Garmin 430 Reception

Our "new" '79 M20J came with a 2 year old Garmin 430 GPS and Garmin 340
audio panel. The backup radio is an ancient King 170B. I must say that
the reception on the Garmin sucks compared to the 170B. Am I doing
something wrong or is this just something I have to live with? To me for
10 grand the Garmin should run circles around the 170B . Thoughts?
Don't flame me too bad I have only flown this plane a couple of
times... Thanks!!

Jon Kraus
PP-ASEL-IA
Student Mooney Owner
'79 M20J 4443H @ TYQ

Hey Jon...one of the rental 172s I used to fly had a 430 in it. Wish I
could recall what the 2nd radio but am drawing a blank at the moment. I
never noticed a difference between the two and I've flown this
particular plane quite a bit on x-c flights where I was constantly using
both radios.

By the way, I've taken the first very small step on the ownership path.
I have a potential partner and we're just starting to kick around
ideas on co-ownership. Both of us are high and dry in terms of rental
as our FBO went down in flames over the past month. I just may have to
borrow the "student aircraft purchaser" part from your sig. line.

--
Jack Allison
PP-ASEL, plan-to-be-IA-Student, flying club member/co-owner wanna-be

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the Earth
with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there
you will always long to return"
- Leonardo Da Vinci

(Remove the obvious from address to reply via e-mail)

In rec.aviation.owning Jon Kraus wrote:
: Our "new" '79 M20J came with a 2 year old Garmin 430 GPS and Garmin 340
: audio panel. The backup radio is an ancient King 170B. I must say that
: the reception on the Garmin sucks compared to the 170B. Am I doing

I just flew a '77 Arrow with a 430 and a KX170B. The reception on the
170B was FAR superior to that on the 430. I think that the old-timers
that designed the 170/175 radios really had a handle on how to take care
of low signal strength inputs, while the 430 designers copied the TI
databook for a "118 to 135 MHz aircraft transmitter/receiver".

Beyond that, the antennas can make a big difference in how a receiver
performs. If the old antenna and wiring was re-used for the 430 I would
consider rewiring and replacing with new parts.
--
Aaron Coolidge

Jon Kraus ) wrote:

Our "new" '79 M20J came with a 2 year old Garmin 430 GPS and Garmin 340
audio panel. The backup radio is an ancient King 170B. I must say that
the reception on the Garmin sucks compared to the 170B. Am I doing
something wrong or is this just something I have to live with? To me for
10 grand the Garmin should run circles around the 170B . Thoughts?
Don't flame me too bad I have only flown this plane a couple of
times... Thanks!!

Where do you notice the reception problem, on the ground or in the air?

Do you know where on the body of the aircraft the antenna for the GNS
430 is located? How about the King 170B? What quality is the co-ax
connecting the radio to the antenna? Is the antenna itself in good
shape?

By no means am I an avionics installation guru, but these are the first
questions that come to my mind when I read of a reception problem.

I have pretty much the same stack (GNS430, a B/K 155, and a Garmin audio
panel), but the GNS 430 does not have reception problems that you
describe. The reception seems to be comparable to the 155.

--
Peter

Have you considered swapping the antenna leads (at the tranceiver end) to
see if it's a aerial issue?

"Jon Kraus" wrote in message
...
Our "new" '79 M20J came with a 2 year old Garmin 430 GPS and Garmin 340
audio panel. The backup radio is an ancient King 170B. I must say that
the reception on the Garmin sucks compared to the 170B. Am I doing
something wrong or is this just something I have to live with? To me for
10 grand the Garmin should run circles around the 170B . Thoughts?
Don't flame me too bad I have only flown this plane a couple of
times... Thanks!!

Jon Kraus
PP-ASEL-IA
Student Mooney Owner
'79 M20J 4443H @ TYQ

The "aircraft purchaser" part is all yours Jack... It's the "Student
Mooney Owner" that I am still presently using (and will be for a while I
suspect)... :-) Good luck!! A good partner is a great find... Let me
know if you have any questions...

