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MicroAir Radio problems...



 
 
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  #11  
Old October 8th 04, 05:12 AM
Jim Phoenix
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
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Make absolute sure that your antenna and antenna connections are perfect.
Use an ohmeter and check the resistance of your antenna connections - all of
them. I've fixed many radio problems on many different types of aircraft,
including one of my previous 1-26's with a Microair, by fixing the antenna
connection. Ensure the antenna connectors are corrosion-free, properly
installed and that the antenna is properly tuned. Invest in a fancy new
antenna, the best you can afford and is suitable for your installation.
Check the VSWR. Then move on to the power supply. I hear lots of bad radios
on the air after 4 pm when their batteries start to droop.

Jim


"Steve Hill" wrote in message
...
A couple of years ago I purchased a brand new MicroAir 760 tranceiver. I
kept it in the box, planning on exchanging it, as my trusty old Dittel
FSG60m was starting to make funny noises and not quite act right...When
the
Dittel finally gave up the ghost one day, I set to installing the
MicroAir.
My first flight with the new radio was great other pilots said it was very
clear and easy to hear and be heard. And the next day...nothing. It just
quit allowing transmission. I can hear others, but can't reply.

Of course now it's out of factory warranty, and the factory simply says
send
it back and they'll fix it and charge me...but I have spoken to several
other radio shops and they all either roll their eyes, or make a similar
grimace and then direct me to spend the money on replacing it entirely and
chalk it up to a $750 mistake.

I guess what I'm looking for is A: Has anyone out there had decent
experiences with this radio..? And B: Is it generally the consensus that
it's really not a worthy piece of equipment to have in the cockpit?

When I consider the investment of a few hundred bucks in comparison to the
investment in the rest of the sailplane I'm not really worried about the
money as much as just being duped...and I don't want to see others head
down
the same path.

Any comments...?


Steve Hill
(DG-400)






  #12  
Old October 8th 04, 07:42 AM
Geoff Vincent
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Default

Steve,

I purchased a Microaire 760 in 2002 to replace an old (non-working)
radio in my PIK 20B. The Microaire was supplied by an agent (Ian
McPhee) who also supplied his own-built wiring harness. Installation
and pre-flight checks went fine but then the unit died completely.
Problem was a faulty main chip that was replaced promptly at no charge
under warranty - back in the air in a few days.

About 3 months later I tried the scan function for the first time but
to no avail. It stopped on the first frequency in the memory and
wouldn't go any further. As I don't really have a regular use for
scan I haven't yet bothered to pull it out and return it. Apart from
this the unit has performed very well. I particularly like the toggle
feature to select active and standby frequencies and also the memory
function that is very easy to use.

Geoff Vincent
VH-GAX

On 7 Oct 2004 17:11:48 GMT, Steve Hill
wrote:

A couple of years ago I purchased a brand new MicroAir 760 tranceiver. I
kept it in the box, planning on exchanging it, as my trusty old Dittel
FSG60m was starting to make funny noises and not quite act right...When the
Dittel finally gave up the ghost one day, I set to installing the MicroAir.
My first flight with the new radio was great other pilots said it was very
clear and easy to hear and be heard. And the next day...nothing. It just
quit allowing transmission. I can hear others, but can't reply.

Of course now it's out of factory warranty, and the factory simply says send
it back and they'll fix it and charge me...but I have spoken to several
other radio shops and they all either roll their eyes, or make a similar
grimace and then direct me to spend the money on replacing it entirely and
chalk it up to a $750 mistake.

I guess what I'm looking for is A: Has anyone out there had decent
experiences with this radio..? And B: Is it generally the consensus that
it's really not a worthy piece of equipment to have in the cockpit?

When I consider the investment of a few hundred bucks in comparison to the
investment in the rest of the sailplane I'm not really worried about the
money as much as just being duped...and I don't want to see others head down
the same path.

Any comments...?


Steve Hill
(DG-400)




  #13  
Old October 8th 04, 03:54 PM
Ray Lovinggood
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Posts: n/a
Default

Jan,

Send me your e-mail address to:


Thanks,
Ray



  #14  
Old October 8th 04, 04:45 PM
Chris OCallaghan
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Default

Steve,

I've never been a big fan of the Microair. Laura and I have owned one
each. We still have one in her LS-8 and it performs reasonably well,
but only after upgrading the electirical system to 14V. Both Microairs
receive fine, but transmitting is problematic, especially after a
couple of hours flying on a 12V 7AH battery.

