Found a better way to test antenna cables with a simple VSWR meter check

I used to just swap out antennas if a comms check came back weak on a King KX 155. That cost the hangar about 200 bucks in parts each time, and I wasted hours. Last month, a senior guy in Oklahoma City showed me to run a quick VSWR test first. Turned out the cable connector was corroded, not the antenna itself. Saved the company 150 bucks and a lot of back-shop headache. Now I check the meter every time before pulling anything. Has anyone else over-relied on swapping parts instead of testing first?

2 comments

2 Comments

riverp3729d ago

Turned out the cable connector was corroded, not the antenna itself." Yeah, I read a similar story on a avionics forum last year. A guy in Texas said he had a KX 155 that kept showing low power output. Everyone thought it was the antenna, but he did a VSWR test first and found the coax was pinched under the seat rail. He just replaced a 3 foot section of cable instead of a whole antenna. Really makes you wonder how much money mechanics burn through just guessing.

dylan_patel29d ago

Flew with a guy who swore swapping his antenna fixed his garbled transmissions, turned out it was just a loose BNC connector.