Frank, Sure makes me suspicious of the generator and/or regulator.
If your generator is failing, then your ammeter would not show a strong charge right after starting the engine and getting in the air. The ammeter should still be in the positive range, just barely, after a long flight. A fully charged battery will start the engine five or maybe even 10 times. I found this out when my generator failed soon after I bought my Coupe on a cross-country trip. I charged the battery fully, take off and get away from the airport and shut off the master switch. Then, I'd fly to my destination or just fly around for a tank full. Before approaching the airport, I'd turn on the master switch, radio, etc., and communicate. As soon as possible, I got the generator and regulator both, as a matched pair, to a generator shop which repaired and adjusted them properly. But, this let me complete the cross country trip I was on when I discovered the problem. If you are having problems with static on the handheld, shut off the master switch and try it again. DO NOT hand prop the plane yourself. Get some qualified person, a pilot or mechanic to sit in the plane, holding the brake and ready to manage the throttle if it over-revs. If there's a qualified prop-starting person, let them swing the prop. There's a technique that keeps hand-propping fairly safe. It could, I guess, be a failure of the receiver section of your radio. But, with the battery running down, it sure sounds more like a failing generator/regulator pair. Ed > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On > Behalf Of fnelson913 > Sent: Sunday, November 23, 2008 10:37 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [ercoupe-tech] Radio Problems End Trip to Wyoming > > I feel like "pig pen" (if I have the Peanuts' cartoon reference > correct) as there seems to be a black cloud following me around. I > thought I knew what my radio problems were, but apparently I don't. > On my first long cross country to Jean, NV, I attributed severe > static on my radio to a failing battery. That seemed logic since the > Coupe had a dead battery the next day and I didn't seem to have the > same radio problems on the way back. In retrospect, that logic seems > pretty weak. > > I started my trip to Wyoming to visit my father for Thanksgiving on > yesterday. Guess what? Dead battery again. I replaced the battery > with a loaner that was charged and known to be good. The Coupe > started now and I did some touch and go practice to see if the ship > was ship shape. I push the start of the trip out by one day and spent > the rest of the day relaxing with my wife. > > This moring I departed just under the clouds from Torrance. After > clearing the morning coastal gloom, I climbed to 9,500 MSL for my > first leg to Kingman, AZ. (Man it takes a long time to get to 9,500 > feet!) > > Toward the last half of the trip I was noticing some static on the > radio. I attributed to weak signals from distance airports on 122.8. > But as I approached Kingman and started my chatter on the Unicom > channel. It became apparent that everything was not right. The static > was so bad that I could barely copy anyone's transmission. So I > switched to my handheld radio, and it was no better. I warned Kingman > traffic that I was having radio problems. When I entered the > downwind, I was told that I was being heard loud and clear. > > After I landed (and stopped shaking), I powered down at the fuel > pump. I turned the radio back on with the engine off and sure enough > there was no static. The radio was loud and clear. > > So, here is my restated problem. On long flights, my radio reception > becomes extremely staticy (is that a word?). At the being of flights > and on short duration flights, everything is fine. I can only assume > that static is being generated by the engine (I guess the alternator) > or that some kind of static filter is failing when it heats up. > > Does any of this make sense? > > Oh by the way, my engine wouldn't start either. I guess I will be > learning how to solo hand prop tomorrow morning. > > Stuck in Kingman... > > Frank Nelson > N51DV - 415C > TOA > > > ------------------------------------ > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > >
