Narrative:

I had just departed heliport; on a direct heading towards the north-west to local landmark; navy pier. I made my initial position report on helicopter air-air; 123.025. I then heard a position report from another helicopter and noticed that my radio volume was at an uncomfortably high level so I turned the volume down slightly. The helicopter I had heard was not involved in this occurrence. As I continued to fly north-west; I noticed the traffic information system on my garman 650 indicated a nearby aircraft. I immediately looked back outside and saw that the helicopter was passing directly in front of me; east to west. I made a small cyclic input to turn right; and made another position report to try to prompt a response from the other helicopter. I heard a position report from a different helicopter; and notice the volume was very faint. After adjusting the volume; I finally; heard a position report from the other helicopter; and noticed that his radio was sounding broken with static. I am unsure if he had made any prior reports; or if he had heard any of mine. After reassuring myself of my position and the helicopters in the area; I completed the flight as planned. I believe that this problem stemmed from two factors; the first factor was my own hastiness to adjust my radio; resulting in the volume being too low to hear the radio of the other helicopter. The second possibly being the quality of the radio in the other helicopter.preventing further occurrence will be accomplished on my part by taking extra time before takeoff to ensure that volumes are at an adequate level so that I am not attempting to change them during climb out.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Tour helicopter pilot reported a near miss because of communication difficulties on air-to-air frequency.

Narrative: I had just departed heliport; on a direct heading towards the north-west to local landmark; Navy Pier. I made my initial position report on helicopter air-air; 123.025. I then heard a position report from another helicopter and noticed that my radio volume was at an uncomfortably high level so I turned the volume down slightly. The helicopter I had heard was not involved in this occurrence. As I continued to fly North-West; I noticed the Traffic Information System on my Garman 650 indicated a nearby aircraft. I immediately looked back outside and saw that the helicopter was passing directly in front of me; east to west. I made a small cyclic input to turn right; and made another position report to try to prompt a response from the other helicopter. I heard a position report from a different helicopter; and notice the volume was very faint. After adjusting the volume; I finally; heard a position report from the other helicopter; and noticed that his radio was sounding broken with static. I am unsure if he had made any prior reports; or if he had heard any of mine. After reassuring myself of my position and the helicopters in the area; I completed the flight as planned. I believe that this problem stemmed from two factors; the first factor was my own hastiness to adjust my radio; resulting in the volume being too low to hear the radio of the other helicopter. The second possibly being the quality of the radio in the other helicopter.Preventing further occurrence will be accomplished on my part by taking extra time before takeoff to ensure that volumes are at an adequate level so that I am not attempting to change them during climb out.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.