Jon Kraus
PP-ASEL-IA
Student Mooney Owner
M20J 4443H @ TYQ

Jack Allison wrote:
Hey Jon...one of the rental 172s I used to fly had a 430 in it. Wish I
could recall what the 2nd radio but am drawing a blank at the moment. I
never noticed a difference between the two and I've flown this
particular plane quite a bit on x-c flights where I was constantly using
both radios.

By the way, I've taken the first very small step on the ownership path.
I have a potential partner and we're just starting to kick around ideas
on co-ownership. Both of us are high and dry in terms of rental as our
FBO went down in flames over the past month. I just may have to borrow
the "student aircraft purchaser" part from your sig. line.

Good idea.... For some reason in '98 when they painted the aircraft
they thought painting the antenna's was a brilliant idea too.... Maybe
that has something to do with it and the 170B handles it better.. JK

Aaron Coolidge wrote:

In rec.aviation.owning Jon Kraus wrote:
: Our "new" '79 M20J came with a 2 year old Garmin 430 GPS and Garmin 340
: audio panel. The backup radio is an ancient King 170B. I must say that
: the reception on the Garmin sucks compared to the 170B. Am I doing

I just flew a '77 Arrow with a 430 and a KX170B. The reception on the
170B was FAR superior to that on the 430. I think that the old-timers
that designed the 170/175 radios really had a handle on how to take care
of low signal strength inputs, while the 430 designers copied the TI
databook for a "118 to 135 MHz aircraft transmitter/receiver".

Beyond that, the antennas can make a big difference in how a receiver
performs. If the old antenna and wiring was re-used for the 430 I would
consider rewiring and replacing with new parts.

The reception issue seems more prevelant on the ground. THe 430 antenna
is on the top of the aircraft. I haven't had time to check the cable
connections yet but I will.... The antenna got painted when it probably
shouldn't have..... Thanks for the advise! JK

Peter R. wrote:

Jon Kraus ) wrote:


Our "new" '79 M20J came with a 2 year old Garmin 430 GPS and Garmin 340
audio panel. The backup radio is an ancient King 170B. I must say that
the reception on the Garmin sucks compared to the 170B. Am I doing
something wrong or is this just something I have to live with? To me for
10 grand the Garmin should run circles around the 170B . Thoughts?
Don't flame me too bad I have only flown this plane a couple of
times... Thanks!!


Where do you notice the reception problem, on the ground or in the air?

Do you know where on the body of the aircraft the antenna for the GNS
430 is located? How about the King 170B? What quality is the co-ax
connecting the radio to the antenna? Is the antenna itself in good
shape?

By no means am I an avionics installation guru, but these are the first
questions that come to my mind when I read of a reception problem.

I have pretty much the same stack (GNS430, a B/K 155, and a Garmin audio
panel), but the GNS 430 does not have reception problems that you
describe. The reception seems to be comparable to the 155.

Painting the antenna with anything other than a metallic-based paint (very rare)
will have no measurable effect on the antenna. Stop changing out parts and
start measuring. Any avionics shop worth a damn will have either a Bird b-d
wattmeter or a VSWR meter. I prefer the Bird, but anything is better than
guessing.

Jim




Jon Kraus
shared these priceless pearls of wisdom:

-Good idea.... For some reason in '98 when they painted the aircraft
-they thought painting the antenna's was a brilliant idea too.... Maybe
-that has something to do with it and the 170B handles it better.. JK


Jim Weir (A&P/IA, CFI, & other good alphabet soup)
VP Eng RST Pres. Cyberchapter EAA Tech. Counselor
http://www.rst-engr.com

Desribe your reception problem in more detail. Do you have background
noise, poor range, poor readibility (i. e. audio frequency response),
poor built-in squelch settings, maybe even poor frequency selectivity
(do you hear transmissions 25 KHz above or below set frequency)?

Best quality, clearest, & most troublefree radio in my A/C is an old
Cessna RT508C. It is supposed to be junk.