Clarity Aloft / Comm oddity. Any ideas?

[Rick_A]

I had some strange anomlies with my headset/radios/ intercom today. During my first couple of test flights I was using my old DC headset which has an Oregon Aero micmuff. My radios seemed to work fine.

Today I flew with a Clarity Aloft headset. The first thing I noticed when I turned my avionics on was a faint "whoop whoop" - as if there was some sort of alarm going off. I never heard this with the DC's. Strangely, it seemed to be coming from my GRT's because when I turned my efis off the "alarm" when away. If I remember correctly, I didn't even have my audio panel on at this point. After I started the engine, the sound was no longer audible.

My radio transmissions on the ground were fine. However, once I got in the air my radio transmission quality went way down. It seemed that the mike was picking up a lot of wind noise or something. I could hear a lot of background noise when I keyed the mic and the tower said I was garbled.

I've got an PS8000B audio panel and I was using my GNS480 as my Comm.

At this point, I'm planning on returning the CA's but I'm wondering what would cause these odd symptoms. Any ideas?

BTW. When Walt did the 1st flight he was wearing CA's. He also mention the "alarm" sound and issues with the sidetone being too high.

 

[petehowell]

Stereo vs Mono

Rick - just a thought - is the stereo/mono switch in the correct position? I've had some strange stuff happen when the settings were crossed.

 

[RV7Guy]

A couple of thoughts

I can't answer for the apparent alarm sound but as for the others. Check your squelch setting. The CA's are sensitive. Also, as Pete noted, check to see that you are in the Stereo setting.

I don't know if you have dual comm's but if I have my Comm one set on 122.8 and my Comm two on 122.9, I get some interaction.

Don't give up on the CA's. They are great. Call Jo and talk to her. She might have some ideas too.

I love my CA's and can't use a regular head set anymore.

Let us know what you find.

 

[Rick_A]

The switch on the CA was set to Stereo. Since the PMA8000B is stereo, that should not be an issue. The PMA8000 does not have a user adjustable squelch but I may have inadvertently toggled off the squelch on the 480.

I shipped back by CA's this morning, I couldn't face trying them again. Since my DC's are about 5 years old, I ordered the Orego Aero upgrade package for them. Maybe I'll try some Zulu's in the future.