Garmin 430 Reception

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