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  1. #1

    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Palestine, Texas
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    3

    Continued radio problems

    After three months of research and asking questions, all I have found out about my radio problems is that it is a common problem with evidently no concrete solution. No help from Vertex Standard or I-Com. They sell handheld radios with headset adaptors and VOR navigation but they are useless in regards to transmitting (therefore useless in flight) if you are using an headset , intercom and external PTT switch. There is RF feedback so terrible no one can understand you. No amount of ferrite beads, loops in the coax, or external antennas has helped.

    I know there must be fellow Aeronca Chief/Champ pilots out there with usable radios. I would like to know what those radios are. I can't complete my flight training if I can't communicate. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have an earlier post under my name explaining the problem with the radios, so I won't go into it here. HELP

  2. #2
    Hiperbiper's Avatar
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    Jul 2011
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    Shreveport, Louisiana
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    100
    Just asking;
    Have you tried taking the PTT out of the loop and using just the radio and headset? Just key the mike with the radio PTT. Some PTT are wired funny (DC comes to mind). Also; are you using an intercom? If so unhook it.

    You seem to have a feedback loop going on.
    Start with just the radio (working or not?). Add the headset. Add the intercom. Add the PTT.

    At some point you will go from useable to crap. Crap portion can always be fixed.

    Hope this helps

    Chris
    You Tube only proves that more airplanes have crashed due to Video Camaras than any other single reason...

  3. #3
    Mike Switzer's Avatar
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    Jul 2011
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    Central Illinois
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    I have an Icom A14 & it has at least 30 miles range airborne. Tower couldn't tell the difference - this was using it handheld with no headset attachment. Turned all the way up we could hear them just fine with our headsets on (for hearing protection, the engine is loud)

  4. #4

    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    Indiana
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    112

    Rolls Eyes

    I read the previous post so here goes..... are the plug wires sheilded? or are you using old solid core wires and open plugs? if sheilded (if not well it needs to be) then does running on either mag quiet it down? also if your headsets have the "on the cable" volume control try a set that doesn't (that was what was wrong with my vertex, only when transmitting, it would whine horribly). A new headset fixed the problem for me. Are you running it on it's own battery or do you have an onboard with a wind generator? if so try it on it's own battery. Good luck!, aren't AM radios fun???! I also had a serious feed back problem with mine when I had the portable gps antenna too close to the radio or even the aircraft frame, took me awhile to figure that one out.
    Last edited by Racegunz; 12-10-2012 at 08:59 PM.

  5. #5
    rwanttaja's Avatar
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    Jul 2011
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    Seattle
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    Do you get the feedback when you don't plug the microphone into the headset adaptor?

    Ron Wanttaja

  6. #6
    Cary's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    Fort Collins, CO
    Posts
    255
    I have an older Vertex Standard, now about 9 years old. Its transmission capabilities were severely limited in my P172D, so I had my IA install a connection to the aircraft's external antennas. After doing that, the transmissions were heard loud and clear at Cheyenne's tower from about 30 miles south, apparently little different from the panel mounted radios. I used my DC 13.4 headset and a Telex PTT for the test, plugged directly into the hand-held's ports with the adapters provided by Vertex. I did not use the aircraft's intercom or aircraft power.

    My guess is that if you keep the hand-held's system entirely separate from your aircraft's systems, your problem will be solved.

    Cary
    "I have slipped the surly bonds of earth...,
    put out my hand and touched the face of God." J.G. Magee

  7. #7
    I think your problem is that you have a unshielded ignition system. I had the same problem with my Chief (1946 11-AC with Continental 65), the only way I have found to eliminate the problem is to: #1: have an outside antenna, that will require having a ground plane for your antenna, and #2: installing a shielded ignition system. I installed slick mags, and shielded plugs and the problem went away.
    Good luck

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