MicroAir Radio Transceivers - JUNK and Zero Support

[RFguy]

waiting on parts... the great semiconductor shortage.

 

uses separate chassis  for guts and display, however does also have same DB25 connector as microair so it's plug and play. (there's an adaptor board to imitate different radios ).

yes idea is to listen to CTAF,  CENTRE, AWIS simultaneously  (1..3 orders priority of either mix or which one you hear) + 1 x UHF (on same airband antenna) . Idea is that local CTAF overides AWIS etc when in circuit. Various cool stuff like pushbutton time limited temporary low power so you'll only be heard a couple of nm (or less if you want)  if you only want to talk to an aircraft in circuit (and not blat all over the place) , digital RF noise blanker (goodbye ignition noise) , auto volume levellers (fixes quiet and loud people) . actually the radio can do 16 channels simultaneously but what would you do with that ?

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

The Microair has always been a POS

 

[Garfly]

How have you been finding your MGL V16 Mark? What control head do you use with it?

[Kyle Communications]

I have used it on the bench for more than 6 months. I have the vega head with it..the smaller one not the Razor head. It has proved to be very sensitive and has not missed a beat. Its going into the RANS so not in a aircraft at ll but TX and RX works quite well. There is some new firmware I belive which I havent uploaded yet into it. So initially it seems to be very good. Audio quality is quite good as well

 

[Kyle Communications]

I have spoken with Glen about his and I am really looking forward to getting one of the first units to try. I will fit it into Mabel as soon as I can get my hands on it. I have a Xcom in Mabel at the moment but will replace it. I will probably replace the V16 with one of Glen's as well. I really like the multi channel idea and because it is true DSP it is very capable to do a lot of really nice functions. The chip shortage is really annoying. Glen and us here at work are really struggling with chip availability..12 to 18 months wait is not uncommon for parts..even garden variety microprocessors are virtually unobtainium now. Its just a waiting game....also of course supply and demand are causing stupid pricing on parts as well

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

DSP has revolutionized radios now. It is just crazy how well they work. There is a ham radio that Icom make called the IC-705  it does HF/VHF and UHF all in the one box and it used the same technology. I have one and it is awesome for what it is. But currently basically they are also now unobtainium anywhere in the world due again to chip shortages. The ADC they use in the front ends of the radio are in high demand for a lot of other applications as well. Most of all newer ham radios are DSP based now and even the commercial radios are going down the same track

 

[facthunter]

I've been working with unobtainiUm for years. Spelled with a U.  Nev

[Garfly]

22 minutes ago, Kyle Communications said:

I have spoken with Glen about his and I am really looking forward to getting one of the first units to try.

Yeah, Glen's (RFguy's) design definitely looks the go (when it arrives).  I've had the MGL V16 with Vega head for a while now.  I like its features and its overall quality.  I'm having some problem with intermittent noise in the system but I doubt it's the radio itself that's to blame. (It's at its worst taxiing as if there was a dry joint somewhere in the audio-out chain. I have checked the obvious ones like the headphone output sockets without luck, so far.)   

 

 

 

Edited January 9, 2023 by Garfly

[Kyle Communications]

Are your headphone sockets totally isolated from ground?

 

[Garfly]

1 minute ago, Kyle Communications said:

Are your headphone sockets totally isolated from ground?

 

I'm not sure about that, Mark, but thanks for the tip.  I'll have it checked out.

[Kyle Communications]

Gary you need to make sure your headphone sockets are mounted with the nuts through insulated material..not connected to alu directly. I always fit the sockets into a small plastic box...I will a pic tonight when I get home of Mabels. Stops funky stuff happening with ground loops

 

 

[Mike Gearon]

7 hours ago, Blueadventures said:

Maybe ask RFguy if he can have a look at the microair, should be fixable and then when his new radio is available buy one (scans 3 air channels and a uhf) as they sound very practical.

