Lousy radio reception

[Don]

I am the proud new owner of a 1946 Taylorcraft BC12-D, and am using a handheld Icom radio. The airplane does not have an outside antenna. The radio is so full of static when the engine is running that it is impossible to hear any communication. I would appreciate any advice on how to eliminate the static noise. The plane has a non shielded ignition system.

[rotaxflyer]

Re: Lousy radio reception

I too have a 46 with unshielded ignition and an Icom. First, make sure you are using the ANL feature of the Icom. Made a big difference for me. Second, ditch the rubber antenna. All I did was unhook the antenna from the ELT and using a BNC coupler, extend the wire to the handheld. There is still some static, but it is totally usable. If your aircraft is certified, I guess you can't just unhook the ELT like I did. But ELT antennas are simple and cheap to buy.

In my opinion, you will never be happy with the rubber antenna.

I also suggest a second battery of some sort. I have had the battery die on me immediately after touchdown at a controlled airport. The ground controller was left wondering as I dug out the spare battery. I don't know what I would have done without it.

I put the rubber antenna on the ELT. I live in a pretty densely populated area.

BTW, I have eiseman mags if that makes any difference.

[tawadc95]

Re: Lousy radio reception

say again,I can't hear you!
did you set the squelch to a different level if you have an adjustable squelch?
battery fully charged or a battery that is defective?
antenna seated all the way?
tried it in another airplane to see if reception is better?

[Howard Wilson]

Re: Lousy radio reception

Hi Don, Congratulations on your new bird! You'll find lots of info and expertise on this site. This subject has been covered quite a bit. Try the search function at the top of the page. Some key words might be 'cups' yeah cups. 'hand held radio', 'static'....... 'antennas' all kinds of related words. You'll see some good stuff. Howard

[N74DV]

Re: Lousy radio reception

we use a handheld in ours also. We have shielded lower ignition and un-shielded top. If the noise is too great we will turn off the upper mag and the noise goes away instantly.

Obviously not a solution for communication on takeoff but otherwise would likely work well.

[cpirrmann]

Re: Lousy radio reception

I had the same problem but then one of my Eisemanns died and I did the slick upgrade with shielded ignition wires and the problem was gone. I also use an outside antenna.

[astjp2]

Re: Lousy radio reception

DO NOT use the elt antenna to xmit on, go and buy an 50.00 xcvr antenna from spruce and install it with a ground plane.....you can get shielded SF-4 harness for about 137.00 from fresno and plugs are about 18.00 each, the top cowlings will need blisters for the upper plugs for about 30.00 each, then about 3 hours labor to install. Tim

[Don]

Re: Lousy radio reception

Thanks for the info. Where can I find the blisters for the cowl?

[rotaxflyer]

Re: Lousy radio reception

Tim,

I have good results with the ELT antenna - it has a ground plane. What exactly is the risk here? Should I be changing something?

Andy

[astjp2]

Re: Lousy radio reception

The elt antenna is different length that a comm radio. A comm antenna is like 16-18 inches

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/avpages/stainlessantenna.php

The elt is about 8-10 inches or less.

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/avpages/stainlessantenna.php

You have the potential of blowing out the transmitter portion of your radio if the antenna wavelength is incorrect. The length is not as critical when you receive compared to transmitting.

Technically speaking, each frequency has its own wavelength that is optmial but with 760 channels they are usually made to the middle frequencies which is sufficient to cover the entire range. The elt antenna is optimal for the 121.5/243.0 frequency.

Here is some more options. http://www.wingsandwheels.com/page14.htm

Tim

Your radio is expensive enough that I would spend the 30.00 from spruce to get a whip antenna and install a ground plane under it IAW AC43-13.2a and keep your elt antenna hooked up to the elt.

[Forrest Barber]

Re: Lousy radio reception

OR find an old Comm-Spec radio and use an outside antenna mid fuselage, amazing noise canceling. The one mag shielded works too.. Noise canceling is the answer, I finally bite the bullet and put two slicks on , the cowl bumps are only needed in one cylincer, there is a devise that goes over an unshielded plug and shields it. This is on another thread and can be bought for Ercoupe from many places.

[lfries]

Re: Lousy radio reception

Fresno also has Ercoupe Cups which allow you to use a short unshielded plug without using the blisters. Cups are around $21 each. I have a dye you could use to change the thread size to a standard 5/8 thread. The cups let you hook up shielded ignition wires to the unsheilded plug.

[Guest]

Re: Lousy radio reception

I did a few things to make mine better, I did have sheilded ignition from the start but lots of radio noise so I did these things;

1) covered p-leads from mag to switch with grounded wire braiding
2) put noise suppressors on mags at the p-lead terminal
3) checked both mag capacitors(condenser) and changed found one bad and changed it.
4) added a braided ground strap to ground engine case to the mount/airframe. With out it the engine controls must be providing the ground path since the engine is mounted on rubber.


My radio is 7 year old Yaesu works fine with this set up without ANR turned on.


I use an old ELT antenna now, I know shame on me. I keep thinking I should get a real one and forgetting. Previously had a nice VHF antenna but it got broken.

In the last few months I started using a set of Phillips automatic noise cancelling headsets that I got in a hardware store($30). Made for music but an adapter from Radio Shack converted them from 1/8" stero jack to 1/4" mono jack. They work great what a difference! It's much more quite.

I use them when I use the tractor now too, if you don't plug them into anything they still cancel ambient noise.

Dave