In fact, I was so concerned with its dependability and stories of
continuing problems even after repair, that I decided not to sell it
after upgrading to a Dittel.

OC
  #15  
Old October 8th 04, 05:26 PM
Andy Durbin
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Posts: n/a
Default

Steve Hill wrote in message ...
A couple of years ago I purchased a brand new MicroAir 760 tranceiver. I
kept it in the box, planning on exchanging it, as my trusty old Dittel
FSG60m was starting to make funny noises and not quite act right...When the
Dittel finally gave up the ghost one day, I set to installing the MicroAir.
My first flight with the new radio was great other pilots said it was very
clear and easy to hear and be heard. And the next day...nothing. It just
quit allowing transmission. I can hear others, but can't reply.


snip
Any comments...?


Steve Hill
(DG-400)


Steve,

Many problems with Microair radios can be traced to poor connections
between the microprocessor and its socket. The microprocessor
controls just about everything in the radio and failure of one or more
pins to connect correctly can have a whole variety of effects. In my
case the radio stopped receiving and transmitting on the selected
frequency but it was in fact continuously scanning the whole com band
even thought the display said it was on one freq. My problem was
fixed by removing and reseating the microprocessor in accordance with
Microair service bulletin SB-003 which is available from their
website. The fix was easy and the total time to fix including removal
and replacement of the radio in the glider was in the order of 3
hours. I'd be a lot faster if I have to do it a second time. If you
are competent to handle static sensitive electronic components it's
not difficult to do, and a far better solution than sending the radio
back to Australia. Supposedly the new rev radios have a better
microprocessor socket.


Andy (GY)
  #16  
Old October 8th 04, 05:28 PM
tango4
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Posts: n/a
Default

I bought a used Microair recently. It refuses to store any information in
eeprom so it doesn'r remember frequencies beyond the two ( active and
standby ) and wont store anything in its memories. I'll have it serviced
this winter but I'm a little ticked off at the whole affair.

Ian

"Geoff Vincent" wrote in message
news
Steve,

I purchased a Microaire 760 in 2002 to replace an old (non-working)
radio in my PIK 20B. The Microaire was supplied by an agent (Ian
McPhee) who also supplied his own-built wiring harness. Installation
and pre-flight checks went fine but then the unit died completely.
Problem was a faulty main chip that was replaced promptly at no charge
under warranty - back in the air in a few days.

About 3 months later I tried the scan function for the first time but
to no avail. It stopped on the first frequency in the memory and
wouldn't go any further. As I don't really have a regular use for
scan I haven't yet bothered to pull it out and return it. Apart from
this the unit has performed very well. I particularly like the toggle
feature to select active and standby frequencies and also the memory
function that is very easy to use.

Geoff Vincent
VH-GAX

On 7 Oct 2004 17:11:48 GMT, Steve Hill
wrote:

A couple of years ago I purchased a brand new MicroAir 760 tranceiver. I
kept it in the box, planning on exchanging it, as my trusty old Dittel
FSG60m was starting to make funny noises and not quite act right...When
the
Dittel finally gave up the ghost one day, I set to installing the
MicroAir.
My first flight with the new radio was great other pilots said it was very
clear and easy to hear and be heard. And the next day...nothing. It just
quit allowing transmission. I can hear others, but can't reply.

Of course now it's out of factory warranty, and the factory simply says
send
it back and they'll fix it and charge me...but I have spoken to several
other radio shops and they all either roll their eyes, or make a similar
grimace and then direct me to spend the money on replacing it entirely and
chalk it up to a $750 mistake.

I guess what I'm looking for is A: Has anyone out there had decent
experiences with this radio..? And B: Is it generally the consensus that
it's really not a worthy piece of equipment to have in the cockpit?

When I consider the investment of a few hundred bucks in comparison to the
investment in the rest of the sailplane I'm not really worried about the
money as much as just being duped...and I don't want to see others head
down
the same path.

Any comments...?


Steve Hill
(DG-400)






  #17  
Old October 9th 04, 04:54 AM
Snead1
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

I have had good service from a MicroAir radio for past two years.

