Narrative:

While [we were] at cruise; we were trying to figure out why the copilot side communications panel was not functioning. The airplane was just out of maintenance for an avionics upgrade and we were trying to familiarize ourselves with the new mfd and added capabilities of the garmin 530 radio. I realized we had not heard from departure control and tried calling them. Finally; I was able to raise them on our number two radio and was given a frequency for los angeles center who in turn gave me a frequency for another sector for los angeles center and finally a frequency for albuquerque center. From that point on; we were able to maintain communications. It is apparent that in our efforts to determine the cause of the malfunction; we must have inadvertently adjusted volume and squelch levels that made communications problematic. This combined with non-functioning or intermittent equipment resulted in our loss of contact with departure control. When we landed we had an avionics shop trouble shoot our system and found that the power source for the copilot communications panel was not properly connected. We also found the pilot's side communications panel had feedback through the bose headset. We have swapped the pilot and copilot communications panels. The copilot communications panel is weak at times and is scheduled to be overhauled. We also noticed other discrepancies as a result of the avionics overhaul including loss of OAT and GPS steering through the autopilot. I feel that I should have been more critical of the work that was done and required a more thorough testing of the systems prior to accepting the aircraft. I now feel that the quality of work was not as promised and demands further inspection and repair by the installing organization.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CE500 pilot reports radio communication difficulties during departure after an avionics upgrade had been installed in the aircraft. Other problems were noted and the reporter believes that the workmanship of the upgrade was not as promised.

Narrative: While [we were] at cruise; we were trying to figure out why the copilot side communications panel was not functioning. The airplane was just out of maintenance for an avionics upgrade and we were trying to familiarize ourselves with the new MFD and added capabilities of the Garmin 530 radio. I realized we had not heard from Departure Control and tried calling them. Finally; I was able to raise them on our number two radio and was given a frequency for Los Angeles Center who in turn gave me a frequency for another sector for Los Angeles Center and finally a frequency for Albuquerque Center. From that point on; we were able to maintain communications. It is apparent that in our efforts to determine the cause of the malfunction; we must have inadvertently adjusted volume and squelch levels that made communications problematic. This combined with non-functioning or intermittent equipment resulted in our loss of contact with Departure Control. When we landed we had an avionics shop trouble shoot our system and found that the power source for the copilot communications panel was not properly connected. We also found the pilot's side communications panel had feedback through the Bose Headset. We have swapped the pilot and copilot communications panels. The copilot communications panel is weak at times and is scheduled to be overhauled. We also noticed other discrepancies as a result of the avionics overhaul including loss of OAT and GPS steering through the autopilot. I feel that I should have been more critical of the work that was done and required a more thorough testing of the systems prior to accepting the aircraft. I now feel that the quality of work was not as promised and demands further inspection and repair by the installing organization.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.