PLT OF CARGO ACFT ON NIGHT FLT TURNS DOWN #1 COM VOLUME AND BECOMES A NORDO ACFT. HE FINALLY TROUBLESHOOTS THE PROB AND RECEIVES HIS CLRNC TO APCH AND LAND.

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I WAS ENRTE TO MKC AND HAD BEEN HANDED OFF FROM CTR TO KANSAS CITY APCH CTL. SHORTLY AFTER THE HDOF; ANOTHER PLT CALLED ME ON MY #2 COM RADIO WHICH WAS TUNED TO OUR COMPANY FREQ. I COULDN'T HEAR HIM WELL SO I TURNED THE VOLUME UP ON THE #2 RADIO AND DOWN SLIGHTLY ON THE #1 RADIO WHICH WAS TUNED TO APCH CTL. I WAS LETTING MYSELF BE DISTRACTED BY MY CONVERSATION ON THE #2 RADIO; AND THEN BY THE OP OF THE ACFT'S LORAN (WITH WHICH I WAS UNFAMILIAR); AS IT SEEMED TO BE MALFUNCTIONING. WHEN I REALIZED THAT I WAS BEHIND THE ACFT AND THAT I NEEDED TO GET AHEAD OF THE AIRPLANE AND DSND TO A LOWER ALT; I TRIED TO CONTACT APCH CTL. THERE WAS NO RESPONSE. I CALLED SEVERAL MORE TIMES TO NO AVAIL; THEN BEGAN TROUBLESHOOTING. I DID NOT IMMEDIATELY DISCOVER THE PROB PARTIALLY DUE TO HOW FATIGUED I WAS. THIS WAS THE LAST LEG OF THE NIGHT AND OF MY WK; AND IT WAS VERY EARLY IN THE MORNING. I FINALLY FIGURED OUT THAT I HAD SIMPLY TURNED THE VOLUME ALMOST ALL THE WAY DOWN ON COM #1; NOT JUST SLIGHTLY DOWN AS I HAD INTENDED. I RE-ESTABLISHED RADIO CONTACT WITH APCH CTL; WAS CLRED FOR THE VISUAL APCH; AND THE CTLR TOLD ME THAT HE HAD BEEN TRYING TO GET A HOLD OF ME FOR ABOUT THE PAST 30 MI. (MY GND SPD WAS APPROX 200 KTS; SO THIS TRANSLATES TO ROUGHLY 9 MINS.) THE CTLR HANDED ME OFF TO TWR CTL; AND I LANDED UNEVENTFULLY. THIS LOST COM SIT WAS CAUSED BY ME TURNING THE VOLUME DOWN ON THE RADIO FURTHER THAN I HAD INTENDED. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS INCLUDED: MY DISTR WITH THE CONVERSATION ON THE #2 RADIO; MY DISTR FROM THE OP AND TROUBLESHOOTING OF A LORAN WITH WHICH I WAS UNFAMILIAR; MY LACK OF FAMILIARITY WITH THIS PARTICULAR ACFT AND ITS RADIO STACK; MY LEVEL OF FATIGUE; AND MY ASSUMPTION THAT THE LACK OF RADIO TFC ON THE #1 RADIO WAS DUE TO THE TIME OF MORNING. THIS SIT COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED BY NEVER TURNING DOWN THE VOLUME ON THE #1 RADIO IN THE FIRST PLACE. IF IT HAD TO BE TURNED DOWN THEN I COULD HAVE LEFT A FINGER ON THE VOLUME SO AS TO REMEMBER TO TURN IT BACK UP. I SHOULD HAVE QUESTIONED WHY THERE WAS NO RADIO TFC ON THE APCH FREQ SOONER; AND NOT ASSUMED THAT IT WAS DUE TO THE TIME OF THE MORNING. I LEARNED THAT I SHOULD VERIFY THAT RADIO CONTACT IS ESTABLISHED WHEN THERE IS ANY DOUBT WHATSOEVER. I ALSO LEARNED THAT I SHOULD ALWAYS BE EXTRA VIGILANT IN ANY AIRPLANE THAT I AM NOT COMPLETELY FAMILIAR WITH; AND ALSO WHEN I AM FATIGUED. ABOVE ALL I LEARNED HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO REMAIN AWARE OF THE BIG PICTURE; AND TO NOT LET DISTRACTIONS BECOME PRIMARY.