I know some of you have had the problem of when you transmit on a COM radio your ACK ELT trips on.  I have had this problem with my COM2 since first flight last summer and am now getting to doing something about it.

Last fall I called ACK tech support and the guy there said there were no modifications that could be made to the unit (contrary to what several of you have experienced) and that it was my fault because my ELT antenna was not the prescribed 5' away from the COM antenna.

Well, I have now moved the ELT antenna so it is pretty close to 5' away and it still trips.  I have also rerouted the telephone cable that goes between the remote control panel and the ELT itself, so that it is further away from the COM2 coax and antenna.  Now I get intermittent results with still >50% of COM2 transmissions setting off the ELT!

Now, after a couple hours working on this last night, the ELT tripped and suddenly the COM on my GX60 shut down and said the COM has failed and to service the unit immediately!!  It appears that the ELT has now fed back into the COM and damaged it.

Dan,

 

There is a mod level for the ACK ELT which supresses interference from Com transmissions whether it is from the antenna or coax crosstalk.  It fixed my problem - however, I am away from home and I cannot get you the mod level.  Perhaps you already have an ELT that is at the mod level.  Is your ELT connected to a separate comm antenna?

 

I assume the GX60 is Com1.  I also assume you only have one Comm antenna.  If so, do you use a Comant antenna switcher to make sure that a transmission from one radio cannot back feed to the other?  Also, RG50U (?, std 50 ohm coax) is very leaky and the routing of antenna wires can be critical.

 

Scott Krueger

Out of town.

Out of his mind.

Out of it.