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Radio issues

M5fly

Well Known Member
My #2 Nav/Comm is a KX-125 that seems to work intermittently. There doesn't appear to be any real pattern to it either. I mainly use it to listen to ATIS and sometimes it works fine, sometimes not. At first I thought maybe it was just my location in relation the the transmitter, but each time I plug the frequency into comm 1 and it's loud and clear. I would add that the nav portion seems to work fine, it's only the comm that doesn't seem to receive transmissions. Any ideas on where to start?
 
Any ideas on where to start?

Always try easy stuff first, even if unlikely to fix the issue. I’d start by opening up every coax connector and spraying with contact cleaner. You may find one that isn’t attached properly, too. Check antenna ground connections for corrosion. Open up the com and spray more contact cleaner. If possible swap antennas. After that it gets harder.
 
I think Bob meant was to use an Allen wrench to remove the radio from it's tray & clean up the contacts in the back. Probably not advisable to open up the radio at this point.
 
What kind of antenna does the #2 Comm have? If it happens to be an Archer Wingtip antenna, it is going to have less range than with an actual whip, and it is also going to have significant blanking in certain directions.

If you have two external Comm antennas, than I agree with Bob - swap antennas at the track and see if the problem stays with the radio, or the antenna.

Paul
 
I meant both. Spray all the easily accessible connectors , coax and back of tray. If that doesn’t fix it, I’d remove the radio, remove its cover. Many old radios have larger wafer switches, with dozens of contacts. Spray all the contacts.
 
What kind of antenna does the #2 Comm have? If it happens to be an Archer Wingtip antenna, it is going to have less range than with an actual whip, and it is also going to have significant blanking in certain directions.

If you have two external Comm antennas, than I agree with Bob - swap antennas at the track and see if the problem stays with the radio, or the antenna.

Paul

Although I'm not entirely sure of everything with the wiring on this plane, I believe the antenna is the rabbit ears style mounted underneath the tail. My #1 Comm is in the GNC 250XL, so I'm guessing that is one of the two antennas on top of the fuselage. I'll start simple as Bob mentioned and go from there.
 
External com antennas are almost always about 2 feet long and start out mostly vertical, either up or down. They may continue vertically, or the last foot might be bent to the horizontal (especially a bottom antenna).
 
External com antennas are almost always about 2 feet long and start out mostly vertical, either up or down. They may continue vertically, or the last foot might be bent to the horizontal (especially a bottom antenna).

Gotcha, there's two identical antennas on top of the fuselage that are likely the comm antennas. I'll try all the suggestions mentioned and see what I can find.
 
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