Practice beacon signal

edubb811 · October 06, 2011, 02:37:42 PM

Our squadron's practice beacon is giving off a staticy signal. You can still hear the notorious siren but it's not as clear as it used to be or so I am told. Is there anyway to fix this? Could this be the result of a battery that needs to be replaced? Is this normal for practice beacons?
Thanks

a2capt · October 06, 2011, 02:46:24 PM

The question begs... how old is it? How much has it been used?

A big clue is probably right there.. "as it used to be", battery death causes all kinds of funny things to transmit..

Thats what it sounds like to me. Otherwise, the circuit is pretty drop dead simple straight forward.

arajca · October 06, 2011, 03:10:51 PM

Presuming it is a Pointer, you can send it in for recertification. Only costs about $40.

vento · October 06, 2011, 03:40:02 PM

What a2capt and arajca said.
Before you change the battery or send it in for re-cert, you might even want to take the opportunity and practice DF with it in the current state. In the real world, not every ELT signal comes in strong. Think about it, we are usually tasked for search and rescue many hours after the missing airplane is reported and by then the batteries are usually weak and the ELT unit itself possibly damaged.

coudano · October 06, 2011, 03:48:07 PM

try the antenna connection too,
solid bnc
and the sodder joint where it attaches to the board could be dirty
and the actual antenna you are using could be damaged or broken

Major Lord · October 06, 2011, 04:33:20 PM

It is possible that your unit has been physically damaged, or that component failures are causing your problem. I strongly suggest that you monitor 121.5 ( with your SQ L-Per or Scanner) and make sure that it is not making noise across the aircraft band. If its not running right, don't run it until you make sure that its not generating off frequency, or out of band noise. If no one in your area has a Spectrum Analyzer, I am confident that we can find a tech in your area to make sure that the unit is okay. Where are you?

Major Lord

edubb811 · October 06, 2011, 05:16:11 PM

Reading PA

Major Lord · October 06, 2011, 07:52:12 PM

Well, that's a bit far for me, but there are probably a few properly equipped COMM guys in your neck of the woods. I would first just make sure that you have a proper battery supply, and that you can't hear the beacon on 121.5, which could cause some alarm! (if you have a P-ELT on 121.6 you might hear it a little at close range, or with an L-Per)

Major Lord

lordmonar · October 06, 2011, 10:05:41 PM

As already stated......Swap the battery, check the antenna, then check the signal again. If it is still staticy or has bleed over (check about 100 feet away...you will get bleed over if you are too close) send it back to the manufacuter for a check up.

RADIOMAN015 · October 06, 2011, 10:34:28 PM

Our beacon seems to give a steady tone for about 15 minutes than after warms up it start giving the warbling tone.
RM

PHall · October 06, 2011, 11:10:24 PM

Quote from: RADIOMAN015 on October 06, 2011, 10:34:28 PM
Our beacon seems to give a steady tone for about 15 minutes than after warms up it start giving the warbling tone.
RM

You need to get it looked at then.

starshippe · October 09, 2011, 02:09:31 AM

can u tell if the static is in the audio, or in the radio signal? if u have an l-per, does the strength meter vary any? this would indicate a radio problem.

the unit can be df'ed on with no audio at all, so if its an audio problem its not as bad as an rf problem.

as everyone mentioned, battery condition and connections are prime suspects.

bill