IMC effect on Comm range

FORANE

FORANE

En-Route
Joined
Mar 7, 2013
Messages
3,536
Location
TN
Display Name
Display name:
FORANE
Does IMC conditions, rain, etc degrade the range and or clarity of your comm radio?

I flew Friday in IMC and had poor reception on both radios on multiple frequencies. I was not in icing conditions. I flew today in severe clear and those same radios on the same frequencies were clear.
 
Have never had problems with comms while IMC
 
kgruber said:
There can be precipitation static. Usually that makes the radio completely unusable.
Click to expand...
Completely unusable closely describes what I experienced on Friday, but strangely not on all frequencies.
 
I went up on Thursday and was in IMC for about 1.5 hours with moderate/heavy rain and the radios worked fine.
 
My plane is a Lancair so it is composite and these planes do not have any static wicks. My flight was through extensive precipitation and mist.
 
Lancair with no grounding and/or regular paint (supposedly there's anti-static paint available, can't comment on that though) will pick up a load of static. Had a very similar composite bird where in certain conditions I managed to pick up so much static that not only the COMMs but also the GPS antenna quit.
Having said that, your antennas are on the outside, right? If inside - static, if outside - check that silicone-like stuff around the antenna base - if it dries and cracks, it may let the water in. BTDT too.
 
moonshine said:
Lancair with no grounding and/or regular paint (supposedly there's anti-static paint available, can't comment on that though) will pick up a load of static. Had a very similar composite bird where in certain conditions I managed to pick up so much static that not only the COMMs but also the GPS antenna quit.
Having said that, your antennas are on the outside, right? If inside - static, if outside - check that silicone-like stuff around the antenna base - if it dries and cracks, it may let the water in. BTDT too.
Click to expand...
Antennas are all inside.
 
FORANE said:
My plane is a Lancair so it is composite and these planes do not have any static wicks. My flight was through extensive precipitation and mist.
Click to expand...

Odd, I've flown a Columbia 400 that had static wicks on both the wings and horizontal stabilizers, and during a tour of the factory I saw the layer of mesh impregnated into the skin. Is yours a kit-built?? :dunno:

I've never experienced radio issues in IMC except in thunderstorms and icing.
 
Threefingeredjack said:
Odd, I've flown a Columbia 400 that had static wicks on both the wings and horizontal stabilizers, and during a tour of the factory I saw the layer of mesh impregnated into the skin. Is yours a kit-built?? :dunno:

I've never experienced radio issues in IMC except in thunderstorms and icing.
Click to expand...
Mine was one of the first Lancair kits ever. It is the 235 airframe which apart from a few 200 airframes was the first major kit offered by Lancair. Further, my 235 is serial number 2.
I just looked on the Lancair parts page and see they are now offering static wicks. I doubt mine has any mesh under the skin and it does not have any wicks.
 
We had frequent UHF radio interference when in heavy precip in the B-52. Transmission was also problematic. I've never had it as bad flying GA but then again I haven't punched through stuff as thick/heavy when flying recreationally.

It happens.
 
It happens... Last week during one of our flights ATC informed us about a SIGMET B between us and the station... Coms were poor at best.....
 
What was the weather like in the general area? Snow, thunderstorms?

It's not unheard of for an RCO to go out of commission due to weather, however it may sound from the OP's comments that other aircraft weren't having similar issues?
 
I squaked 7600 for the first time last winter due to cloud induced static. As soon as I popped out of it comms were fine and I put my code back.
 
FORANE said:
Mine was one of the first Lancair kits ever. It is the 235 airframe which apart from a few 200 airframes was the first major kit offered by Lancair. Further, my 235 is serial number 2.
I just looked on the Lancair parts page and see they are now offering static wicks. I doubt mine has any mesh under the skin and it does not have any wicks.
Click to expand...

You can have mesh under the skin. You can have internal antennas. You cannot have both.

A static wick is nothing more than a high value resistor with a solder lug or crimp connector on one end and a needle-sharp point on the other end. THey cost about a dime to make.

.
 
Get external antennas - that'll help. Non-meshed composites pick up static a lot
 
It mostly happens in very dry snow, and mostly while IMC. Bonding the controls is the first fix.....and then add the static wicks. Wicks won't do much good by themselves.
 
MarkZ said:
What was the weather like in the general area? Snow, thunderstorms?

It's not unheard of for an RCO to go out of commission due to weather, however it may sound from the OP's comments that other aircraft weren't having similar issues?
Click to expand...
It was Northeast TN. Solid IMC, mod to heavy precip. Other aircraft not having similar problem.

moonshine said:
Get external antennas - that'll help. Non-meshed composites pick up static a lot
Click to expand...
I had considered this a few months back. I had a new audio panel installed and was chasing poor comm performance. Avionics guy rewired rg400 to 1 antenna - a whip internal to vertical empennage. He also got me to stop using an Archer antenna and start using a ADVANCED AIRCRAFT ELECTRONICS HIGH GAIN ANTENNA (VHF-5) like here:
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/avpages/antennasystems.php
Comm performance improved after these changes. I fine tuned squelch settings in flight and now have pretty good comms in clear air. I have noticed when in IMC frequently my comm reception is degraded significantly on SOME frequencies.

kgruber said:
It mostly happens in very dry snow, and mostly while IMC. Bonding the controls is the first fix.....and then add the static wicks. Wicks won't do much good by themselves.
Click to expand...
Bonding controls...I wonder how that would be done on a composite craft.
 
I've never found that being within 1900 feet of a cloud affects my comm. However, I have had precipitation static when flying in precip even when the vis is more than 3 miles. So, I'd say being in clouds/precip is the issue, not being in IMC.
 
I've had it happen at various times. Usually there's some sort of significant weather going on.

Is your Lancair 235 so equipped or does it have a 320/360?
 
Ted DuPuis said:
I've had it happen at various times. Usually there's some sort of significant weather going on.

Is your Lancair 235 so equipped or does it have a 320/360?
Click to expand...
Hey Ted

I have an O-320 A model with 10:1 pistons. Yes, this is the narrow deck origionally 150 hp but rebuilt with 10:1's. I have had one sheared stud in the 800 hours I have on it.

Yes there was significant weather but not CB's. I was in significant precip at 8k msl to surface(freezing level around 11.5), missed approach at home airport and only went visual 30 feet above decision height on the nearby ILS into KTRI.
 
That sounds like a hot little setup. I love those Lancairs, and they're still on my wish list one day. 'course as I continue to improve the 310, there becomes less and less reason to switch. After spending 40 hours in it in 5 days recently, I got out of it thinking "I love this plane."
 
FORANE said:
Bonding controls...I wonder how that would be done on a composite craft.
Click to expand...

Glue. ;) But they don't work so well as controls after you're done. ;)

Kidding of course. There's various schemes, but most require putting some sort of metal mesh under the skin and then having braid or wire jumpers from major components to smaller ones.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top