A BE33 PLT; WHILE IN THE TFC PATTERN AT ARB; EXPERIENCED AN ELECTRICAL FAILURE.

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ON GND FREQ; I REQUESTED TAXI BACK TO RWY 24 FOR PATTERN WORK AND WAS CLRED TO TAXI TO RWY 24. NEAR THE HOLD LINE FOR RWY 24; MY #1 RADIO BLINKED AND WENT TO 120.0. I COULD NOT TURN TO ANY FREQ AND SO I SWITCHED TO #2 RADIO AND RECEIVED CLRNC FOR DEP WITH L CLOSE TFC. I DEPARTED RWY 24 AND STAYED IN THE TFC PATTERN. I WAS #3 TFC. ON DOWNWIND; AS THE ACFT TURNED BASE; THE TWR ASKED ME TO ACKNOWLEDGE ACFT IN FRONT OF ME. I ACKNOWLEDGED THAT I HAD ACFT IN SIGHT. A FEW SECONDS LATER; THE TWR ASKED ME AGAIN AND I REPLIED; AT THE SAME TIME I LOOKED AT MY RADIO. I SAW THAT THE #2 RADIO WAS OUT. I TURNED THE KNOBS TO MAKE SURE IT WAS STILL ON BUT IT WOULD NOT TURN ON. I IMMEDIATELY SWITCHED XPONDER CODE FROM 1200 TO 7600. I THEN LOOKED INTO MY FLT BAG AND TOOK OUT MY PORTABLE COM UNIT. I SWITCHED TO TWR FREQ ON THE HANDHELD AND CALLED THE TWR. THEY ACKNOWLEDGED ME AND I INFORMED THEM THAT MY RADIOS WERE NOT WORKING AND I WAS USING A HANDHELD. I TURNED ONTO FINAL AND THE TWR CAME BACK TO ME INDICATING THAT MY GEAR WAS NOT DOWN AND TO GO AROUND. I WENT AROUND AND CLBED TO GAIN AS MUCH ALT AS I COULD TO GET THE GEAR DOWN MANUALLY. THE TWR INFORMED ME THAT THEY COULD SEE THE DOOR OPEN BUT NO GEAR. AS I CLBED UPWIND; AT AROUND 2000 FT; I LOOKED AROUND AND FOUND THE CIRCUIT BREAKER OUT FOR THE LNDG GEAR. I PUT THE CIRCUIT BREAKER IN AND FELT THE GEAR GO DOWN. I AM NOT SURE IF I VERIFIED WITH THE INDICATOR THAT THE GEAR WAS DOWN AND LOCKED. I CALLED TWR ON MY HANDHELD AND THEY TOLD ME TO COME BACK IN AND THEY WOULD VISUALLY CHK IF THE GEAR WAS DOWN. ON MIDFIELD; THEY ACKNOWLEDGED THAT THE GEAR APPEARED TO BE DOWN. I TURNED BASE AND NOTICED I WAS TOO CLOSE AND REQUESTED A 360 DEG TURN FOR MORE SPACING. I CANNOT REMEMBER IF I HAD PUT FULL FLAPS DOWN (SWITCH); BUT I REMEMBERED THAT I HAD TO LAND THE PLANE WITHOUT FLAPS. AFTER DOING THE R 360 DEG TURN; I LANDED THE PLANE AND TAXIED OFF A2 AND BACK TO THE HANGARS. BEFORE I SHUT DOWN THE PLANE; I NOTICED THAT THE VOLTAGE READING READ SOMEWHERE BTWN 11-12 VOLTS. I HAD LOGGED .9 HRS FOR THAT FLT. AFTER I PUT THE PLANE IN THE HANGAR; I CALLED THE TWR TO SEE IF THEY RECEIVED MY 7600 XPONDER CODE. THEY MENTIONED THAT WHEN THEY LOST RADIO CONTACT; MY ACFT DISAPPEARED FROM THE RADAR SCREEN AND THEY FIGURED I HAD AN ELECTRICAL FAILURE. I WAS INFORMED THAT ANN ARBOR TWR HAD CLRED ALL TFC IN THE AREA (FOR POSSIBLE EMER) AND HAD CALLED A FIRE TRUCK AND A POLICE CAR. BOTH VEHICLES WERE STANDING BY AT THE TERMINAL BUILDING AREA. IN SPEAKING TO MY FLT INSTRUCTOR; I REALIZED THAT MY RADIO FAILING SHOULD HAVE BEEN AN INDICATION OF POSSIBLE ALTERNATOR FAILURE. I SHOULD HAVE TAKEN EVASIVE ACTION AND NOT TAKEN OFF FOR THE SECOND TIME. I ALSO SHOULD HAVE KEPT THE AMMETER READINGS IN MY SCAN MORE FREQUENTLY AS IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A GOOD INDICATION OF A POSSIBLE IMPENDING ALTERNATOR FAILURE. ALSO; WHEN THERE WAS AN ELECTRICAL FAILURE; I SHOULD NOT DEPEND ON THE ELECTRIC LNDG GEAR OP. I SHOULD HAVE MANUALLY CRANKED THE GEAR DOWN AND VERIFIED THAT IT WAS DOWN AND LOCKED.