Air carrier flight crew reported poor ACARS reception on the ground in cologne; germany.

Attributes
ACN	1619332
Time
Date	201902
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	EDDK.Airport
State Reference	FO
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Parked
Route In Use	Other Controlled
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	ACARS
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 114 Flight Crew Total 8722 Flight Crew Type 3000
Person 2
Function	Pilot Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 50 Flight Crew Total 14000 Flight Crew Type 8000
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

Narrative:

We were preparing to operate flight X from cgn to ZZZZ. On the ground in cgn; the ACARS (automatic communications addressing and reporting system) would not initialize. We had an intermittent 'no comm' message. We notified maintenance who cycled the circuit breaker and even powered down the airplane completely; all to no avail. The mechanic then told us that three other airplanes on the ground in cgn were having the same problem. I had seen this problem before in cgn more than once. The ACARS won't initialize; but shortly after liftoff; it gets a better signal; and everything works fine. The problem is clearly on the ground in cgn. We wrote up and deferred the inoperative ACARS anyway; entered the initialization data manually; used the tlr (takeoff/landing report) for our takeoff data and did our best to get the flight out on time. We were busy; but took only a six minute delay.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air carrier flight crew reported poor ACARS reception on the ground in Cologne; Germany.

Narrative: We were preparing to operate Flight X from CGN to ZZZZ. On the ground in CGN; the ACARS (Automatic Communications Addressing and Reporting System) would not initialize. We had an intermittent 'no comm' message. We notified Maintenance who cycled the circuit breaker and even powered down the airplane completely; all to no avail. The Mechanic then told us that three other airplanes on the ground in CGN were having the same problem. I had seen this problem before in CGN more than once. The ACARS won't initialize; but shortly after liftoff; it gets a better signal; and everything works fine. The problem is CLEARLY on the ground in CGN. We wrote up and deferred the inoperative ACARS anyway; entered the initialization data manually; used the TLR (Takeoff/Landing Report) for our takeoff data and did our best to get the flight out on time. We were busy; but took only a six minute delay.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.