John Courte
Well Known Member
Symptoms are the same as in this thread:
http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=69742&highlight=430w+mic
but to recap:
during tx -
TX indicator is on
Mic audible in intercom
Mic NOT audible with intercom switched off and 430W in failsafe mode.
This happened once, on the ground, a couple of weeks before first flight. I though there was maybe some random combination of pushing the volume/squelch on the 430W that may have resulted in the mic getting squelched out at any input volume. I power-cycled the radio and the issue went away.
That is, until yesterday. Flying over the hills between Santa Ynez and Oxnard, I was on flight following. I hit some really rough air while I was adjusting the 430w volume (maybe I pushed the knob inward, not sure), but after that, I couldn't hear myself during TX and got no response from Santa Barbara approach.
Couldn't land at OXR with no comms, so I went to Santa Paula, which is uncontrolled and uncrowded. Once I got on the ground, I shut the aircraft down, let the avionics cool off a bit, then restarted. Radio check to SZP traffic was loud and clear. Made it back to OXR without incident.
The first lesson here is to take a backup radio. I will not fly without redundant comms again, despite my indignation that such a spendy piece of gear has the possibility of failure, even though it shouldn't, for that kind of money.
The second lesson is that a comms issue like this merits further investigation.
Thanks to the earlier thread, I now have a place to start. But I literally cannot reproduce the problem consistently, if at all. But I will check grounds and power connections, and make sure it's seated all the way in the tray and that there are no recessed pins.
Meanwhile, I'll be ordering my MGL V6 sooner than I'd planned to.
http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=69742&highlight=430w+mic
but to recap:
during tx -
TX indicator is on
Mic audible in intercom
Mic NOT audible with intercom switched off and 430W in failsafe mode.
This happened once, on the ground, a couple of weeks before first flight. I though there was maybe some random combination of pushing the volume/squelch on the 430W that may have resulted in the mic getting squelched out at any input volume. I power-cycled the radio and the issue went away.
That is, until yesterday. Flying over the hills between Santa Ynez and Oxnard, I was on flight following. I hit some really rough air while I was adjusting the 430w volume (maybe I pushed the knob inward, not sure), but after that, I couldn't hear myself during TX and got no response from Santa Barbara approach.
Couldn't land at OXR with no comms, so I went to Santa Paula, which is uncontrolled and uncrowded. Once I got on the ground, I shut the aircraft down, let the avionics cool off a bit, then restarted. Radio check to SZP traffic was loud and clear. Made it back to OXR without incident.
The first lesson here is to take a backup radio. I will not fly without redundant comms again, despite my indignation that such a spendy piece of gear has the possibility of failure, even though it shouldn't, for that kind of money.
The second lesson is that a comms issue like this merits further investigation.
Thanks to the earlier thread, I now have a place to start. But I literally cannot reproduce the problem consistently, if at all. But I will check grounds and power connections, and make sure it's seated all the way in the tray and that there are no recessed pins.
Meanwhile, I'll be ordering my MGL V6 sooner than I'd planned to.
