DISTRACTED BY RADIO RECEPTION PROBLEMS; PLT OF PA31 ON AN IFR FLIGHT TO A PACIFIC COASTAL ARPT OVERFLIES THE ARPT AND HEADS OUT TO SEA.

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ON A ROUTINE FLT; I UNKNOWINGLY AND INADVERTENTLY OVERFLEW THE ZZZ ARPT BY APPROX 10 MINS DUE TO THE DISTR OF DEALING WITH A MALFUNCTIONING HEADSET AND DUE TO CLOUD COVER (SOLID UNDERCAST) ALONG MUCH OF THE FLT RTE. DETAILS: WHILE IN CONTACT WITH CTR ON AN IFR FLT PLAN; AND A SHORT TIME AFTER PASSING THE ABC VOR SWBOUND ON V-XYZ; I OBTAINED WX FROM THE ZZZ AWOS; WHICH WAS RPTING CLR AND 4 MI VISIBILITY. FLT CONDITIONS AT THAT TIME WERE VFR; BUT THERE WAS CLOUD COVER BELOW AND I WAS TOO FAR AWAY YET TO SEE THE SHORELINE. I INFORMED CTR THAT I HAD THE ZZZ WX AND THAT I WOULD PLAN ON A VISUAL APCH. CTR IMMEDIATELY GAVE ME DISCRETIONARY DSCNT TO 6000 FT. THIS IS A COMMON INSTRUCTION GOING TO ZZZ; BUT IT WAS GIVEN MUCH EARLIER THAN NORMAL. I DSNDED TO 6000 FT; AND CONTINUED USING THE AUTOPLT IN HDG MODE. AFTER AN UNDETERMINED LENGTH OF TIME WITH NO RADIO TFC; I BECAME MILDLY CURIOUS ABOUT NOT YET BEING CLRED TO 5000 FT; WHICH IS THE NORMAL SEQUENCE. INSTEAD OF JUST TRYING TO ASK ATC; I BEGAN TO CHK MY RADIOS BY AGAIN TUNING TO THE AWOS (WHICH I RECEIVED WITH INTERMITTENT BREAKS); AND THEN DOING THINGS LIKE SWAPPING FREQS BTWN THE 2 COMS; ADJUSTING THE INTERCOM; SWITCHING THE HEADSET JACKS AROUND BTWN THE PLT'S AND COPLT'S SIDE; AND OTHER ACTIONS TO MAKE SURE THAT I HAD AUDIO. INITIALLY; IT WAS CONFUSING BECAUSE SOMETIMES I WOULD HEAR THE AWOS CLRLY AND SOMETIMES IT WAS BROKEN WITH BLANK SPOTS IN THE XMISSION. IN THE DISTR OF DOING THESE THINGS; I BECAME SO ACUTELY FOCUSED ON THE RADIO ISSUE THAT I DID NOT CONSCIOUSLY LOOK FOR THE ARPT SINCE I HAD NOT YET SPOTTED THE COASTLINE. AFTER A WHILE; I ISOLATED THE PROB TO MY HEADSET CORD; WHICH SEEMED TO HAVE AN INTERMITTENT CONNECTION NEAR THE JACK. I SWITCHED ON THE COCKPIT SPEAKER; AND LOOKED OUTSIDE TO STILL SEE NOTHING BUT CLOUD COVER BELOW. ONLY THEN DID I BEGIN TO WONDER WHERE THE COASTLINE AND ARPT WERE. I CONFIRMED THAT MY VOR NEEDLE WAS STILL CTRED; BUT THEN I REALIZED THAT THE TO/FROM INDICATOR SHOWED 'FROM.' I IMMEDIATELY TURNED AROUND AND CALLED CTR ON THE HAND MIKE AND LISTENED WITH THE ACFT SPEAKERS. I EXPLAINED THAT I HAD HAD A RADIO PROB AND JUST BEEN RESOLVED. THEY GAVE ME A VECTOR BACK TOWARD ZZZ AND SAID THAT THEY WERE TRYING TO REACH ME FOR ABOUT 15 MINS. UPON RETURNING TO ZZZ; THE COASTLINE CAME INTO SIGHT BUT THERE WAS CLOUD COVER BOTH INLAND AND OVER THE WATER. A STRIP ALONG THE COASTLINE WAS CLR; BUT APPARENTLY I MISSED THIS WHEN MY HEAD WAS IN THE COCKPIT WORKING ON MY RADIO PROB. I ONLY REMEMBER SEEING CLOUDS IN FRONT OF AND BELOW ME AND ASSUMED THAT I HAD NOT YET REACHED THE SHORELINE; SINCE AWOS SAID IT WAS CLR. CONDITIONS OVER THE ZZZ ARPT WERE CLR BUT HAZY. IN HINDSIGHT; IT IS APPARENT THAT I WAS MUCH TOO FOCUSED ON FIGURING OUT WHETHER I HAD A RADIO PROB AND WHAT IT WAS; AND IN THAT STATE OF MIND I DID NOT REALIZE THE PASSAGE OF TIME AND DID NOT ADEQUATELY LOOK OUTSIDE. THE PSYCHOLOGICAL 'SUCKER HOLE' I FELL INTO WAS MY EXPECTATION THAT THE SHORELINE AND THE ARPT WOULD BE EASILY VISIBLE BECAUSE THE WX WAS RPTED 'CLR.' THOSE TIMES THAT I MUST HAVE GLANCED THE OUTSIDE WHILE WORKING WITH THE RADIOS; I CONTINUED TO SEE ONLY CLOUD COVER; AND ASSUMED THAT I HAD NOT YET REACHED THE COAST; WHICH I EXPECTED TO BE CLR. IT DID NOT OCCUR TO ME TO DECLARE LOST COM BY SQUAWKING 7600; AS IN WHAT SEEMED LIKE ONLY A FEW MOMENTS; I WASN'T SURE THAT I WAS REALLY OUT OF RADIO CONTACT. LATER; I WAS SHOCKED WHEN ATC SAID THEY HAD BEEN TRYING TO REACH ME FOR 15 MINS; AND THAT I HAD SO MISJUDGED THE PASSAGE OF TIME. I LATER INFORMED THE CHIEF PLT OF THE PROB. HE CALLED CTR AND THEY SAID THAT I HAD OVERSHOT THE ARPT BY NEARLY 30 MI. THEY SAID THAT THERE WAS NO PROB FROM THEIR PERSPECTIVE; BUT FOR THEIR CONCERN THAT THE PLT MAY HAVE FALLEN ASLEEP. THE CHIEF PLT ASKED ME IF I MIGHT HAVE PENETRATED THE ADIZ; BUT FLT TRACKING RECORDS INDICATED THAT I HAD NOT.