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A210 users...Ever had this problem?

Brantel

Brantel

Well Known Member
On another thread I mentioned that on my last flight that I thought that the reciever sensitivity was slowly reducing over the period of 2.5 hrs on my A210. The first of the flight and all flights before were normal but about an hour into this flight I started having trouble hearing people and had to be real close to airports to get the AWOS.

Upon landing, I checked the SWR of the antenna and feedline and it was normal.

Anyone else ever notice this?

Brantel said:
I might have an issue with my A210 as last flight it seemed that the reciever lost some sensitivity as I had to be on top of the airports to get the AWOS and noticed that I was having problems with hearing people. After the flight I checked the SWR and it was good so I am not sure what was going on???
Click to expand...


rvator51 said:
Hi Brantel,
I have seen the same problem on my A210. I found that if I turn it off, then turn it back on, the reception is back to normal for a time. I sent it back to get checked out, but they said they could find nothing wrong. But it is still doing it. Be interesting if my fix works for you too.
Click to expand...

Brantel said:
I saw this once when the plane was in my basement and it also went away after a power cycle....I did not think to try that while in flight.

I have a theory that it might be the ANL feature doing it since I have that turned on. I am going to disable that and see what happens...

What else could it possibly be?
Click to expand...
 
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Overheating problem? My buddies Garmin stack got REALLY warm, almost hot to the touch after about 45 minutes. We installed a cooling fan.
 
210 issue

Brantel,
Never had a problem with TX, or RX deteriorating, but on a long flight sometimes my squelch will start to open, and it is mucho annoying. To be honest, I always try to keep the squelch at a low threshold, and that adds to the problem! I do so wish the A210 had an easily accessible squelch control like the 200 did. At first I thought it might be the changing electrical loads in the airplane, as the Tru Track would open the squelch when it was engaged. I raised the level, and added a filter to the AP head for that issue. Moderate success. Yesterday I tried an experiment. I unhooked my right cabin vent line, and routed it to the radio stack to cool the radios. Flew Young Eagles almost all day yesterday without a hitch.
Too early to tell if that is the fix I need to implement, but it shows promise, and is easy to do. Just make darn sure it ain't gonna rain!!
I consider my radio issues to be minor glitches, so I still think the 210 is a good comm choice. They perform well, and have a realistic cost. A fair display and overall good reputation for longevity and reliability. That ribbon tape is a pain though...

Hope this helps....
Chris
 
I doubt heat is my problem as the stack in my plane is just the A210 and the xpnder....it does not get hot after long flights.

I changed GPS's from a 296 to an Aera 510, added servos and a new Zaon XRX so some things have changed. I am going to try turning off the ANL feature.
 
Brantel said:
Today I flew 1.5 hrs and had no problems with the ANL feature turned off??????
Click to expand...

I am currently flying with ANL enabled. Actually my A210 is becoming one of the better liked systems in my plane. The 696 is at the top of the list but the A210 is slowly climbing its way up.

The frequency download from the Garmin 696 is really pretty nice. The frequencies from what ever is the next way-point are automatically available. Actually a little more incentive to flight plan with all the way-points that you might want to have frequencies available for.
 
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Brantel said:
What were your issues with the ANL feature?
Click to expand...
Just got back from the hangar. I misspoke, ANL is enabled and I am actually pretty pleased with the operation of the intercom and most everything else. That is with the exception of how the dual frequency watch functions. It is too easy to forget to re-enable dual watch after a transmission.

I am flying with Senhauser ANR headsets and Mic-Mufs

The Setup Configuration I am flying with:


HP Level AF Gain
INCOM LV1 058
INCOM LV2 060
MIC1 SQL 030
MIC2 SQL 030
ANL ON
SQL LEVEL 008
FM SQL LV -001
LOCK MODE OFF
DW INTERVAL FAST
PRI. WATCH MID
MEM PROTECT OFF
GRP MEMORY LABEL
MIC1 GAIN 008
MIC2 GAIN 008
SIDETONE LV 050
TX MIC SEL MIC1+2
DISP MODE MANUAL
DISP LOW 021
DISP HIGH 100
DISP MAN 100
DISP RESPO Standard
FREQ DISP ZERO SUPP.
U-1 ID SET U-1
U-2 ID SET U2
AUX IN OFF
AUX LEVEL 070
BEEP 050
IN COM MODE ON
TIME OUT 120
MEM CLEAR MEMORY


 
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newtech said:
Just got back from the hangar. I misspoke, ANL is enabled and I am actually pretty pleased with the operation of the intercom and most everything else. That is with the exception of how the dual frequency watch functions. It is too easy to forget to re-enable dual watch after a transmission.

