19
RECOMMENDED TESTING PROCEDURES
AVIATION
STEP PROCEDURE
1. REMOVE ELT FROM AIRCRAFT
2. CONNECT TO ANTENNA LOAD USING A HIGH QUALITY CABLE
3. SET TESTER TO POWER METER
4. SELECT TRANSMITTER FREQUENCY IF KNOWN, OTHERWISE “UNKNOWN”
5. ACTIVATE ELT BEACON USING IMPACT SENSOR
6. PLACE ELT INTO A SHIELDED CONTAINER TO PREVENT UNAUTHORIZED RADIATION
7. ALLOW ELT TO CYCLE A MINIMUM OF 3 TIMES
8. MONITOR AND NOTE RESULTS AND CHECK THE HEX CODE AND COUNTRY OF
REGISTRATION
9. REMOVE ELT FROM SHIELDED BOX AND RESET
10. REINSTALL ELT IN AIRCRAFT AND RECONNECT TO ANTENNA
11. RESET TESTER TO FIELD STRENGTH
12. PLACE TESTER A CALIBRATED DISTANCE (APPROX 10 FEET) FROM THE ELT ANTENNA
13. RE-ACTIVATE ELT IN THE SELF TEST MODE USING THE AIRCRAFT FRONT PANEL
CONTROL
14. WAIT A MAXIMUM OF 1 MINUTE FOR ELT TO FUNCTION
15. MONITOR AND NOTE RESULTS
16. RESET ELT AND ARM
17. CHECK BATTERY LIFE
18. MAKE LOG BOOK ENTRY
NOTES:
UPON THE COMPLETION OF A TEST, MAKE SURE THE HEX ID CODE SENT MATCHES THE
CODE ASSIGNED TO THE BEACON AND THAT THE COUNTRY IS CONSISTENT WITH THE
REGISTRATION COUNTRY OF THE BEACON, (SEE PAGES 12 & 14) AND THE BEACON IS
INSTALLED IN THE CORRECT AIRCRAFT AND ARMED.
Aviation ELTs are made with plastic cases which result in a significant amount of
radiated signal even when not connected to an external antenna, enough to be received by the
satellite system. As a result when testing these devices, it is important to place the ELT in a
metal shielded container (see appendix) shortly after being activated to prevent inadvertently
setting off a search alarm. Once the frequency, RF power, modulation, timing parameters, and
recycle times have been checked, and once reinstalled in the aircraft, The ELT is supposed to be
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