Jerry Stuckle wrote:

snip

I am also a pilot. There is very little you can do legally with your
radio. The FAA regulates anything to do with the avionics pretty
closely. Even with a General Radiotelephone license (grandfathered from
a First Class Radiotelephone), I can't work on avionics legally
(although many years ago you had to have at least a Second Class to work
on most transmitters). And if you don't have the technical background,
you're likely to do more harm than good.

For instance, field strength won't do you much good without controlled
conditions and a comparison. Even then, it will only tell you what you
already know - that your signal is weak. It won't fix the problem for you.

Since you mentioned no problems with receiving, chances are it is not
the antenna, and you can ignore Jim's advice (which would be illegal if
you followed it, anyway). I know it hurts - but your best bet is to
cough up the Benjamin and have an avionics shop check it out. They know
what they're doing and can fix it for you.

And I would consider $100 cheap - it costs me more than that to rent a
Cessna 172 for an hour...

http://www.flyingmag.com/aircraft/mo...-you-can-do-it

http://avstop.com/technical/maintenance/maintenance.htm

A pilot/owner can legally clean just about anything; replacement is
another issue.



--
Jim Pennino