Hand held radio

[jhartman]

Have a small problem with ICOM A6 (new)not transmitting very far or very clear. Can hear other aircraft as far as 90 miles away.Has external antenna on right wing root. Is there any way to test antenna? What would be a good range while in the air for transmission distance 5 miles ? Also seems to work better while at reduced power. What external antenna would work best? And what type of intercom works best with this radio? Will the ignition (mags) have any effect on transmission?
None electric 1950 18 with 0 235 c1. Thanks ahead of time.

John

 

[bob turner]

I have flown one of these - no problems on transmit. Check your coax and the end fittings, and check the antenna and ground plane.

That said, I am fairly good at all the Garmins including the 430 and the 496. I have flown FMS at least to the state of the art in 1990 (A320). I have programmed computers in Basic, Fortran, Assembly, and Machine languages. I have never, ever encountered a simple com radio as complex as this one. We managed, after a half-hour of struggle, to get it programmed for three local frequencies, get the squelch set up, and after a call to the factory, to get it to quit cutting out every six seconds for a weather broadcast.

This, in my humble opinion, is a dangerously complex radio. We should be looking out the window - not trying to remember how to set the squelch.

 

[cubscout]

John, I've got an ICA-5. All of these handhelds are pretty decent these days, throw ~1.5 watts carrier.

I've got an extra TSO antenna on my aeroplane, which helps it get out.

The main problem I've had, similar to yours, has been slightly low battery. It'll receive all day, but won't put out TX if the battery is a bit low.

I carry an extra alkaline battery pack for this eventuality. You might try charging up, and see how that works.

And of course, check out the connectors and stuff, as previously noted.

Best luck, let us all know how it turns out, eh?

Thanks. cubscout

 

[Clyde and Susan]

John,
These small radios are very sensitive to the load on the output. They expect to see a resistive load of 52 ohms. If the load is excessively reactive they may become distorted or not transmit at all. Put the rubber-ducky antenna that came with it back on leaving everything else the same. Talk to another radio that is more than 1/4 mile distant. Then remove the "rubber-ducky" antenna and reconnect the external antenna. Have your helper 1/4 mile away critique the received audio. If the flexible antenna sounds good and the external antenna does not, the next step would be to borrow a through-line watt meter and check the reflected power. Anything reflected more than 5% of the forward power would indicate that the antenna is not resonant at the frequency on which you are transmitting. The antenna may be too long or too short. I doubt that it is either open or shorted because that would keep the receiver from working as well as you indicated.

In Susan's Cub Special (PA-11), I mounted a broad=band antenna back inside the fuselage so that there are no external antennas showing. It is mounted on an aluminum sheet as a ground plane which in turn is attached to the tubing with Adel clamps. It works great with all of our hand-held radios. ...Clyde Davis

 

[gpepperd]

I would agree with Bob that the A6 is pretty complicated to use compared to my beloved KX99, which finally died. I installed an A6 into my system that is wired into external power, stereo panel mount intercom, & PPT in the control stick. It came out very well and works great on both RX & TX. The only problem I have with the A6 is it picks up noise from my Garmin 296 which I have to squelch out with a setting of 9 to 11. I have my radio and GPS separated about as far as possible in a cub. If anyone has any input on that problem I would like to hear a solution. The one thing I did, which improves overall grounding, was to run a #6 copper from the bottom of my external antenna to the airframe. John, a good ground plane is critical for good TX performance. Greg

 

[bob turner]

Interesting - we have one 296 that interfered with a Narco 810+ only when the GPS was sipping aircraft power. Moved the same GPS to a different ship with the same Com, and no problem. Filter on the power lead, or a circulating ground?

And certain ELTs interfere with GPS Coms in external noise environments, such as over aerospace buildings and antenna farms.

