Sat Sep 22, 2012 7:27 am
#1101350
I recently had a discussion with an experience pilot over the radio SQUELCH.
After a radio failiar on return to base we had not been able to transmit anything worthwhile to the nearby airfield but we could hear them.
My argument was the Squelch has absolutely no effect on the transmit; it only cuts out the weaker signals and noise that are received. (Depending on how far the squelch is adjusted. ) He was convinced it weakened the transmissions.
I would be interested to hear comments on this from anyone who is well informed. Not just guesses from people who don't really have a clue.
On a wider issue squelch is something that can cause problems in fight for someone who has not experimented with it. If you have always left it alone because it was set to the right level everytime you flew, you might find yourself in the same situation that I did many years ago; approaching an airfield thinking that your radio was not transmitting when in fact the squelch had somehow been turned up and was cutting out the response from the base station.
It is probably worth a little play with the knob if you have not had a go before!!
After a radio failiar on return to base we had not been able to transmit anything worthwhile to the nearby airfield but we could hear them.
My argument was the Squelch has absolutely no effect on the transmit; it only cuts out the weaker signals and noise that are received. (Depending on how far the squelch is adjusted. ) He was convinced it weakened the transmissions.
I would be interested to hear comments on this from anyone who is well informed. Not just guesses from people who don't really have a clue.
On a wider issue squelch is something that can cause problems in fight for someone who has not experimented with it. If you have always left it alone because it was set to the right level everytime you flew, you might find yourself in the same situation that I did many years ago; approaching an airfield thinking that your radio was not transmitting when in fact the squelch had somehow been turned up and was cutting out the response from the base station.
It is probably worth a little play with the knob if you have not had a go before!!