Stuck Mike

OMG! Busted.

I don't think so, Ben. The guys we heard seemed to be landing at or near
Grinnell, Iowa.

But, if you wish to confess, they say it's good for the soul...

;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

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"

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

Our year-old Narco 810+R (a digital flip-flop slide-in replacement for the
venerable Narco 120 com radios) has exactly that.

I routinely check to see if I'm transmitting when I've pushed the PTT.

Now, of course, I'm going to be checking it all the time! :-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

And make sure you keep the red light continuously on anytime you're in a
Class B airspace. That way you can get right through to ATC without having
to wait for all of the heavies and stuff to stop talking...




"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:PKPcd.203381$wV.74690@attbi_s54...
I wonder why no aircraft manufacturers or mod manufacturers have come up
with a nice, big, XMIT light mounted dead center on the panel.

Our year-old Narco 810+R (a digital flip-flop slide-in replacement for the
venerable Narco 120 com radios) has exactly that.

I routinely check to see if I'm transmitting when I've pushed the PTT.

Now, of course, I'm going to be checking it all the time! :-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck 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.

Our year-old Narco 810+R (a digital flip-flop slide-in replacement for the
venerable Narco 120 com radios) has exactly that.


Our Garmins have this too. It was quite helpful in identifying/debugging a
"stuck microphone" wiring issue a while back.

- Andrew

Jay Honeck wrote:

Our year-old Narco 810+R (a digital flip-flop slide-in replacement for the
venerable Narco 120 com radios) has exactly that.

My Mk-12D has a little "T" in the display when the mic is live. Easy to miss, but
also easy to check if, for some reason, you become suspicious that yours is stuck.

George Patterson
If a man gets into a fight 3,000 miles away from home, he *had* to have
been looking for it.

Jay Honeck 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.


Our year-old Narco 810+R (a digital flip-flop slide-in replacement for the
venerable Narco 120 com radios) has exactly that.

I routinely check to see if I'm transmitting when I've pushed the PTT.

Now, of course, I'm going to be checking it all the time! :-)

My SL40 has a transmit light, not very bright but it's there. More
importantly it also has a time out timer. After about 45-60 seconds the
transmitter simply turns off and you go back to receiving, even with the
mic button held down.

You wanna know why? I'll give you two good reasons why.

1. The BIG RED LIGHT on the center of the panel should be reserved for things
that make the airplane stop flying, like low fuel, low oil, high temp, all that
critical stuff. A radio (much to my corporate dismay) is NOT required to keep
the aircraft in the air.

2. We designed and manufactured such a light...even a BIG RED light to tell
when ANYTHING on the airplane went out of limits (fuel, temperatures, pressures,
stuck mic, etc.). It sold for $75. In five years we sold fifteen of them.
People don't give a damn about things like this until it hits the fan, and then
it is a bit late.

Jim




"Bill Denton"
shared these priceless pearls of wisdom:

-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!


Jim Weir (A&P/IA, CFI, & other good alphabet soup)
VP Eng RST Pres. Cyberchapter EAA Tech. Counselor
http://www.rst-engr.com

Jim Weir wrote:
You wanna know why? I'll give you two good reasons why.

1. The BIG RED LIGHT on the center of the panel should be reserved for things
that make the airplane stop flying, like low fuel, low oil, high temp, all that
critical stuff. A radio (much to my corporate dismay) is NOT required to keep
the aircraft in the air.

Amen. The Mantra my CFI beat into my head: #1 - Aviate. #2 - Navigate.
#3 - Communicate. Getting things out of order can really mess up your
day.

--
Jack Allison
PP-ASEL, IA Student

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the Earth
with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there
you will always long to return"
- Leonardo Da Vinci

(Remove the obvious from address to reply via e-mail)

Jim, are you talking about the RST annunciator panel with the lights for low
vac, low voltage, low fuel, etc.? We have one in the club C-172 that I
manage. I didn't realize we were in such an elite group.

You don't happen to know where I can get some documentation for it.

Brad

"Jim Weir" wrote in message
...
You wanna know why? I'll give you two good reasons why.

1. The BIG RED LIGHT on the center of the panel should be reserved for
things
that make the airplane stop flying, like low fuel, low oil, high temp, all
that
critical stuff. A radio (much to my corporate dismay) is NOT required to
keep
the aircraft in the air.

2. We designed and manufactured such a light...even a BIG RED light to
tell
when ANYTHING on the airplane went out of limits (fuel, temperatures,
pressures,
stuck mic, etc.). It sold for $75. In five years we sold fifteen of
them.
People don't give a damn about things like this until it hits the fan, and
then
it is a bit late.

Jim




"Bill Denton"
shared these priceless pearls of wisdom:

-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!


Jim Weir (A&P/IA, CFI, & other good alphabet soup)
VP Eng RST Pres. Cyberchapter EAA Tech. Counselor
http://www.rst-engr.com