Intermittent mode c

[agidi]

Hello guys.

Quick question. My transponder is starting to ack up. A kn64
It intermittently drops mode c, then sends it back again.

Can I legally fly from klrd to KSAT and back? It worked last time 90% of the time, got a warning and was told to check it out immediately.

, I'm having it checked up this week, but not replaced. I'm just worried if it acts up again, I can could get in trouble.

Please advice. Thanks


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[sourdough44]

You could act like it 'just happened', which may only work a few times. I'd say the correct answer is to get it looked at fairly soon at a reliable avionics shop.

It sounds like it has been acting up more than once with one controller? If so it's unlikely to get better on it's own. If you do need to leave the one time, or to get to a shop those details can be worked out in the phone ahead of time.

 

[ahkahn]

Mine was intermittent for several months. Second what Sourdough said... act like it "just happened" and move on. I was only caught by the same controller once, and then I told that controller that I was flying it back to get it checked out. They're not out to bust you... in fact they made notes on my flight plan so that the subsequent controllers knew it was intermittent.

But- get it checked ASAP.

 

[Clark1961]

The intermittent ones are sometimes tough for a shop to find. Once I figured out the nature of the failure (but not the cause) I'd just tell ATC that it was intermittent and most were okay with that. Sometimes ATC would tell me they had no transponder, other times they'd tell me that they were getting intermittent responses.

I was really happy when I finally found a shop that could fix it. Basically they had to visually inspect the system instead of relying on their test boxes. There's nothing like remembering the fundamentals when troubleshooting.

Anyway, good luck with resolving the problem.

 

[roncachamp]

Hello guys.

Quick question. My transponder is starting to ack up. A kn64
It intermittently drops mode c, then sends it back again.

Can I legally fly from klrd to KSAT and back? It worked last time 90% of the time, got a warning and was told to check it out immediately.

, I'm having it checked up this week, but not replaced. I'm just worried if it acts up again, I can could get in trouble.

So working transponder and iffy encoder. Shouldn't be an issue, ATC can authorize a deviation from the Mode C requirement for Class C airspace immediately.

 

[agidi]

I appreciate the replies.
Yes it's been happening, first thing the shop said, was to change the encoder, so I bought a new a-30 altitude encoder.
Same problem, intermittent altitude, so the next step was to "clean" the connector end on the chassis . Same problem, this week the'll try to change the antennae.
Yes the controllers seems to take notes lol. I will tell him it got checked out, and to let me know if it fails again
Thanks



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[roncachamp]

I appreciate the replies.
Yes it's been happening, first thing the shop said, was to change the encoder, so I bought a new a-30 altitude encoder.
Same problem, intermittent altitude, so the next step was to "clean" the connector end on the chassis . Same problem, this week the'll try to change the antennae.
Yes the controllers seems to take notes lol. I will tell him it got checked out, and to let me know if it fails again

I think "clean" the connector end on the chassis should have been the first step.