We've been moving over quite a distance and I hadn't been able to fly much for a while so I went out this evening to do some practice and make sure I was still comfortable with myself.
When I tried to start up, the starter wasn't engaging so I got a jump. I'm in a 12v system piper so the line guy was able to hook up a one pin external piper connector to their tractor and jump me. Remembering something vaguely about the correct jump start procedure being to only turn the master battery switch on but not the alternator I did this.... I normally treat both switches as one which is probably how I missed it. Anyway the jump did the trick, the engine start right up, I gave the line guy the thumbs up and he disconnected me and backed off. Went through the pre-taxi checklist and at this time I verified that I had the CTAF for the field(uncontrolled) entered in my com1 radio which is a garmin 430w.
I began taxiing out and as the taxiway I was on crossed a runway I keyed my mic and announced I was crossing it..... almost immediately I received a curt response of "ON GUARD!"
This caught me... no pun intended off guard as I was quite sure I'd put the CTAF in and also quite sure I hadn't even set any radios to 121.5. I glanced over at my 430 and the screen was blank!. I stopped on the taxiway to figure it out(no other active aircraft on or around the field at the time). Avionics master was on... tried cycling the power on the 430... nothing. At this point I'm horrified that I just zapped the most expensive avionics in my airplane somehow with the jump(but the avionics master was off!). Then I see it.... the red alternator switch is in the off position. I flip it on, hear a brief squeel in my headset(probably should have shut the avionics off first) and almost immediately the screen on the 430 lights up and it boots.
After it booted, indeed I did have the CTAF frequency entered. Keyed it for a radio check and the FBO replied. With a thorough rechecking of all systems in the cockpit at the runup, the rest of the flight went uneventfully.
What I find interesting is how I somehow was on guard... my guess is that there's something in the 430 that defaults over to 121.5 in event of a power loss... either that or low voltage messed up it's transmit frequency somehow.
Anyway, not a terribly exciting incident but probably a good reminder to double-check even the basic stuff when doing abnormal procedures like a jump-start.
When I tried to start up, the starter wasn't engaging so I got a jump. I'm in a 12v system piper so the line guy was able to hook up a one pin external piper connector to their tractor and jump me. Remembering something vaguely about the correct jump start procedure being to only turn the master battery switch on but not the alternator I did this.... I normally treat both switches as one which is probably how I missed it. Anyway the jump did the trick, the engine start right up, I gave the line guy the thumbs up and he disconnected me and backed off. Went through the pre-taxi checklist and at this time I verified that I had the CTAF for the field(uncontrolled) entered in my com1 radio which is a garmin 430w.
I began taxiing out and as the taxiway I was on crossed a runway I keyed my mic and announced I was crossing it..... almost immediately I received a curt response of "ON GUARD!"
This caught me... no pun intended off guard as I was quite sure I'd put the CTAF in and also quite sure I hadn't even set any radios to 121.5. I glanced over at my 430 and the screen was blank!. I stopped on the taxiway to figure it out(no other active aircraft on or around the field at the time). Avionics master was on... tried cycling the power on the 430... nothing. At this point I'm horrified that I just zapped the most expensive avionics in my airplane somehow with the jump(but the avionics master was off!). Then I see it.... the red alternator switch is in the off position. I flip it on, hear a brief squeel in my headset(probably should have shut the avionics off first) and almost immediately the screen on the 430 lights up and it boots.
After it booted, indeed I did have the CTAF frequency entered. Keyed it for a radio check and the FBO replied. With a thorough rechecking of all systems in the cockpit at the runup, the rest of the flight went uneventfully.
What I find interesting is how I somehow was on guard... my guess is that there's something in the 430 that defaults over to 121.5 in event of a power loss... either that or low voltage messed up it's transmit frequency somehow.
Anyway, not a terribly exciting incident but probably a good reminder to double-check even the basic stuff when doing abnormal procedures like a jump-start.
