Handheld problem in NORDO plane

Hey folks,

I just bought a Luscombe 8A and am launching tomorrow to fly it home.

The problem is the handheld transceiver I'm using to communicate. It
works fine on the ground. But as soon as I get 100-200 feet off the
ground it gets overwhelmed with static, like the squelch is wide open.

It's a Vertex VXA-300 attached to an external antenna.

I' ve tried turning the squelch to max. I haven't checked whether it
occurs on all frequencies because that didn't occur to me until I had
put the plane back in the hangar.

Any ideas what's going on here? All help is appreciated.

Tailwinds and blue skies,
Mike

Sorry. The frequency involved is 122.7.

Thanks again.

wrote:
Hey folks,

I just bought a Luscombe 8A and am launching tomorrow to fly it home.

The problem is the handheld transceiver I'm using to communicate. It
works fine on the ground. But as soon as I get 100-200 feet off the
ground it gets overwhelmed with static, like the squelch is wide open.

It's a Vertex VXA-300 attached to an external antenna.

I' ve tried turning the squelch to max. I haven't checked whether it
occurs on all frequencies because that didn't occur to me until I had
put the plane back in the hangar.

Any ideas what's going on here? All help is appreciated.

Tailwinds and blue skies,
Mike

Sorry. The frequency involved is 122.7.

Thanks again.

wrote:
Hey folks,

I just bought a Luscombe 8A and am launching tomorrow to fly it home.

The problem is the handheld transceiver I'm using to communicate. It
works fine on the ground. But as soon as I get 100-200 feet off the
ground it gets overwhelmed with static, like the squelch is wide open.

It's a Vertex VXA-300 attached to an external antenna.

I' ve tried turning the squelch to max. I haven't checked whether it
occurs on all frequencies because that didn't occur to me until I had
put the plane back in the hangar.

Any ideas what's going on here? All help is appreciated.

Tailwinds and blue skies,
Mike

*Only* when you hit a few hundred feet...or anytime the engine is running?

Personally I'd venture to take a guess that it's picking up electrical
interference from an ignition component.

In article ,
Mark Morissette wrote:

*Only* when you hit a few hundred feet...or anytime the engine is running?

Personally I'd venture to take a guess that it's picking up electrical
interference from an ignition component.

I thought that too, but it doesn't make sense that it would start
100-200 feet AGL. If it is ignition, it will be present any time the
engine is running.

wrote:
Hey folks,

I just bought a Luscombe 8A and am launching tomorrow to fly it home.

The problem is the handheld transceiver I'm using to communicate. It
works fine on the ground. But as soon as I get 100-200 feet off the
ground it gets overwhelmed with static, like the squelch is wide open.

It's a Vertex VXA-300 attached to an external antenna.

I' ve tried turning the squelch to max. I haven't checked whether it
occurs on all frequencies because that didn't occur to me until I had
put the plane back in the hangar.

Any ideas what's going on here? All help is appreciated.

Anything that would block the signal at that altitude? Have you tried
other frequencies? Other airports?

On 18 Aug 2006 18:41:54 -0700, wrote:

Hey folks,

I just bought a Luscombe 8A and am launching tomorrow to fly it home.

The problem is the handheld transceiver I'm using to communicate. It
works fine on the ground. But as soon as I get 100-200 feet off the
ground it gets overwhelmed with static, like the squelch is wide open.

It's a Vertex VXA-300 attached to an external antenna.

I' ve tried turning the squelch to max. I haven't checked whether it
occurs on all frequencies because that didn't occur to me until I had
put the plane back in the hangar.

Any ideas what's going on here? All help is appreciated.

Try using the antenna that came with the radio. I know it sounds
counter-intuitive, but it can eliminate one device in the problem.
You might not have the range with the rubber ducky antenna, but it
will be enough to get you home if the external antenna is bad.

I had a similar problem years ago, but with the radio stack in a
Cessna 172. I squawked it and got another plane. The first plane
was back on the line the next day, so the problem couldn't have been
too bad. I didn't think to ask at the time what was wrong.

Ron Kelley

john smith wrote:
In article ,
Mark Morissette wrote:

*Only* when you hit a few hundred feet...or anytime the engine is running?

Personally I'd venture to take a guess that it's picking up electrical
interference from an ignition component.

I thought that too, but it doesn't make sense that it would start
100-200 feet AGL. If it is ignition, it will be present any time the
engine is running.

Airframe static? Isn't that what they have the static dissipation
wires for? Just a WAG.

I thought that too, but it doesn't make sense that it would start
100-200 feet AGL. If it is ignition, it will be present any time the
engine is running.


Agreed, hence my query to double confirm that.

I think someone else further down the thread may have nailed it -
airframe static, perhaps.

Squelch is a "dumb" device on cheap radios. It just looks
at the total RF signal level, from any source. You said
that the frequency was 122.7, which is a common frequency,
at 200-300 feet AGL, you're getting your mags [which
probably are not shielded on a NORDO aircraft], and all the
hundreds of transmitters within 200 miles line of sight.
Your hand held may also not be sensitive enough to reject
the adjacent frequencies.


"john smith" wrote in message
...
| In article
,
| Mark Morissette wrote:
|
| *Only* when you hit a few hundred feet...or anytime the
engine is running?
|
| Personally I'd venture to take a guess that it's picking
up electrical
| interference from an ignition component.
|
| I thought that too, but it doesn't make sense that it
would start
| 100-200 feet AGL. If it is ignition, it will be present
any time the
| engine is running.