WITH SMOKE COMING FROM HIS AUDIO PANEL A C182 PLT NOTIFIES ATC THAT HE IS LEAVING FREQ AND WHY. HE IS LATER CRITICIZED FOR LEAVING TOO SOON.

Narrative

I HAD LEFT TUL ON AN IFR FLT PLAN WHERE I HAD MY AUDIO PANEL UPDATED. MY DEST WAS M17. ABOUT JOPLIN I NOTICED MY RADIOS ACTING UP AND SMOKE COMING OUT OF MY AUDIO PANEL. I CALLED INTO THE CTLR. MY RADIO WAS BARELY USABLE AND I COULD BARELY HEAR THE CTLR. I TOLD HIM THAT I WAS GOING TO CUT MY RADIO OFF AND IF HE DID NOT HEAR FROM ME I WOULD CALL IN WHEN I LAND. AT THIS POINT I COULD NOT HEAR THE CTLR. I CUT MY BUS BAR OFF FOR A COUPLE OF MINS SO THAT I COULD ISOLATE THE PROB. I SWITCHED MY AUDIO PANEL TO EMER AND MY RADIOS WORKED AND THE SMOKE WENT AWAY. I CALLED THE CTLR BACK AND LET THEM KNOW I WAS CONTINUING ON TO M17. I WAS ASKED TO CALL KANSAS CITY ON A LANDLINE AND WAS TOLD WHAT I DID WAS IMPROPER PROC. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RECALL WORK WAS JUST COMPLETED ON ONE OF THE ACFT RADIO UNITS. THE LOCATION OF THE SMOKE SOURCE WAS ISOLATED TO THAT UNIT WITHIN A FEW MINS. COM RADIO WAS RESTORED AND ATC WAS CONTACTED. ATC ENCOURAGED RPTR TO LAND. ATC HAD DECLARED AN EMER WHEN CONTACT WAS LOST.