ATC EQUIP PROBLEM TMTR FAILURE.

Narrative

ON TAXI OF OUR SCHEDULED PAX FLT DEPARTING LINDBERGH FIELD; SAN DIEGO; THE TWR WAS HAVING INTERMITTENT COMS FAILURE ON ALL FREQS. (ATIS; GND CTL; AND TWR). WE RECEIVED TAXI CLRNC TO RWY 27. BY THE TIME WE WERE #1 FOR TKOF ALL TWR COMS WERE OUT. NO ONE WAS ABLE TO CONTACT ANY SAN FREQS INCLUDING ABOUT 10 ACFT BEHIND US. APCH CTL WAS CLRING LNDG ACFT BUT WAS UNREACHABLE FROM OUR POS ON THE FIELD. AFTER 46 MINS OF TRYING TO CONTACT SOMEONE BY RADIO (OTHER THAN THE OTHER ACFT WAITING FOR TKOF) I TURNED THE ACFT TO BETTER SEE TWR. WE FINALLY GOT A FLASHING GREEN LIGHT FOLLOWED BY A STEADY GREEN LIGHT. I THEN TAXIED ONTO RWY 27 AND TOOK OFF. WE CONTACTED SAN DEP WITHIN 1 MIN AND CONTINUED THE REST OF THE FLT TO SLC. THE LIGHT SIGNAL FROM THE TWR WAS DIFFICULT TO SEE BECAUSE OF THE DISTANCE AND POSSIBLY THE DARK TINT OF THE TWR WINDOWS. ALSO TAKING OFF FROM A MAJOR INTL ARPT WITH A LARGE TURBO JET CARRYING PAXS USING ONLY LIGHT SIGNALS FROM A TWR IS VERY UNNERVING TO SAY THE LEAST. IN THIS SITUATION I GUESS THERE WAS NO ALTERNATIVE. AFTER 27 YRS AS A PROFESSIONAL PLT I THOUGHT I HAD SEEN IT ALL. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO. THE SAN TWR QUALITY ASSURANCE SPECIALIST WAS CALLED ABOUT THE XMITTER FAILURE. HE STATED THAT ON 8/91 CONSTRUCTION EQUIP HAD CUT THE CABLES TO THE XMITTER SITE. THE TWR REVERTED TO 2 EMER TRANSCEIVERS. THEY FOUND THAT WHEN THE GND CTLR AND LCL CTLR XMITTED AT THE SAME TIME THEY BLOCKED EACH OTHER OUT EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE ON SEPARATE FREQ'S. AFTER ABOUT 30 MINS THE BATTERIES FAILED AND THEY HAD NO XMITTERS. FAA MAINT IS LOOKING FOR NEW EMER TRANSCEIVERS THAT DON'T BLOCK EACH OTHER OUT WHEN XMITTING SIMULTANEOUSLY. AS OF 11/90 THIS PROBLEM HAS NOT BEEN CORRECTED.