 

[jhartman]

Tested the antenna first it out checked OK. Then as Clyde suggested test with small antenna works fine. Hooked it back to the external antenna then disconnected the intercom and plugged directly to radio worked some what. Then I put a small 12 volt battery under back seat used the cigarette plug that came with radio this help a noticeable amount as far as power to transmit but still not legible, we have an AWOS that we can transmit radio check. All was static then process elimination began the problem is in the microphone of the very old David Clark head set, traded with rear head set and seemed to fix the transmission loud and clear. The sun went down before it could be tested at a farther distance, maybe tomorrow afternoon. I want to thank all that gave advise very much appreciated . The parts for the battery install was found at the local National Airplane Parts Association. The battery also powers 196 gps. And a 1.8 volt battery maintainer in the skylight to recharge (cabela's). Thanks one and all. John

 

[Fortysix12]

The handheld is good for at least 25 miles in the air. On a return flyin trip I was talking to a friend that was at least 25 miles away. He was at using a newer Icom (with no aux pwr) at 1500 ft. and I was at 7500 ft trans and rec. with a KX155. When they are set up right they work well.

 

[Mike Crosby]

Have you tried a magneto filter? It solved the same problem with a KX99

 

[jhartman]

Hello all
Had a chance to test last nights work with external power and different head set seemed to work a lot better,
46-12 I was 12 miles from airport and could hear radio check fairly clear and was at 8,000' msl. External antenna is mounted on fuel tank cover toward front by wing root fairing is that a good place to mount?
Greg did your GPS have clicking sound about every 3 or 4 seconds? My GPS is within 8 inches of A-6 is this to close?
Mike I have seen these filters in the parts book. where do they attach ?

 

[Fortysix12]

My antenna is mounted on the wing faring strip at about the same location as yours which reminds me that it is important to have a ground connecting the antenna base to the airframe. Not sure how critical this is with a handheld but is with a panel mount. Open your squelch and listen to your left and right mag while in flight. One is usually noisier than the other. This will give you a reference for how much improved your added parts make. Mag noise seems to rob reception. Resister plugs, mag filters all help.

 

[jhartman]

fortysix 12 I will try the mags tomorrow afternoon if it the weather permits, need to fly to VEL to get oil. Maybe antenna is close enough the fairing to install ground lead without removing tank cover. Thanks again for your help.

John

 

[Mike Crosby]

They are connected between the 'P' lead and the MAG, 1 for each mag. It is a simple installation and can make a lot of difference.
Where are you located on CO?
We fly up to Western Co quite often.
Mike

 

[clouds]

Handheld

I am not a mechanic, so only know what works, not why. My J-5 has an ICOM A-24 (basically the same as the -6), mounted diagonally on the left side of the instrument panel. It hooks up to an external antenna on the left wing root. The right wing root has a 406 ELT antenna. A Garmin 296 is mounted in the center of the instrument panel (10" at its closest to the ICOM) with its antenna in the center of the overhead plexiglass. There is no interference from any of these. The ICOM receives from at least 90+ miles and transmits 25+ very clearly. It is hooked up to a Telex 50D headset and all work great together. Get the ICOM lithium battery for decent life, and use the one that came with it as a spare (I am lucky to get 4 hours of sparse use out of it).

 

[Widebody]

When I was having trouble with my Becker, I had my ICOM-24 hooked up to my external antenna along with a push to talk. All days are different, but on one occasion I was communicating with another aircraft about 100mi. away loud & clear at both ends. What I did notice however was that when my cell phone was plugged into my safety cell, it required me to turn my squelch up quite a bit more. It was definitely interfering with my radio(ICOM) WHY??

Brad

 

[jhartman]

Radio's

Gentalmen.
Thanks for the information and experience. Chief has the filters for $53 each, is this a good price? Battery life is short while flying the pattern these radios consume power at a fast rate while transmitting, from what a local ham radio operator says.
May move the gps to center or left side, Away from the radio.

 

[bob turner]

Those filters are simple electrolytic capacitors, as far as I can tell, with an 8310 to drive the price skywards.

My SL40 and PS-501 will go a month on one charge. I use a 7 amp-hour Yuasa. I can run the nav lights for 45 minutes and stil transmit and receive with the same battery. The Icom would probably last that long on the same battery. I fly every day in a class D area.