Stuck Mike

"Bill Denton" wrote in message
...
I wonder why no aircraft manufacturers or mod manufacturers have come up
with a nice, big, XMIT light mounted dead center on the panel.

It should be very cheap to do on a new aircraft, inexpensive when done in
connection with other radio installs, and not worth it as a stand-alone
mod.

And it would also provide a helpful visual cue for the folks who can't
seem
to manage to hit the PTT until they are halfway through their message!


Hi Bill,

The Bendix/King KX 155As in the C172SPs I trained in and am now renting will
(according to the Cessna Pilot Course textbook...) cut off the TX if the mic
has been keyed for longer than 33 seconds. Then the active frequency will
start blinking confirming you've been cut off. I've not had to test this
under fire yet...hope I don't have to.

Via scanner, I caught a stuck mic incident at Washington Reagan a couple of
months ago where ground control was blocked for a good half hour or so. The
tower had to handle everything and they were NOT happy about it. You could
almost make out conversations going on in the far background on the ground
frequency but unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to hear how it resolved
as I had to go board my flight.

Jay Beckman
Chandler, AZ
PP-ASEL

Jay Beckman ) wrote:

The Bendix/King KX 155As in the C172SPs I trained in and am now renting will
(according to the Cessna Pilot Course textbook...) cut off the TX if the mic
has been keyed for longer than 33 seconds. Then the active frequency will
start blinking confirming you've been cut off. I've not had to test this
under fire yet...hope I don't have to.

Provide a PIREP or file a flight plan in the air and you will
inadvertently test the cut-off feature of this audio panel.

During a PIREP or flight plan, I purposely pause to recycle the push-
to-talk switch. This prevents the panel from activating that safety
feature and cutting me off mid-sentence.

--
Peter

"Peter R." wrote in message
...
Jay Beckman ) wrote:

The Bendix/King KX 155As in the C172SPs I trained in and am now renting
will
(according to the Cessna Pilot Course textbook...) cut off the TX if the
mic
has been keyed for longer than 33 seconds. Then the active frequency
will
start blinking confirming you've been cut off. I've not had to test this
under fire yet...hope I don't have to.

Provide a PIREP or file a flight plan in the air and you will
inadvertently test the cut-off feature of this audio panel.

During a PIREP or flight plan, I purposely pause to recycle the push-
to-talk switch. This prevents the panel from activating that safety
feature and cutting me off mid-sentence.

--
Peter

Good point...Good Suggestion

Jay B

My klx135 has the "T" for transmit. It stops transmitting after 35
seconds and displays "stuck mic". I think the led on my intercomm also
turns red when tranmitting - I'll have to check that out.

Dave
68 7eca


Bill Denton wrote:

I wonder why no aircraft manufacturers or mod manufacturers have come up
with a nice, big, XMIT light mounted dead center on the panel.

It should be very cheap to do on a new aircraft, inexpensive when done in
connection with other radio installs, and not worth it as a stand-alone mod.

And it would also provide a helpful visual cue for the folks who can't seem
to manage to hit the PTT until they are halfway through their message!




"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:jPFcd.410304$Fg5.66323@attbi_s53...

Coming back from Pella (near Des Moines) today we over-flew a poor sap who
was apparently sitting on his microphone. Worse, he had the incredible
misfortune of being the last person in a flight of three to land, and

while

they landed ahead of him he gave a long, critical, and quite profane

running

review of his "friend's" landings to his co-pilot -- and also,

unknowingly,

live on the air, to every pilot in the Midwest.

After he landed, we could hear the guy shut down, and someone yelling at
him. Then the mike went dead. It was quite hilarious.

Aside from the obvious lessons to be learned from this (like, always be
careful what you say, in case you're transmitting!), we just could NOT
believe the number of pilots who tried to call the guy with the stuck

mike!

For some strange reason, half a dozen folks, both on the ground and in the
air, somehow believed that a radio that is transmitting could also receive
at the same time, so they were broadcasting stupid stuff like "AIRCRAFT

WITH

THE STUCK MIKE, PLEASE CHECK YOUR MICROPHONE..."

Obviously (or so I thought) anyone with a basic knowledge of how a 2-way
radio works knows that the receiver is necessarily cut off during
transmissions -- but apparently there are a fair number of people who

don't

have a firm grasp on this concept.

This isn't the first time I've heard this type of thing. Back in the 70s,
during the CB radio craze, it was pretty common, and I've heard this

happen

once or twice while flying -- but it never fails to amaze me.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

dave wrote in message ...
My klx135 has the "T" for transmit. It stops transmitting after 35
seconds and displays "stuck mic". I think the led on my intercomm also
turns red when tranmitting - I'll have to check that out.


Most King radios made in the last 20 yrs. have the xmitter cutoff
and some sort of indicator on the panel (can't remember if the NARCOs
do). In addition to that most properly wired radios will provide a
sidetone in the headset. The sidetone alone should be enough to clue
you in.

Whenever I've had a stuck mike, the first thing I noticed was that
the sidetone was still there. This was followed by a glance at the
radio to see that the "TX" indicator was still on in the display. If
you're too distracted to notice those things, I don't think another
light on the panel will help.

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message news:jPFcd.410304

Aside from the obvious lessons to be learned from this (like, always be
careful what you say, in case you're transmitting!), we just could NOT
believe the number of pilots who tried to call the guy with the stuck
mike!

Snicker. I've been one of those people before.

I overheard a pilot giving his co-pilot a narrated tour of the surrounding
area. Obviously a stuck mike.