I’m very happy to support a new product if it’s for friends. Not so for unknown business ventures. Impressed with RFguy research in other areas. I’ll PM him 

[kgwilson]

7 hours ago, Kyle Communications said:

The Microair has always been a POS

 

I accept that from a electronics expert. However mine still works well, receives quite far transmissions & people respond when I make calls, has a built in intercom that works fine, 99 alpha numeric memories, monitors 2 frequencies etc so until it dies or goes haywire I'll just keep using it. I did need to instal a power filter & my initial wiring was crap. Replaced all that with single core shielded cable, put ferrite chokes at all junctions & made sure there was no earthing anywhere & terminated all the earth shield back at the radio. That fixed it and that is how it is now.

Edited January 9, 2023 by kgwilson

[RFguy]

They're OK from a design POV.... Your mileage is very much LUCK. mine are OK ...

 

Quality varies enormously. whether or not a wire got pinched during assembly to cause trouble 5 years down the track...... balls of solder  rolling around, passive chip components failing likely due to assembly/mechanical stresses.  the rigidity of the enclosure is really not quite good enough for surface mount parts. and the factory alignment of the receiver  appears to be COMPLETELY wrong.. OMG what were they thinking.

It's like the original designer got the design 90% done and built a prototype and then left or died, leaving the company  to guess the rest.  I've seen it alot in professional circles.. 

 

[facthunter]

No need to replace something that's doing a good job till it doesn't although there is always a time to quite something and not pour any more effort into a lost cause. An aeroplane environment is harsh  in many ways. $#!t electrical systems (spikes) vibration copper wires going brittle, corrosion, etc.  nev

Edited January 9, 2023 by facthunter

[Kyle Communications]

47 minutes ago, RFguy said:

 

It's like the original designer got the design 90% done and built a prototype and then left or died, leaving the company  to guess the rest.  I've seen it alot in professional circles.. 

 

John Willis did the initial design of the Micro Air..I saw it when he was developing it. But he made it for some other guys and they then took it from there. Those guys sold the IP to some other bunch I believe and they did the rest of it..Now I belive the company has been sold to another group

[kgwilson]

Aircraft Spruce still advertises M760s and they are in stock according to the website. They also say the MGL V6 is in stock but it's called a SW avionics V6. From comments here that all sounds very strange.

[coljones]

On 16/06/2022 at 1:27 PM, Jim McDowall said:

On the subject of junk radios does anyone know who can fix X-Air radios?

 

Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have. The course of history shows us that as a government grows, liberty decreases. - Thomas Jefferson 1743-1826

 

I'm not sure if I would set much store in what Jefferson has to say 

 

"Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, owned more than 600 enslaved African Americans during his adult life. Jefferson freed two slaves while he lived, five others were freed after his death, including two of his children from his relationship with his slave (and sister-in-law) Sally Hemings." 

 

I suspect that the US founding fathers were a bunch of crooks!

Edited January 12, 2023 by coljones
addition info

[FlyBoy1960]

15 hours ago, coljones said:

On the subject of junk radios does anyone know who can fix X-Air radios?

Do you mean XCOM ?    Try

XCOM Avionics Service

Ken Luxford
36 Greenstone St,
Yarrabilba QLD 4207
Australia

Mobile  0412 674 349

[Bruce Tuncks]

What is the best way to protect a micro-air radio ? External spikes should be easily fixed with an add-on bit to the power supply I reckon.

My old Jabiru has an X-com with a power supply thingy from a 4wd shop. The power supply thingy has a big coil and a red led indicator.

My new Jabiru 230 has a micro-air which works fine and has been there for years. It was listed as first flown in 2011. 

[FlyBoy1960]

I got this YEARS ago, might be some use, dont know if its still even valid/current.

 

 

XCOM installation in Jabiru powered aircraft

The XCOM radio is ideally suited for light aircraft including those powered by the Jabiru engine, there are however some precautions which are necessary to protect your aircraft avionics, including the XCOM radio.

The Jabiru engine is normally supplied from the factory with a Kubota regulator.

