transponder not working

tony roberts wrote:
If it's busy I don't say anything.
If I'm out at 2100 hours, and the tower staff are sitting there bored
out of their minds, I'll sometimes call, "Kelowna Tower, Cessna 172 Golf
India Charlie Echo requesting Mode C check - I have 4200 ft" and they
will respond, "India Charlie Echo Altimeter setting is 29.96 - we read
4350ft." Then I know that although I am out, I am still legal.
If of course the call India Charlie Echo we read 4550 feet then I know
to have my modre C encoder checked before I fly through any serious
airspace.



I'm surprised that nobody's mentioned the old trick about how to avoid getting
busted on an altitude. Upon being questioned about your altitude, you note
you're off by 300 feet (or whatever). Announce you're recycling your
transponder, turn it off, climb or dive like a banshee, turn it back on a few
moments later as you establish yourself where you were supposed to be in the
first place.

Of course I have no personal experience with this technique as I've been an
accurate pilot.




--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN
mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com

B A R R Y wrote:


The problem disappeared, and we've since met others who had been told of
double returns. We've chalked it up as a since-repaired FAA radar /
computer issue.

There's a spot I fly over that almost always generates a spurious TIS
target. I suspect it's a similar problem.

There's a spot I fly over that almost always generates a spurious TIS
target. I suspect it's a similar proble

The TIS response may also be the boundry of a sector. Is the spurious
response right at your own location?

Jose
--
There are two kinds of people in the world. Those that just want to
know what button to push, and those that want to know what happens when
they push the button.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

On May 30, 7:01 pm, buttman wrote:


Does anybody do this? Has a problem like this ever been encountered by
anyone else? Is there any other way to check that your transponder is
working before you enter airspace?

I do it every year after annual (since all the antennas have been
messed with). Just call approach/center and ask for a transponder
check.

-Robert

Yes it, reJose wrote:
There's a spot I fly over that almost always generates a spurious TIS
target. I suspect it's a similar proble

The TIS response may also be the boundry of a sector. Is the spurious
response right at your own location?

Yes, it reports a target same altitude and location as me.

Yes, it reports a target same altitude and location as me.

Same thing happens to us. I think what you are seeing is the adjacent
sector reporting your own airplane as you transition across the
boundary. First couple of times does cause the seat to crease though.

Jose
--
There are two kinds of people in the world. Those that just want to
know what button to push, and those that want to know what happens when
they push the button.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

On May 31, 6:44 am, B A R R Y wrote:
tony roberts wrote:

I sometimes ask for a Mode C check.
It checks the encoding altitmeter in addition to general operation.

Our plane flies in Bravo/Charlie/IFR enough that we know ours works.

However, we went through a spell where we were told by ATC that they
were getting double returns from us. Our favorite avionics guy checked
it twice with nothing found. The double return would happen in a
relatively specific geographical area. We would often get asked if we
had multiple transponders in the aircraft.

The problem disappeared, and we've since met others who had been told of
double returns. We've chalked it up as a since-repaired FAA radar /
computer issue.

I'd simply ask ATC for checks, as Tony mentioned.

There is a great article on the web (I'll try and track it down) about
how this happens in radar facilities with multiple radars feeding the
presentation the controller is seeing. Memphis Center "use" to have
the problem just north of Dyersburg, it was the most notorious in the
country I was told...and it took some effort to fix it.

It has to do when the computer that is processing all of this gets
"confused" because of the time and angle of how the returns from the
various radar sites are coming to it.

Robert

"buttman" wrote in message
ups.com...

ident light was not blinking, but some of these planes have a real dim
ident light and the sun was behind us.

Also, we were at about 3000 feet and just south of Modesto. I don't
think radar coverage was the issue.

Remember that the light should respond to calls made from other
TCAS-equipped aircraft. If you think there should have been sufficient
airline traffic ovehead to trigger the light, you might want to check the
transponder.

I just upgraded to a solid state transponder after years of troubleshooting
intermittent problems in my KT-76A (including bench checks, antenna
cleaning, mode-c replacements) and the transition to solid state seemed to
have fixed the problem. To answer the original post, during all this time, I
called various ATC facilities to check my mode C with no pushback from them.

Marco