Skip to main content

Thinking about technical difficulties

In my last post, I described a couple of technical issues that I ran into. I've been thinking about one of them, and I performed an experiment to see if I could reproduce the other one.

When it comes to the issue with FltPlan Go crashing when displaying traffic, I set up my Stratux receiver and iPad mini at my desk at home, connected them as before, and set FltPlan Go to the map view with traffic displayed. Even in my house, it's able to receive ADS-B out broadcasts from nearby aircraft. I let it run for a while as I worked. I let it run for at least half an hour and it did so with no issues. It didn't crash, and kept the display on like it's supposed to. I don't know why it was behaving differently the other day in the plane. I'll try it again on a future flight and, if it happens again, it has to be something specific to operating in the plane. Perhaps it was unable to maintain wireless communication with the Stratux and crashed when it disconnected. It's possible that the iPad and Stratux were too close to each other in the plane, though they were only a couple feet apart during my experiment. Maybe the structure of the plane was interfering with the signal in some fashion. There are several things I can try.

I also verified that the Stratux still works fine with FltPlan Go running on my phone. It's an Android device and, while FltPlan Go for Android is close to the iOS version in terms of functionality, one thing it doesn't have is audible traffic alerts when another airplane gets close. To be honest, if it did, I'd probably use it instead of the iPad, as I could then connect it to my Lightspeed headset and have the ability to hear the alerts as well as listen to music and make phone calls. If I use the iPad, I can connect it to the headset, but then I can't do music streaming or make calls as it's not the model that has cellular data capability.

As for the communication issue, I read up on the KMA 24 audio panel, as well as the Precision Engineering PM1000II intercom that is installed in the plane. Since the issue occurred with both radios, I figure the issue lies between the radios and the headset. As I understand it, the headset jacks are connected to the intercom, which is connected to the audio panel, which is connected to the radios. Now that I have a better understanding of how to operate everything, I have several things I can try such as making sure the squelch on the intercom is set correctly, turning the intercom off which should cause the headset to be connected directly to the audio panel, making sure the audio panel is configured correctly, making sure the volume on the radios is set correctly, using the test feature of the radios, etc.

I also came across something online about the possibility of EMF interference with the intercom causing issues. I doubt that's the problem, but I did introduce two new radios to the cockpit in the form of the iPad and the Stratux. At this point, anything is possible.

Finally, I emailed the previous owner and asked if he'd encountered anything like this. He said he hadn't, so it's either a configuration change I inadvertently made, something that I introduced to the cockpit that's new, or something just now began malfunctioning. As you might expect, I would prefer it be the first, and really hope it's not the last.

I probably won't go flying again until next weekend at the earliest. The weather is typical for this time of year which means it's raining pretty much constantly. Even if I don't fly, I can still head out and check if the problem is still happening. If so, I can then try the troubleshooting steps I've come up with.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Approaching the annual

I know I haven't been posting much, but that's mainly because nothing much of note has been happening. I've been flying, but not really going anywhere in particular. The engine continues to run very well, and the plane is still solid. I was hoping to do more "destination" flying this year but, for whatever reason(s), it didn't really happen. Next year, hopefully.... On the horizon, though, is the annual inspection. It's already scheduled for mid-December, since the last annual is good to the end of that month. I've also arranged for it to be an owner-assisted annual. I'm told that every airplane owner should do this at least once and I can certainly understand why that is the case, even before I do it. I will be learning about my airplane in a way that nothing else will match and, incidentally, save some money at the same time. I'm looking forward to it. Leading up to the annual, I have been compiling a list of squawks that I want to take care ...

First Oil Change

It's been a while since my last post here. I've been flying, but the flights have been intended simply to put time on the plane and most have been pretty uneventful. However, the last two flight have been particularly nice because my wife came with me. I had enough hours on the engine that I felt I could trust it enough to take a passenger. I've now put over 25 hours on the engine since the overhaul and it's time for its first oil change. That was just completed, and the Aeroshell mineral oil used for break-in has been replaced with Phillips XC ashless-dispersant oil. The plan is to run it another 25 hours, at which point we'll change the oil again. At that time, we'll send a sample to Blackstone for analysis, and I will also resume adding Camguard. I also had the shop take care of a few other squawks while they had it in. The biggest of these is its tendency to pull to the left in the air and on the ground. I suspected that it was due to the nosewheel centering...

Precipitation

The weather was rather nice yesterday and I was able to get up in the air in the afternoon. The flight was pretty uneventful, essentially another jaunt up to the north and back. There were two things that were a bit different from the norm. First, on the way back to Harvey Field, I ran at full power. I've done full power runs before; it's a part of the break-in process for an overhauled engine. And I did another good long one yesterday. I was doing a bit better than 110 knots on the airspeed indicator, and that's with the built-in calibrator for true airspeed set for the temperature and altitude so it should be pretty close to what I was actually doing. Yep, still not a fast plane, but I still think the roomy cabin and large fuel capacity make up for that. Second, as I was flying back to Harvey, I decided not to straight back but rather to take a quick detour off to the east to prolong my full-power run. I turned east, then headed back north for a bit. I saw a couple of clo...