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Radio problem


adam32

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Hey guys,

 

My radio is messing up on me. Monday we went to fly, called the tower but no sidetone on the radio. Set down messed with it a little with no luck. Called the avionics guy at the airport, he came on wednesday to look at it. I got there before him, tried it and it worked fine. We took it out anyway, and the contacts were dirty. Tried it again, worked great. Today, my instructor and a student went out to fly, and the same thing happened, no sidetone, tower got a transmission but no voices. The only thing I can think of is moisture, it rained the sat/sun and also last night. But, inside the cabin is dry. The avionics guy is coming out again tomorrow to investigate.

 

??????

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Hey guys,

 

My radio is messing up on me. Monday we went to fly, called the tower but no sidetone on the radio. Set down messed with it a little with no luck. Called the avionics guy at the airport, he came on wednesday to look at it. I got there before him, tried it and it worked fine. We took it out anyway, and the contacts were dirty. Tried it again, worked great. Today, my instructor and a student went out to fly, and the same thing happened, no sidetone, tower got a transmission but no voices. The only thing I can think of is moisture, it rained the sat/sun and also last night. But, inside the cabin is dry. The avionics guy is coming out again tomorrow to investigate.

 

??????

 

 

The only time I had a similar problem was in an older R22. If we both used the David Clarks....all was well, if I used my AVComm and my partner used the DC's, we got no audio transmission.

 

So, first question, are you using the same headsets each time, and are they the same brand head set?

 

Other than that, it could be moisture, but it would have to be enough to basically pull down the mic circuit to ground.....and of course, the avionics guys want $100 bucks every time they show up !

 

Good luck......isnt it fun owning an aircraft?

 

Goldy

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The only time I had a similar problem was in an older R22. If we both used the David Clarks....all was well, if I used my AVComm and my partner used the DC's, we got no audio transmission.

 

So, first question, are you using the same headsets each time, and are they the same brand head set?

 

Other than that, it could be moisture, but it would have to be enough to basically pull down the mic circuit to ground.....and of course, the avionics guys want $100 bucks every time they show up !

 

Good luck......isnt it fun owning an aircraft?

 

Goldy

 

The first day we both had on AvComms (it is also wired like a plane, 2 pin) when it quit. The day it worked with me, was also an AvComm. Today I'm not sure, I had the headsets in my truck so they borrowed some.

 

Heres the kicker, they just called and its now working again. They messed with the headset connections and it started working.

 

But, the intercom has been working fine the whole time, if its the headset connection wouldn't the intercom also mess up?

 

??

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I've had the same problem with the 196 in my aircraft. I found, through dumb luck, that it was related to my saved freqs. I had to dial up the freq manually and swap it instead of just recalling the same freq in the saved menu. After that it worked fine (saved menu also). It has happened a couple of times to me. Don't know if this would help you with your problem, but give it a try next time.

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But, the intercom has been working fine the whole time, if its the headset connection wouldn't the intercom also mess up?

 

??

 

 

When I had my issue, it was just on one ship, and the Intercom always worked fine. SO, they tested it and it worked...but with which headsets?

 

I would rule out the headset issues before I looked at the radio as the culprit.....

 

BoatFixer- that is one very strange symptom !

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I've had the same problem with the 196 in my aircraft. I found, through dumb luck, that it was related to my saved freqs. I had to dial up the freq manually and swap it instead of just recalling the same freq in the saved menu. After that it worked fine (saved menu also). It has happened a couple of times to me. Don't know if this would help you with your problem, but give it a try next time.

 

I'll try that, I didn't even know I could save freqs with it...

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When I had my issue, it was just on one ship, and the Intercom always worked fine. SO, they tested it and it worked...but with which headsets?

 

I would rule out the headset issues before I looked at the radio as the culprit.....

 

BoatFixer- that is one very strange symptom !

 

I'll have a avionics guy bench test the radio tomorrow. He was thinking some kind of vibration issue, which also makes sense with the headset connections. I guess we'll see tomorrow.

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I'll wager to say the radio will bench test fine.... if you can hear fine on the radio and you have a seperate intercom that works fine 99% sure either the push to talk switch is going bad/has a bad solder connection or its grounding point is weak. Trace that down or put in a new ground/switch... anyone good with a multimeter can do this... no need for avionics guy..just a waste of money.

Good Luck

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It's probably a bad connection somewhere, due to corrosion or a broken wire. Those can be hard to find, because they can be in lots of places, and not always obvious. It could be anywhere from the PTT switch to the radio, but the first places to look are the switch and the radio connections. It could be corrosion on the contacts where the radio plugs in, or it could be in the wires to the connector behind the radio. Unless you're very lucky, it will probably take time (thus money) to find the actual problem. Intermittent problems are always the hardest to fix.

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I would add in here. I'm not so sure it's along the PTT lines. If your getting the transmitter to open up, but no voice going out then the PTT is probably working from the radio to the PTT switch, but maybe not from the PTT switch to the headsets. I would rule the headsets out first, and then check along the Mic lines if you have it set in a two pin setup. I've had similar problems before and it always seemed to be a problem from the PTT up to the Headset.

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Heres an update: They flew it about in hour yesterday and worked fine the whole time, and one headset they were using was messed up. They are not 100% sure, but they think they had the pilot headset plugged into the co-pilot jacks, and the co-pilot headset plugged into the pilot jacks, so when they were keying up it wouldn't work.

 

I hope thats all it was!

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