This one has me scratching my head.

I was getting ready to depart Bellingham yesterday. I listened to the ATIS report and could hear that just fine. I then went to contact Ground and no response. I double checked the frequency try again and, again, no response. Back to ATIS and it's coming in just fine. So then I tune in Unicom and ask for a radio check... no response. (note, I had a passenger and she couldn't hear a response either.)

So... I shut down and walk into the FBO and ask if they could hear me. Yep. I came in loud and clear. So I go back and fire up the radio. This time I ask for a radio check again and the gal comes in loud and clear. ATIS still works and I'm now able to contact and hear ground.

Now, if I wasn't able to recieve at all, I would think I couldn't hear the ATIS report.

GroundLooper,
Had the same thing happen to me this summer and I too, could not make any sense of it. Someone suggested I pull the radio out, clean the contact pins and put the radio back in. I tried it and it worked. I don't know if the contact pins got dust/dirt or what, but it seemed to fix the problem.

Any chance the mic inadvertently stayed hot? I only mention this because a week ago a fellow pilot friend put his hand on top of the yoke, accidentally holding down the transmit button. Everyone heard us but we didn't hear them respond.

Clean your headphone & mic jacks, both the receptacle and the headphone side. Ensure your PTT switch isn't taking a dive as well.

The two radio issues I've had in my time were 1) stuck PTT switch. The little hardware component went bad. You could see the "TX" indicator on the radio display stuck on.

2) corroded antenna coax. The radio had intermittent range and transmission success. Replaced the whole length of coax from the radio to the antenna and the problem was fixed.

I'm certain it wasn't a stuck mike issue.

Dirty/corroded contacts seem like a possibility considering it hasn't been touched in eons. Maybe one of the diodes just got constipated with electrons. It seemed to work fine for the rest of the trip back. I'll keep an eye on it and thanks for the suggestions.

I do carry a backup radio just in case.

I watched a cockpit video last night of a complete electrical failure at night in a Cessna. The guys handled it very well, but I couldn't help but think they were landing in the dark with no strobes or nav lights and no radio communications. Not much you can do about the lights, but having a handheld could have made the situation safer. Good example of a scenario where see and avoid isn't possible and CTAF is everything.

Good example of a scenario where see and avoid isn't possible and CTAF is everything.

One night while I was doing night currency work at FNL, a Cherokee something or other came straight in to 33, pitch dark, no lights of any kind, and no communications. I lit him up as he was on final and I was on mid-base. Then of all things, he landed, slowed down, then took off again! Have to wonder what's on the minds of some folks.

Cary

Speaking of stuck mikes, kind of funny how some people have multi-thousand dollar radio stacks yet they still use those cheesy $14.95 velcro-on PTT switches. Unfortunately I haven't really seen any better alternative other than getting a little momentary push-button switch, soldering some wires on, and cobbling up some sort of litle mounting tab for the yoke-- which usually works well but turns out looking pretty cheesy too.
I gotta admit that I use one of the cheapies myself, but it took me a couple tries to get one that worked correctly. The first one worked fine when loose, but after velocroing it on it would stick every time. Putting pressure on the housing bound up the button somehow. Very aggravating.