Lost Radio Contact

[ScottVal]

I was on an IFR flight with X-Plane 10 and lost radio contact. I went ahead and followed what procedures I would follow in the real world, and also tried disconnecting and reconnecting, but that didn't help. I'm wondering how often any of you experience lost radio contact, or anything else you might share about it.

[Keith Smith]

Check your PilotEdge_out.txt file in the xplane root directory. If you see a line saying, "power is now off, switching to [callsign]" then the comm issue was because your radios lost power, usually a result of not having the alternator/generator turned on.

[ScottVal]

Thanks, Keith, it looks like that is the issue precisely. I was flying a Carenado Beech Super King Air B200 and had done a cold-and-dark start. The generator switches were both on, but apparently I had to do some kind of reset first. I'm still in the process of figuring this out, and I posted a question about it on the X-Plane forum. If by chance if anyone on PilotEdge is familiar with this issue, I'm all ears. In the meantime I'll load the aircraft hot. Thanks again for the help!

[Keith Smith]

Scott, I've seen quite a few people fly the B200 in live streams and they haven't had the problem. To check if the generators are truly working, you can use the data input & output screen to view the generator amperage as well as the system voltage. If the voltage is slowly dropping, then the gens are offline.

[ScottVal]

OK, I figured out what was wrong. I had left the ignition and engine start switches on, and this was preventing the generators from engaging. Thanks again for your help. It will be great to fly without my radios cutting out!!

[Keith Smith]

It will be great to fly without my radios cutting out!!

I say that in my airplane all the time

[Ryan B]

Speaking of your airplane... is this the same type as yours? "Cute" little lancair comes around duluth once in a while...
http://instagram.com/p/qj9t7Lg81e/