Becker Transponder E10 Error Message

Ling

Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2006
Messages
53
Location
Somerset West, South Africa
Aircraft
MT-03
Total Flight Time
12500
Has anyone that might have a Becker ATC 4401 transponder every received a "E10" error message, and if so , how did you remedy this?
 
Becker XPNDR

Becker XPNDR

That same code come up twice on mine a couple of weeks ago. It cleared when I turned it off and on.

I have read that Becker says the E10 indicates an antennae problem relating to the ground.

The day it happened to me I had just landed on a wet grass field after a snow melt.

My antennae is on the bottom of the hull centered right behind the nose wheel. After I cleaned the mess & dried off the antennae the code never came up again.

The water & mud must have interfered with the ground.

My hull is composite and the antennae is attached to a ground plane inside the hull.

Doug
 
I have received the "E10" message ever since I installed the Becker transponder into my aircraft. When I take it out and have it bench tested, it works 100%.

I have tried two types of antenna and 3 sets of co-axial cable of different lengths. With the one length of cable, the error comes up straight away, whereas with other length, the error doesn't come up as often.

It make me the that, through a process of trial and error, I must find the exact length of cable to use that won't present an error on the transponder.
 
Here's a photo of my ground plane. I did try removing the paint where the antenna makes contact with the ground plane, but it didn't seem to make much difference.
 

Attachments

  • 30012008112.jpg
    30012008112.jpg
    33.3 KB · Views: 0
That should be plenty of ground plane area for 1 GHz...

Is the outer portion of the connector in good contact with bare metal where it passes through the plate? If you put an ohmmeter between the shield of the coax and the metal plate, can you see circuit continuity? Even when you jiggle things around a little?

Check also the connections between the coax shield and the BNC connectors at both ends of the cables used.

Based on the photo, unless that tag is insulating the connector from the plate, it's hard to see much wrong.
 
Becker in Germany, said I should try shortening the cable in 10cm increments as this can often cause a problem if the length isn't correct.

It's almost as though the length of the cable needs to be a certain multiple as a function of the wavelength. Only trial and error might solve this.
I might have mentioned on an earlier posting that I have 3 sets of co-axial cable made up, lets call them short, medium and long. The medium one gives the least amount of E10 error messages. The short one gives the error code almost immediately that it receives a signal from the radar sweep from the local airport here.

The strange thing is that it bench tests 100%, but when I rig it up at home using a 12v power supply, or on my gyro, it then gives the E10 error code (this is using the short cable)! The medium length cable worked ok at home, but in the gyro, after about 15 minutes worth of flying, it gave the error. The medium length cable so far works the best, but is not 100%. Maybe if I make a new cable up, and add or subtract 10cm form this, I might have some type of solution.
 
You are on the right track sounds like your SWR is high and are reflecting the output back in to the set.
Try RG400 Coax cable and make sure you check the BNC connectors correctly when you make up at the ends. use the resistance scales on the meter not the buzzer for continuity, its easy to get a whisker of the outer sheath caught.
Maybe buy a new antenna from Spruce they are pretty cheap, I've seen antennas go iffy with no outward appearance of damage
 
If changing the cable length makes a difference, then the antenna is not presenting the required 50-ohm load to the cable. That will make really solving the problem difficult.
 
Have some excellent news after going through quite a frustrating month and a half to sort out this problem.

To cut a long story short, I tried using a brand new piece of aluminium (without any paint on), as the ground plane, and it seems to work 100% now!!!

I never suspected that the previous ground plane was no good, as it came out of a previous aircraft where a transponder had been fitted. It had a layer of paint over it, (although not very thick) and although I had tried cleaning the contact points, there was still lots of paint on it. (I had even tried to earth the previous ground plane to the aircraft's earth, but even this didn't work previously).

I flew today for about 1 hour, and didn't receive a single error code. Can't believe it. Hopefully the issue is sorted out now. Even flew in controlled airspace and ATC were very happy with what they saw on their screens.

It's my birthday today, so that came as a nice present.

Hopefully this is the end of the matter. Thanks for both your inputs and time to respond. The only time I receive an error code now, is if I touch the antenna when the transponder is on (I was told this is perfectly normal as my body then interferes with the antenna system).

Kind regards, and thanks once again.
 
Damn, damn, damn. After flying for 1 hour a couple of days ago, and thinking I had sorted out the problem, I received the "E10" message again on today's flight. Thought I had sorted it out...:mad::mad::mad:
 
Faulty Becker transponder

Faulty Becker transponder

My saga with the "E10" message still isn't over yet. :mad:

We sent the transponder back to Germany. They bench tested it, and worked on it for about 2 hours. They sent it back to me, and it sat at our local customs for 2 months. In addition I had to pay the equivalent of $650 for the freight charge for the courier service! (Becker wouldn't pay this).

Guess what, after they signed it out, I still am getting a "E10" message (intermittently). The local agent here has requested that Becker replace the unit for me, but they have gone misteriously quiet!

After 11 months, I still don't have a transponder that is working 100% yet!!! :mad::mad::mad::mad:
 
Last edited:
E 10 Error msg

E 10 Error msg

Hi, Guys. I just wanted to "feed back" what seems to have solved my E10 problem. I did this by following the instructions in one area of the manual. (When all else fails, read the instructions.)


Function switch to "OFF" position.

While holding in "VFR1" button, turn function switch to "Standby". When flashing stops, release "VFR1" button.

After one or two seconds, "P01" shows on the indicator.

Push "STO" button and release. Within one or two seconds, 1200 comes on the indicator.

Then turn function to either "ON" or "ALT" functions and proceed with the flight.

So far, I've found that I must do this each time I start up (after turning off the unit or off Avionics power).
 
Feedback from my "E10" problem. The local agent in South Africa swopped my unit with a reconditioned one and it's worked 100% since!
 
Anritsu Site Master would be the way to test this would give complete picture of connector to antenna, showing Reflected power, at given frequency + other data.
Talk to a good Comms Co or may be a Cellular\Radio techi.
Say 1090 MHz is the Frequency you want to look at, Chose Return loss or VSWR then F1 t0 1000Mhz set F2 to 1150MHz, plug in, job done. you will have a trace of the resonant frequency either side of the 1090 with a return loss or reflected power figure, this will show cable, connector, Ae problems in one hit, without transmitting a thing.
You can tighten the frequency spread to suit your requirements
 
Last edited:
Top