's powered by a portable
generator, right? So the "on/off" mechanism would have to switch the
generator on/off, right?

Is temperature really the right solution? I kind of like the cell-phone
idea. It seems inefficient to keep the engine warm against bitter cold
that's so bitter nobody's willing to visit the airplane.

More than inefficient, though: what about fuel for the generator? If the
generator is on for "a while", won't it eventually run out of fuel? That
would be an annoying thing to learn only when one wanted to fly and found a
cold aircraft when a warm one was expected.

Is there some commercial source for cellular on/off switches? Or did
someone ever post instructions for building one?

Thanks...

Andrew

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--Ray Andraka, P.E.
President, the Andraka Consulting Group, Inc.
401/884-7930 Fax 401/884-7950
email
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