Bill Snead
6W
  #18  
Old February 13th 18, 04:34 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1
Default MicroAir Radio problems...

On Thursday, 7 October 2004 18:11:48 UTC+1, Steve Hill wrote:
A couple of years ago I purchased a brand new MicroAir 760 tranceiver. I
kept it in the box, planning on exchanging it, as my trusty old Dittel
FSG60m was starting to make funny noises and not quite act right...When the
Dittel finally gave up the ghost one day, I set to installing the MicroAir.
My first flight with the new radio was great other pilots said it was very
clear and easy to hear and be heard. And the next day...nothing. It just
quit allowing transmission. I can hear others, but can't reply.

Of course now it's out of factory warranty, and the factory simply says send
it back and they'll fix it and charge me...but I have spoken to several
other radio shops and they all either roll their eyes, or make a similar
grimace and then direct me to spend the money on replacing it entirely and
chalk it up to a $750 mistake.

I guess what I'm looking for is A: Has anyone out there had decent
experiences with this radio..? And B: Is it generally the consensus that
it's really not a worthy piece of equipment to have in the cockpit?

When I consider the investment of a few hundred bucks in comparison to the
investment in the rest of the sailplane I'm not really worried about the
money as much as just being duped...and I don't want to see others head down
the same path.

Any comments...?


Steve Hill
(DG-400)


my 760 wont transmit, it needs looking at but i am in the uk 50M north London, where can I get it seen to ?
  #19  
Old February 13th 18, 05:18 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,124
Default MicroAir Radio problems...

On Tuesday, February 13, 2018 at 10:34:34 AM UTC-5, wrote:
On Thursday, 7 October 2004 18:11:48 UTC+1, Steve Hill wrote:
A couple of years ago I purchased a brand new MicroAir 760 tranceiver. I
kept it in the box, planning on exchanging it, as my trusty old Dittel
FSG60m was starting to make funny noises and not quite act right...When the
Dittel finally gave up the ghost one day, I set to installing the MicroAir.
My first flight with the new radio was great other pilots said it was very
clear and easy to hear and be heard. And the next day...nothing. It just
quit allowing transmission. I can hear others, but can't reply.

Of course now it's out of factory warranty, and the factory simply says send
it back and they'll fix it and charge me...but I have spoken to several
other radio shops and they all either roll their eyes, or make a similar
grimace and then direct me to spend the money on replacing it entirely and
chalk it up to a $750 mistake.

I guess what I'm looking for is A: Has anyone out there had decent
experiences with this radio..? And B: Is it generally the consensus that
it's really not a worthy piece of equipment to have in the cockpit?

When I consider the investment of a few hundred bucks in comparison to the
investment in the rest of the sailplane I'm not really worried about the
money as much as just being duped...and I don't want to see others head down
the same path.

Any comments...?


Steve Hill
(DG-400)


my 760 wont transmit, it needs looking at but i am in the uk 50M north London, where can I get it seen to ?


Find the service bulletin that details how to remove the main processor chip, clean the contacts, and re seat. That normally corrects the problem.
Good luck
UH
  #20  
Old February 13th 18, 06:43 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Charlie M. (UH & 002 owner/pilot)
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,383
Default MicroAir Radio problems...

To add to this (BTW, I need to follow up on one I did for you UH.....), yes, there is a sorta known issue of the main chip to its socket.
Proper cleaning can help.......proper cleaning followed by a "contact enhancer" works better long term.
The required fluid to make a longer term solution sorta moot is not cheap, but if you can line up a few fixes in the near term, the economics sorta work out.

I have a field service, electronics, high end stereo background. I did a "rehab" on one of Hanks radios a number of years ago, need to see how that is working vs. his other similar radio.
Yes, I fly both.
Yes, at times the MicroAirs sucked on transmit.
Had to do a text to my son at the airport once since I couldn't transmit but could receive. At least they knew where I was and where I was going.


Sorta end of story, late in the day, late climb over a forest fire by the Delaware water gap, more than 8K ASL in a -28, I was "local"....., long medium speed glide back to home.......early spring, so wringing out electrical issues, no glide computer, no steering, look out the window, guess miles home, figure 8 miles/thousand feet of altitude (40:1), mechanical vario, until I could watch the home field on the canopy.
 




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