I tried in vain to alert him to this. There were silences between
transmissions where I was not certain the mike was stuck so, during these
silences, I transmitted that he had a stuck mike. I thought perhaps he had
a voice activated mike or something.

I was on flight following at this time and had just a few hours of cross
country in my logbook so I felt uncomfortable without the extra eyes that
flight following afforded me. The pilot probably couldn't hear me but I
felt it was worth a try, anyway.

After about 5 minutes, he finally did stop transmitting just after I
transmitted to him. Maybe he heard me, maybe not.

--
Jim Fisher

During my tour in my first fighter squadron in the early 1980s (F-111D, Cannon
AFB, New Mexico) I heard a poor soul on stuck mic. Unfortunately, he was doing
a pretty good job of disparaging his flight leader. I was a First Lieutenant
and a wingman in a flight of two Varks that had flown to Red Flag at Nellis AFB
(out and back). We flew the mission, delivered our weapons, egressed and
humiliated some Eagles (even with their inflight reload capability) and then
RTBed to Cannon. There were a few other off-station aircraft in our strike
package, including an F-4G two-ship from George AFB. A few minutes before
Nellis Control handed us off to Center, we heard his transmission. What
follows is only a sampling of his verbal assault on his flight leader.

"Jesus, what the ****'s he doing. ****, he must have his head up his ass
again."

"Now what the **** is he doing. Lead's head must be up and locked more than
usual."

"How did we ever get stuck on his wing? What a loser."

It got worse. A lot worse. Finally, right before Nellis Control handed us off
to Center, it all came to an abrupt halt. We discussed it during our debrief
and we surmised that Lead must have rocked his wingman in to fingertip position
and gave his wingman a visual hand signal. We got a lot of mileage out of this
for a few weeks. Unfortunately, none of us carried a cassette tape recorder
that day. I really wish that we had one.



Kurt Todoroff


Markets, not mandates and mob rule.
Consent, not compulsion.

On Mon, 18 Oct 2004 02:24:15 GMT, "Jay Honeck"
wrote:

Coming back from Pella (near Des Moines) today we over-flew a poor sap who

Oh, you're enjoying this already.

was apparently sitting on his microphone. Worse, he had the incredible
misfortune of being the last person in a flight of three to land, and while
they landed ahead of him he gave a long, critical, and quite profane running
review of his "friend's" landings to his co-pilot -- and also, unknowingly,

This sounds as not believable to me. Are you making something up?
I'll have to say the note of the post doesn't quite make sense. Most
would get at least a little angry, while you're obviously enjoying it.
Oh, you're angry, but not telling us what it actually is. You know
about this guy don't you?

live on the air, to every pilot in the Midwest.

No, just to the local airport; if your story is as it says.


After he landed, we could hear the guy shut down, and someone yelling at
him. Then the mike went dead. It was quite hilarious.

No, it ain't. A pilot couldn't write this without at least a little
bit of concern for himself, and a request that the others would take
it easy on him if and when he walked out the bathroom door with his
own zipper down. But yours is absolute ridicule, for all involved;
including those who answered by reflex. That's not like you, Jay.
Can you fill us in on the rest?


Aside from the obvious lessons to be learned from this (like, always be
careful what you say, in case you're transmitting!), we just could NOT
believe the number of pilots who tried to call the guy with the stuck mike!
For some strange reason, half a dozen folks, both on the ground and in the
air, somehow believed that a radio that is transmitting could also receive
at the same time, so they were broadcasting stupid stuff like "AIRCRAFT WITH
THE STUCK MIKE, PLEASE CHECK YOUR MICROPHONE..."

Obviously (or so I thought) anyone with a basic knowledge of how a 2-way
radio works knows that the receiver is necessarily cut off during
transmissions -- but apparently there are a fair number of people who don't
have a firm grasp on this concept.

This isn't the first time I've heard this type of thing. Back in the 70s,
during the CB radio craze, it was pretty common, and I've heard this happen
once or twice while flying -- but it never fails to amaze me.

We're always looking to scold someone. We do it in our own heads all
the time, as if that does anyone any good. Then pat ourselves on the
back for being on the 'right.' But it takes a bit more nerve to go
through the act, even if it is a anonomous radio call. Some, however,
put more on the line in public. In some cases it is courage, in
others it is just obnoxious. Then there are those events which are
rather unusual.

--Mike

Oh, you're enjoying this already.

Yeah, it was the best part of a terrific flight. My 14 year-old son (who
was given the rare co-pilot's seat by Mary) and I were laughing our butts
off!

This sounds as not believable to me. Are you making something up?
I'll have to say the note of the post doesn't quite make sense. Most
would get at least a little angry, while you're obviously enjoying it.
Oh, you're angry, but not telling us what it actually is. You know
about this guy don't you?

????

What's to get angry about? I was fat, dumb and happy up at 7500 feet,
cruising home after a $100 hamburger, monitoring 122.8 for no apparent
reason. If this twit wanted to sit on his mike all day long, it didn't
bother me a bit.

I'm not sure what you're implying, Mike -- do you think I'm making this
story up?

Tell you what. Call us Tuesday morning, toll free, at 1-888-9ALEXIS, and
ask for Mary. She'll verify the story, if you'd like.

Some stories are just too bizarre to be fiction.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
Tell you what. Call us Tuesday morning, toll free, at 1-888-9ALEXIS, and
ask for Mary. She'll verify the story, if you'd like.

Mike was obviously the stuck-mike guy you wrote about, Jay. I'd be a little
sensitive about it, too.

--
Jim Fisher