Poor Radio Performance

[sbarger24]

Alright guys I need your help or suggestions here. I really didn?t notice a radio performance issue until today, when I made my first cross country with Bob Mills (just out of phase I). Bob Mills and I could hear each other fine, as we were flying right next to each other. We were flying over to California to meet up with some fellow RVers. About 30 miles out Bob starts talking to the group we are meeting up with, and I can?t hear them at all. They apparently can hear me just fine, but I?m not picking up their transmission at all, until we reach about 10 miles out where they come in crystal clear.

I noticed in Phase I that there were days where I couldn?t pick up the AWOS until about 6 or 7 miles out and blamed it on the AWOS receiver. I have an ICOM 210; RAMI bent whip belly antenna, and a FlightCom 403 intercom. My COAX is RG-400.

Is there any adjustment on my ICOM 210 radio that would improve my performance? Do you think it is a wiring issue or and Antenna issue?

[petehowell]

Steve - Flying with Mills alone could be the cause of many of your issues!!!

I'd check the basics - coax connections at the radio and at the antenna. Make sure you have solid connection to the aircraft for a ground plane at the base of the antenna.

Where on the belly is the antenna mounted? Could it have been in the shadow of a gear leg that was blocking the signal?

Any chance to do a quick swap with another 210 to see if it is any better?

The fact that they could hear you, but you not them may point to an intercom/audio issue - especially since you said they were not audible and then very clear at 10 miles out.

Sorry for nothing specific - just some places to look.

[rvmills]

Originally Posted by petehowell

Steve - Flying with Mills alone could the cause of many of your issues!!!

I tried to tell him that Pete! (See this thread.)

One of the Ravens suggested there might be a squelch adjustment on the back of the ICOM. Steve's gonna pull the book and look. Might be a normal squelch knob to play with too, but I think Steve tried that.

We can try one of my spare CI-122s (unmodified...not one from our other experiments Pete! )

Will try all the connections too. It happened both directions (pointing toward the others and away...shoulda had him do a 360 to see if he heard then lost a long count from the others. Can do that up here).

Any thoughts from ICOM users appreciated. Pete, most of your thoughts are also appreciated!

So what's a newly-out-of-Phase-I RV-7A look like on its first flight over the mountains and and back, with its builder and owner fresh off his first formation ride-along:



Pretty cool! Look close, I know there's an RV grin in there! Tahoe and the Sierras, with a new (and deep) coat of snow, make a nice backdrop, eh!

Oh, yeah, this is about the radio!

Cheers,
Bob

[Brantel]

The A210 has electronic squelch. It is in the setup menu.

Mine had a problem at first but it ended up being a bad connector.

The way to rule out the antenna and feedline is with a VSWR meter.

[tadsargent]

My first thought is your coax connectors, Did you make them. If so go to
Radio Shack and buy an RG58 cable and use it instead of your homemade cable. Secure it under carpet and go fly talking to everyone and ask where they are for distance purposes. A $9 cable rules out so much. I had the same issue and found my B&C connections were just a little short for the center connector pin. This solved my problem

Best, Tad

[L.Adamson]

Originally Posted by tadsargent

My first thought is your coax connectors, Did you make them. If so go to
Radio Shack and buy an RG58 cable and use it instead of your homemade cable. Secure it under carpet and go fly talking to everyone and ask where they are for distance purposes. A $9 cable rules out so much. I had the same issue and found my B&C connections were just a little short for the center connector pin. This solved my problem

My coax cable had one thin wire from the shield, that grounded out the center lead.........and lead to radio reciever problems. It was one that I put together. I have a Garmin SL-40 & Icom A-210. Both are comparible when it comes to range.....when the cable is good..

L.Adamson --- RV6A

[Jerry Fischer]

Brantel is right on with his suggestions. If this doesn't fix it then the problem is more than likely internal receiver sensitivity across the frequency spectrum and would require alignment by a reputable avionics shop, i.e. not too sensitive at one place on band from 118 mhz-to 135mhz but within specifications across entire band. I hope this isn't more confusion but what a shop may find internally.
Jerry

[tadsargent]

L. Adamson, I chased this rabbit for months and even had Kahuna a EE trouble shoot with me. I have a 430 and SL40 that worked perfectly when installed until I decided to UPGRADE to RG400 and made the connections myself that the problem surfaced. I am now branded with poor wiring skills and this may take years of therapy to overcome.

SBarger24 report back your results to end this debate.

Merry Christmas to all
Tad

[Walt]

Originally Posted by sbarger24

They apparently can hear me just fine, but I?m not picking up their transmission at all, until we reach about 10 miles out where they come in crystal clear.

If you can transmit ok then chances are it just the squech setting. Not familiar with the ICOM but I'm sure there is a way to adjust it in one of the menus.

[sbarger24]

Thanks for all the suggestions I may try to get my hands on a meter if not I will buy some cheap RG-58 and see if that fixes the issue. I made my own connections on my RG-400 and wired the radio, so it could easily be an issue there.

Thanks for the picture Bob had a great time!