Problems with transmitting

[Gerald McKibben]

I have only been a Taylorcraft owner a few months now, and don't have much experience with portable radios. The airplane has an external antenna and reception is good. I have an icom - don't see a model no. on it but it's the one without a keypad.

I know I was transmitting good before I attached the intercom. Now it looks like it works fine sometimes and sometimes it doesn't. I thought it had to do with the adjustment of the squelch on the intercom, but now I'm not so sure.

Anybody have any idea? I suppose it's possible the intercom has a problem causing intermittent operation (It's fairly old). I'll gladly buy a new one if that's the problem but would like to confirm before I buy another one.

[Pearson]

Re: Problems with transmitting

Gerald,

You probably already know this but with aviation, if you do something to an airplane and something bad happens, hurry up and undo it. You said you were transmitting before you put the intercom in. So remove the intercom and see if it will transmit again. If it does, you have found the problem. If you are still have problems without the intercom, it is obviously the radio. Get someone to listen to your transmissions on a known good radio. If it is loud but garbled check your antennae connections. If it is clear but weak, try replacing the batteries in the radio.

[M Towsley]

Re: Problems with transmitting

Gerald,

I agree with Richard. You can find good used two-place intercoms on Ebay. I use a Flightcom IISX and have for years. Here is one on Ebay, but you can find them cheaper if you are patient. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Flightcom-II...c94d1a&vxp=mtr

[Pearson]

Re: Problems with transmitting

Gerald,

Also, if you have a place to plug a mic into the radio try doing that to eliminate a bad mic as the problem.

[Ray36048]

Re: Problems with transmitting

Squelch on the intercom will not effect the radio. The squelch control only adjusts the intercom circuits. Most likely the intercom is the problem.

Verify that you have connected everything correctly. When it does not "work", can you see if there is an indication on the handheld that it is transmitting. If yes and no audio out, there is something amiss in the mic circuit. If the radio does not indicate that it is transmitting, then the problem is with the "key" circuit. All of these go through the intercom box.

Like others have said, make sure the radio works OK without the intercom first.

[lfries]

Re: Problems with transmitting

I have been having problems recently after many years of satistactory service (15+) I have an ICON A22. It quit working with my headset or intercom and the local Avionics re soldered the radio plugs for the headset adapter and all seemed well except transmission some time. After a few months it quit again and it was the a
dapter wiring. I'm wondering if there is more heat on the adaper wiring and plugs when using the intercom and that why the solder broke down over time.

[Ray36048]

Re: Problems with transmitting

Not heat, I am sure things are not getting hot enough to make the solder flow.... But, from my years in the electronic packaging world, solder joints do not like to be in tension or shear. They will fail over time.

[Gerald McKibben]

Re: Problems with transmitting

Thanks to all who responded to my post; your comments were helpful and reinforced my notion that the problem was the intercom. I ordered a little unit from Aircraft Spruce that sells for $96, the Pilot PA-200T. No bells and whistles or cell phone connection. Just installed and tested it this morning and the transmittance comes through loud and clear. Haven't flown with it yet (March winds too high today) or tested the passenger communications.

I couldn't hep but notice that the unit is smaller and much lighter than the Flightcom IIsx that is apparently faulty. I plan to take the old one apart and see if I can find a loose connection or something. If there's something I can fix I'll still keep the new one, which I'm guessing may be better overall. Battery life is said to be 25 - 30 hours. There is no indicator light to tell you the switch is on, so you have to remember to turn it off or you'll always be replacing batteries (9V).

[VASWIFT]

Re: Problems with transmitting

I use Yaesu handheld. I first bought the PA-200 but had trouble with audio and mic levels. Called company and talked with one of the designers. Said I was using pair of DC 13.4 headsets. Person told me to send intercom to them and they would "modify" it to work with DC headsets. Got it back and I was not satisfied with results. Gave up on PA-200.

I went back to old reliable Flightcom IISX. Audio in and out now good. A bit larger but......

Hope you have better luck with PA-200 than I did.

[Gerald McKibben]

Re: Problems with transmitting

I use Yaesu handheld. ...I bought a PA200 - had trouble with audio and mic levels. Called company and talked with one of the designers. Said I was using pair of DC 13.4 headsets. Person told me to send intercom to them and they would "modify" it to work with DC headsets. Got it back and I was not satisfied with results. Gave up on PA-200.

I went back to old reliable Flightcom IISX. Audio in and out now good. A bit larger but......

Hope you have better luck with PA-200 than I did.

Well, I didn't. So I'm sending it back to Aircraft Spruce. Their customer service is the best, in my experience. I'll go back to my IISX also. In an earlier post I reported that my external antenna was just barely hanging on, so the loose connection there was probably the problem to begin with.

[lfries]

Re: Problems with transmitting

I developed problems with my long serving ICON and Intercom. Initially the avionics shop re soldered the transmit adaptor socket but the problem came back several months later. My son told me of the Flight Line FL 760 radio that he is using to replace the King 96/97 in the ag aircraft he maintains. Cost 650. After buying the FL760 I came to the conclusion my problem might have been the headset adaptor. However, I'm really happy with the FL 760 (except the instruction manual) and its internal intercom. It could be mounted in an instrument hole but we mounted it where the old 90 channel and VOR was once installed. After all the years of non use (20+-) the antenna standing wave ratio was well within the required specs.