I am beginning to think the Flightcom 403 intercom in my plane has a highest and best functioning purpose as a doorstop.
However, Before I plunk down hard earned dollars on a PS Engineering PM500EX and a wiring harness, I would like to describe the progression of symptoms to you electronic gurus and see if you conclude that there aren't any other areas of concern.
1. When I bought the plane, the radio worked great - especially after I got a Halo headset.
2. Unfortunately, due to economic reasons the plane sat for a while. When I fired it up after the long layover, I noticed that there seemed to be more background noise than before. There was less noise in the "Isolate" position than the ICS position.
3. A week or two later, I took my daughter flying with me locally. We had difficulty communicating over background noise.
4. On a second local flight one week later, I turned up the volume control for her DC headset and that seemed to help. I still observed more background noise in the ICS position than ISO.
5. During my solo flights from W52 to Tucson and San Diego, I began to notice a "whistle" in the radio when set to the ICS position.
6. The airplane was on the ground in San Diego for 5 days and my daughter had decided to fly back with me. I plugged her headset in and the "whistle" was so unbearable in ICS mode that I had to turn it off. That greatly diminished her enjoyment of the trip home since we couldn't carry on a conversation.
7. I have been flying twice since I got home August 14th. The first time about 3 weeks later. Now there was a "whistle" even in ISO. Another 3 weeks go by and I fly again. This there is no side tone at all in ICS, but a radio check in ISO gets a loud and clear response.
How on earth does electronic equipment degrade while the plane is sitting in the hangar? Is this progression indicative that the problem is in the intercom and not something else? Sending the intercom to Flightcom, including shipping to/from is practically what Van's charges for a new 403. I had a PS audio panel in my Cherokee 180 and it worked perfectly for 9 years from the day it was installed until the day the aircraft left my possession. Money is tight these days. I just want to make reasonably certain that it is the intercom and not some other contributing factor. If you got all the way through this lengthy post, thank you. If you have some sage advice, thanks even more.
Larry Tompkins
544WB -6A
W52 Battle Ground WA
However, Before I plunk down hard earned dollars on a PS Engineering PM500EX and a wiring harness, I would like to describe the progression of symptoms to you electronic gurus and see if you conclude that there aren't any other areas of concern.
1. When I bought the plane, the radio worked great - especially after I got a Halo headset.
2. Unfortunately, due to economic reasons the plane sat for a while. When I fired it up after the long layover, I noticed that there seemed to be more background noise than before. There was less noise in the "Isolate" position than the ICS position.
3. A week or two later, I took my daughter flying with me locally. We had difficulty communicating over background noise.
4. On a second local flight one week later, I turned up the volume control for her DC headset and that seemed to help. I still observed more background noise in the ICS position than ISO.
5. During my solo flights from W52 to Tucson and San Diego, I began to notice a "whistle" in the radio when set to the ICS position.
6. The airplane was on the ground in San Diego for 5 days and my daughter had decided to fly back with me. I plugged her headset in and the "whistle" was so unbearable in ICS mode that I had to turn it off. That greatly diminished her enjoyment of the trip home since we couldn't carry on a conversation.
7. I have been flying twice since I got home August 14th. The first time about 3 weeks later. Now there was a "whistle" even in ISO. Another 3 weeks go by and I fly again. This there is no side tone at all in ICS, but a radio check in ISO gets a loud and clear response.
How on earth does electronic equipment degrade while the plane is sitting in the hangar? Is this progression indicative that the problem is in the intercom and not something else? Sending the intercom to Flightcom, including shipping to/from is practically what Van's charges for a new 403. I had a PS audio panel in my Cherokee 180 and it worked perfectly for 9 years from the day it was installed until the day the aircraft left my possession. Money is tight these days. I just want to make reasonably certain that it is the intercom and not some other contributing factor. If you got all the way through this lengthy post, thank you. If you have some sage advice, thanks even more.
Larry Tompkins
544WB -6A
W52 Battle Ground WA