Its been a slow week for email; I would guess that every one is cycling through spring fever, cleaning, etc. I finally got a spin-on oil filter installed on my Alon. Had it in hand for a couple of weeks before I could get a mechanic lined up. I took out the old screen.
Recently I experienced some radio problems. I use an Icom handheld hooked up to the outside plane antenna. I was getting a lot of loud, intermittant buzzing; sometimes couldn't even communicate with others. I tried unplugging all of the wires in the intercom and radio; I tried running it off of battery instead of plane power; and I tried running it with a rubber antenna instead of the Plane's antenna. None of my efforts made a difference, but the problem did not always occur; and sometimes it cleared up during a flight. For a while the display would sometimes become FUBAR, but turning the radio on and off would clear that up. Then recently, when it was acting up a bit, I happened to turn off the GPS. The radio got real clear. I turned the GPS on and the radio acted up again. I did that several times until the radio acted ok with the GPS on. I mentioned this to another pilot who said his problem was the opposite; that is, his radio would cause his GPS to reboot periodically. He was advised by Radio Shack to buy a device to slip over the antenna (radio or GPS, I don't recall which). I think he said it was a ceramic device with magnets in it--or something like that. But it solved his problem. My radio still picks up commercial radio stations in certain locations in my area, and seems a bit directional in that I had trouble speaking with a tower this week when I was banking toward the tower with my antenna pointed the opposite way. Further, a couple of weeks ago I was trying to reach a unicom from 8 miles out, but he couldn't hear me very well and I couldn't hear him at all. But later in the week a pilot following me at about 12 miles said the radio was as clear as any he had heard. I suspect I may have the Nav antenna hooked up to the radio instead of the Comm antenna. I'll let you know if this is so. Has anyone else had this experience? Ken Doyle Springfield, Mo Alon N5477E
<<attachment: winmail.dat>>
