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Portable vs bench testers, did a field call in Bakersfield flip your preference?
Last month I drove 2 hours to a regional jet that was throwing a bad VHF comm fault. I had my portable ramp tester with me and got a false pass, twice. Had to call a buddy who brought the bench unit out and we found a cracked coax fitting that only showed under vibration. Now I second guess every portable unit for anything beyond a basic continuity check. I get the convenience, but I've seen too many guys trust a handheld readout on a bird that's been baking in the sun all day. On the flip side, dragging a bench cart up a boarding stair is a nightmare and some hangars won't even clear the space. So what's the call for you all, portable for speed or bench for confidence? Has anyone else had a phantom fault that only the big unit caught, or the opposite where a portable caught something the bench missed?
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ryan_kim632mo ago
The part about the coax fitting failing under vibration reminds me of a radio in a crop duster that only died when the pilot banked hard left. Bench showed nothing, portable showed nothing, but I finally found the wire chafing against a fuel line that only touched at that angle.
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