C182 Radios Problem

[GrahamP]

Hi,

I've got an issue with the radios in the A2A C182. It's a bit complicated to explain, so I hope I've managed to do so clearly enough.

I tried to store two ATIS frequencies (132.475 and 126.275) on channels 1 and 2 of COM 2 for a flight from Cardiff EGFF to Birmingham EGBB. I pulled the centre knob to get the .47 number on channel 1 but it would only enter as .48 (i.e. 132.48 instead of 132.47). After that, .05 adjustments of that particular frequency entry would only show as 132.38, 132.43, 132.48, 132.53, 132.58, etc. This then continued with that particular frequency entry even outside of the channel programming mode and even after swapping to active and back to standby.

The above happened on the standby frequency of course, that being where the channel programming is done. After swapping the frequencies so that the active frequency became the standby, that frequency entry could then be set correctly to 132.47 but only outside of programming mode. Swapping back to the particular frequency entry that was set to 132.48, the problem continued with that frequency entry. Once this particular frequency entry has been adjusted in this way in channel programming mode, the problem continues with that frequency entry whether in or out of channel programming mode.

The same thing happens on COM 1.

Once this happens the frequency that has been adjusted to .48, can no longer be used for any other frequency that is adjusted from this, e.g. instead of say 133.10, it can only be adjusted to 133.08 or 133.13, neither of which work.

There is a way to correct this on COM 1 using the GNS 400 GPS, as follows: With COM 1 out of channel programming mode, swap to put the 132.48 frequency as standby. In the GPS, press NRST button - Nearest Airport page - push right knob to select an airport - use right knob to select the frequencies page - press right knob - use right outer knob to select a frequency that does not include a .48 (e.g. 133.10) - Press ENT button. This sends 133.10 to standby in COM 1 and it can then be adjsuted to 132.47 provided this is done outside of channel programming mode.

The above correction cannot be done for COM 2 because the GPS can only send the frequency to COM 1. Shutting down and restarting P3D does not correct this and neither does removing the C182Log.dat file. I don't know what file the frequencies are stored in. So my COM 2 in the C182 is now unusable.

I could re-install the C182 (not too big a deal) but before I resort to that, is there another way I can correct this without re-installing please?

ADF SIDE NOTE:
I've been aware for a while that a similar thing happens with the ADF. Whilst the KR 87 only shows the NDB frequencies as whole numbers, NDB frequencies that include a .5 (e.g. 391.5 for EAS) can be entered into standby using the GPS in the same way as described above for the COM 1 radio. Any subsequent adjustment of that frequency in the KR 87 can only be by whole numbers, so adjustment of 391.5 to say 328 (as displayed in the KR 87) wouldn't work (i.e. the NDB signal would not be received) because it actually becomes 328.5 but you can't see that because the .5 is not displayed by the KR 87. This can be corrected by sending 328.0 to standby using the GPS, after which it can be adjusted from that by whole numbers as normal.

Thanks in advance
Graham

[Nick - A2A]

Hi Graham,

The persistent A2A NAV and COMM radio frequencies are stored in the "C182SLog.dat.f" which should be in the same location as the .dat file which you mention (In the A2A folder in "My Documents"). Deleting it should restore whatever frequencies are defaulted in the flight in question.

The topic of 8.33kHz channel spacing has come up before by the way. This topic may be worth a read.

I wonder if you could just enter commonly used 8.33kHz ATIS frequencies directly into the text file for the stored COMM frequencies? These files are stored in a different location, in the A2A\Cessna182 directory which can be found in the main folder for host sim itself (FSX or P3D). You should find 2 text files: "com_1.txt" and "com_2.txt".

Hope that helps a bit...
Nick

[GrahamP]

Hi Nick,

Thanks for your quick reply. Yes, I was aware of the topic you referred to.

As you said, deleting the C182SLog.dat.f file has got COM 2 usable again. I'm a bit embarrassed I didn't figure that out myself. Also, frequencies written into com_1.txt and com_2.txt do indeed show up as stored frequencies in the sim (useful to know).

That still leaves the issue that the channel programming doesn't work correctly on those frequencies but I can live with that.

Thanks for your help.
Graham

[Nick - A2A]

I just took a few moments to try saving the frequency of 132.47 as a preset channel on both COMM1 and COMM2 Graham, and in both cases it worked exactly as expected. In other words, I didn't end up with .48 as you describe.

I wonder if there's some add-on which is interfering with your installation? The only similar cases I can recall are from FSEconomy users. I understand FSE will write invalid frequencies into the radios for aircraft it sees as non IFR-equipped equipped, as discussed here.

Also, have you made sure you've applied the latest Accu-Sim update from 17 Jan? There was an issue with the COMM channel presets which was addressed in this update if I recall correctly.

Cheers,
Nick

[GrahamP]

I just tried it again and it was still happening. Then I ran the latest updater and that's fixed it. As you said, this is listed as a fix in that update. Gotta love the A2A attention to detail and fixes.

I was only able to get the updater by using a link to it in another post. Strangely I couldn't find the updater on the A2A website. I couldn't see it on the Downloads page and Product Updates in the drop down menu goes to the same page. For future reference, where is it on the website? Apologies if I'm missing something obvious.

Graham

[Nick - A2A]

Sorry Graham - I usually link to the update when I check if posters have installed it but for some reason I forgot in this case. It can be found in this thread which is always pinned in the 'announcements' section of the forums. I agree it would be good if A2A made it a bit easier to find from the main site.

Anyway, glad to hear the radio programming issue is fixed now.

Thanks,
Nick

[GrahamP]

Thanks, Nick.