On my last post I used the phrase ‘all is well that ends well‘. I spoke that phrase prematurely, as I had some serious radio issues crop us to bite me. This was the result of an improper avionics installation, a lack of testing on the shops part, and a major mistake on my part. All those things combined to cost me time, money, and aggravation.
Self Induced IFD550 Failure: I tried to download new data three times to update my primary radio. It didn’t work, and ended up bricking the radio. I think the issue was that I did successfully download data with the JDM application from Jeppesen, but didn’t notice that the data never transferred to the data stick. Rather than think, I tried for the third time to upload it, but this time I’d watch for error messaged as I waited in a fuel line down at 33N.
Well, my time came for the fuel pump, and I decided to ignore the warning not to interrupt the upload process. I shut down my electric systems and that stopped the upload process so I could refuel safely. Unfortunately, that scrambled the operating system of the IFD550. I really don’t like this design, and it cost me dearly this time.
Having caused myself this issue, I departed KILG Wilmington for KLNS Lancaster to get the IFD550 dropped off to be reset. I had my new number 2 radio, so all was acceptable to me. Remember that I hadn’t tested the VOR, ILS, or other functions of the new radio, so this would be a good test.
On the takeoff roll from KILG, I began to get all kinds of aural warnings from the IFD550. It already didn’t work, but the radio not knowing where it was caused false obstacle alerts and continuous distractions. I turned it off as I climbed out. At that point I was completely reliant on the GNC215 for both NAV and COMM. While the COMMs were working leaving Wilmington, I noticed that neither the VOR at KILG nor the VOR at KLNS would come in. I had no navigation! To further complicate my life, I lost touch with Wilmington Tower (the radio had less than an 8nm range) and couldn’t raise Lancaster Tower either. My #2 Comms weren’t working! BUT IT’S A FREAKING NEW RADIO!!!!!
So now I turned on the IFD550 again and used that to communicate while it continued screaming warnings at me. I was navigating with my GPS496 and the iPad at this point. By the time I landed at Lancaster Avionics, I was so pissed off that I told them that the new radio just installed was done wrong on top of everything else. I had to walk away as my temper was building trying to discuss it. There would be no use whatsoever in my lighting them up with a tirade. It took me three attempts to tell them how unhappy I was, with walking trips in between, before they sent me home with a loaner IFD440.
It turns out that the new radio was installed with the NAV and COMM connections reversed, so ALL OF MY NAVs and COMMs became polluted. There ground testing was completely ineffective, and the NAV testing wasn’t done. Had it been done, they’d have figured it out.
Lancaster Avionics eventually fixed it, and also rebuilt my #1 radio. This entire S#itShow led me to cancel the idea of using my airplane for an upcoming Michigan trip, and the impending annual inspection killed using it for a Florida trip.
Fixing the Radios in Stages: The IFD550 reset killed the weather getting to my IFD550. That could be a connection problem like the radio coming out of the rack, or it could be that a setting was lost and had to be re-configured. It was here that I realized that the new radio rack they asked me to install was also not done correctly. The IFD550 is so bound in that it cannot be taken out easily. That just isn’t the right way to do things; they knew about this and didn’t tell me. That is just wrong. They’ll fix it, but I’m doing lots of flying and wasting my time and money to get it right. I’ll stop talking now……
Where do I stand at this point? I worked with Jim up at the Avionics shop and found the right settings to get weather and everything else up to speed. My VOR seems to be tracking, and after my annual is done in July, I’ll schedule a visit to get the rack corrected. I’ll thenrepeat all the test flights to ensure they haven’t broken anything in that process, and I can use it all as planned.
Fly safe!