I figured since you posted it in the newsgroup it was open to others
throwing out their 2 cents...

Ron Wanttaja wrote in message . ..
1. The instructions say not to install the antenna within one meter of the
unit. What's the limiting factor here? I always prefer short cable runs,
and had a nice spot picked out 15 or so inches away. What problems is a
near-by antenna introducing?

I'd follow their advice, apparently they have concern that some of
that 200W on Tx will make it back inside the box. The field strength
falls off quickly with range so moving the antenna away from the rest
of your gear makes a big difference. The short antenna cable runs
will give you slightly more power I suppose radiated but I don't think
anyone is going to notice, especially if you're using the right coax
for your antenna feed.

The current antenna location is precisely 4 inches below my heinie, and I'd
just as soon get it further away, thank'ee.

The jury is still out on what effects microwave radiation has on the
body (besides the obvious burns warned about in the HAM regs). I
think your intuition is correct and don't put the antenna right next
to your "junk" even though there is a null in the field moving out
from each end of the whip.

2. The Microair uses a DB-25 connector. I haven't soldered onto a
connector like this for about eighteen years. I'm presuming the best
approach would be to tin the wires, slide them into their locations, and
solder them in place? Should I be using shrink tubing on each connection,
too? (the connector itself has a strain relief).

The best way to do these is use the good quality crimping machined
pins (not stamped) that insert into the connector one at a time. The
crimp tool is not cheap but maybe your EAA chapter has one in its tool
crib you can use.

3. I'm about 99.99999% sure about this, but with $1500 on the line, I'd
appreciate confirmation: When the installation manual shows the pin
assignments for the DB-25 connector, the assignments are as if I am looking
directly at the connector on the transponder...right? In other words, the
connector itself will be a mirror of this diagram. That seems to be
confirmed by the teeny teeny numbering on the DB-25 supplied with the unit.

Follow the numbering on the connector, you won't go wrong. Doing this
will prevent the ineveitable reversals caused by confusion of
front/back view and male/female definitions.

Ron Wanttaja

BTW, I just bought a copy of your book on Amazon.