 

Unfortunately this regulator is not really up to the job of aircraft operations. It is originally designed for use in a garden lawn tractor. In this environment you start the lawn tractor to mow the garden and the regulator only needs to recharge the battery so the next time you go to start the engine the battery is fully charged. In this application and environment the regulator performs really well but unfortunately in aviation use we are simply asking too much from this very basic regulator.

In an aviation installation we are not just recharging the battery as we are in a lawn tractor. In aviation we are running radios, transponders, GPS, intercom systems, strobes, recharging the aircraft battery and most of the time also recharging our mobile phone or some other mobile device when we are flying. In this application the Kubota regulator is really going into trauma because it is being asked to perform outside its design parameters. The first thing that happens is the regulator starts to get hot and from there its simply overloaded/overworked and it starts to put out very damaging voltage fluctuations which can be either high-voltage or low voltage.

These voltage fluctuations are only for milliseconds so they won't register on a multimeter or a voltmeter inside your aircraft but they will be sufficient to potentially damage your avionics. Items like a GPS with an inbuilt battery tend to be more durable because the internal battery protects the device from these fluctuations, items like a radio and a transponder do not have their own internal batteries and are more susceptible to damage caused by these excessive voltage fluctuations.

There are several precautions which you can take in an effort to try and get better performance from the Kubota regulator.

Firstly, try and keep the regulator cool. You will notice that the regulator has fins over the top to try and dissipate some of the heat, make sure the regulator is in good cold air flow, keeping the heat down will also help in reducing regulator problems. When you restart your engine after having not flown for some time give the regulator a chance to recharge the battery before you start to turn on all of your additional instrumentation including items which draw a lot of electricity like a transponder and strobe system.

Finally, look at replacing the Kubota regulator with a more suitable unit made specifically for aviation use.  There are a number of these available on the market from aviation businesses like Aircraft Spruce and others and we also recommend looking at the PowerMate voltage regulator which is suitable for most LSA type aircraft installations.

The PowerMate regulator can be purchased directly from our website or from the website of the manufacturer, please visit http://www.powermate.com.au for more details.

[RFguy]

IMO the POWERMATE regulator is overhyped- you get abotu half the maximum delivery of the alternator, what it is actually is a current and voltage regulator.  I would not recommend it. 
 

All the Kubota regulators are pretty much the same. Be sure  to mount it  somewhere it gets an air blast at all times.

 

Firstly, with the regulator : 

*Again, it needs to be stressed that the wiring PATH  is just as important than the regulator type.*

1) Sense wire- direct to battery via fuse. might need a slave relay from master if draws any current when doing nothing.

2) charge output wire- direct to battery via slave relay from master via 25A fuse.

3) negative return . direct to battery go PAST / VIA the negative of the smoothing cap.

4) alternator - direct---- fuses not necessary if charge output has a fuse.

Useful - 10,000uF, 50V capacitor between output of charge output of regulator and the negative .
The cap is useful because some fuel senders and sensors do not like the high ripple power that the alternator delivers in the system- it fixes that..

 

SECOND

 

If the flywheel protection diode is not present across the master relay then whenever you turn the master off you will put a huge spike through the system.

 

A  unidirectional TVS diode is a good option across the master bus. It is a good idea to fuse it say 1 to 5 A.

Suggest  a TVS type 1.5ke18a, 

https://au.rs-online.com/web/p/tvs-diodes/4864195

these are hard to get right now , suggest grab a couple. remember BAND END  to positive side.

 

Edited January 13, 2023 by RFguy

[Bruce Tuncks]

As I said earlier, I bought a "smoother" for operating a radio from a 4wd. It worked fine for 20 years and it was cheaper than the powermate. I would have been happy to use a powermate but I'm so cheap that I thought he spent too much on advertising.

I reckon I need something similar for the microair on the 230... Size doesn't matter, but cost and weight sure do. Any suggestions will be most welcome.

[FlyBoy1960]

the powermate regulator has not been available for about 5 years from what I think I remember

[RFguy]

The powermate was really just designed to cleanup up dirty DC power. it does that well. it is unsuited to connection to a jab alternator. IMO.