The Setup Configuration I am flying with:


HP Level AF Gain
INCOM LV1 058
INCOM LV2 060
MIC1 SQL 030
MIC2 SQL 030
ANL ON
SQL LEVEL 008
FM SQL LV -001
LOCK MODE OFF
DW INTERVAL FAST
PRI. WATCH MID
MEM PROTECT OFF
GRP MEMORY LABEL
MIC1 GAIN 008
MIC2 GAIN 008
SIDETONE LV 050
TX MIC SEL MIC1+2
DISP MODE MANUAL
DISP LOW 021
DISP HIGH 100
DISP MAN 100
DISP RESPO Standard
FREQ DISP ZERO SUPP.
U-1 ID SET U-1
U-2 ID SET U2
AUX IN OFF
AUX LEVEL 070
BEEP 050
IN COM MODE ON
TIME OUT 120
MEM CLEAR MEMORY
Click to expand...

Thanks for the configuration update. I find the function descriptions in the manual cryptic to say the least.

I use Bose noise canceling headsets but worry that the A210 intercom picks up ambient noise - which is significant in an RV - and therefore negates their effect. The "vol" ribbon at the bottom of the display is permanently maxing out.

What are other folks' experience with Bose headsets and the A210 intercom function?

There is a wiring option for an intercom "switch". Is it there for a reason?

I hard wired it "closed". Was that a mistake?

Jim Sharkey
RV-6
 
jsharkey said:
Thanks for the configuration update. I find the function descriptions in the manual cryptic to say the least.

I use Bose noise canceling headsets but worry that the A210 intercom picks up ambient noise - which is significant in an RV - and therefore negates their effect. The "vol" ribbon at the bottom of the display is permanently maxing out.

What are other folks' experience with Bose headsets and the A210 intercom function?

There is a wiring option for an intercom "switch". Is it there for a reason?

I hard wired it "closed". Was that a mistake?

RV-6
Click to expand...
I initially had trouble with the high ambient noise level of my RV-7A. I have also hard wired the intercom function ON. I was ready to pitch the radio but found a couple of posts about adding "mic-muffs" to the microphones to block out most of the high ambient noise. Not wanting to pay the $36 for a pair of mic-muffs I bought a pair of leather work gloves for $5 and cutoff a couple of fingers. A sharpened piece if hobby brass tubing punched a hole and a tie wrap attached the new muff. The new muffs work great with my Sennheiser 460 noise cancelling headsets using the setup values in my earlier post.
 
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newtech said:
I initially had trouble with the high ambient noise level of my RV-7A. I have also hard wired the intercom function ON. I was ready to pitch the radio but found a couple of posts about adding "mic-muffs" to the microphones to block out most of the high ambient noise. Not wanting to pay the $36 for a pair of mic-muffs I bought a pair of leather work gloves for $5 and cutoff a couple of fingers. A sharpened piece if hobby brass tubing punched a hole and a tie wrap attached the new muff. The new muffs work great with my Sennheiser 460 noise cancelling headsets using the setup values in my earlier post.
Click to expand...
Here is how I made my mic-muffs:

mic-muff1.JPG

If your passenger wears lipstick you might want to use a dark color glove :D
mic-muff2.JPG
 
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Another thing I found on my A210 was that the mic gain was way too hot...I turned it down several notches and it really cleaned up my transmissions. I use a stand alone intercom so I can't comment on that part but turning down the mic gain cut a ton of ambient noise out of my transmissions....my mic has a regular foam windmuff.
 
Brantel, were you adjusting the mic gain as a setting on the A210, or via an adjustment on your mic? I notice a background hiss in my A210 if i'm wearing either my Alpha helmet or Lightspeed Zulu, which makes me think the problem isn't related to the chosen headset. I didn't know there might be an adjustment in the radio for it though.
 
It's in the manual

Snowflake said:
...were you adjusting the mic gain as a setting on the A210, or via an adjustment on your mic? .... I didn't know there might be an adjustment in the radio for it though.
Click to expand...

A210 Instruction manual Section 5 - Menu Mode pages 22-27 (see page 24 for mic gain adjustments)
 
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