Narrative:

Today I attempted a flight from san carlos; ca (sql) south; but encountered more severe weather than I had predicted over the central valley near bakersfield; ca. I reversed course and landed to waited for the weather to improve. A couple hours later; I started back toward san carlos shortly before sunset.my aircraft is an amateur-built experimental; and its weather-proofing leaves much to be desired. Small amounts of water entered the cockpit from beneath the canopy; and some of that water worked its way behind the instrument panel. The GPS/navigation/communication (a newly installed avidyne IFD440; which is the only installed radio in the aircraft) screen began to blank out; and then the unit powered off completely; presumably due to the rain. I continued the flight; carrying a portable tablet and GPS for navigation as well as two handheld radios as backups.[south of san jose] I tried calling norcal approach for flight following to san carlos; but received no answer. While I could receive on the handheld; apparently it did not have enough oomph to transmit for the TRACON to hear. I entered the pattern and landed at [a uncontrolled airport]; making radio calls from the portable (and verified that it was able to activate the pilot controlled lighting; so it must have been transmitting with some power).after a delay and further investigation; I gave the failed GPS/navigation/communication another try and it powered on. I prepared the second hand-held radio as a backup in case the avidyne unit failed again.the unit did; indeed; fail again. I did my best to avoid the class-C and D airspace for san jose; moffett field; and palo alto. I fiddled with my portable radios; and was able to call moffett tower and hear a response from them; but that portable radio's battery apparently failed immediately thereafter. I switched to the other portable radio; received the ATIS information and listened to transmissions on the san carlos tower frequency; but could not transmit successfully. The unit became intermittent; as if it had a loose connection in the power/volume knob; and the push-to-talk button appeared inoperative.after circling outside their airspace; I switched the transponder to broadcast 7600 and made an overhead midfield approach to san carlos; followed by a normal right pattern approach and landing. The tower signaled with a green light; and landing and parking were normal. I was greeted by a member of the airport staff; who asked if I needed assistance and verified my tail number for the tower.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: General aviation pilot reported diverting due to unplanned weather. During the return flight; the radio/GPS equipment became inoperative. Pilot was able to make it back to home airport by intermittent use of hand held radios.

Narrative: Today I attempted a flight from San Carlos; CA (SQL) south; but encountered more severe weather than I had predicted over the central valley near Bakersfield; CA. I reversed course and landed to waited for the weather to improve. A couple hours later; I started back toward San Carlos shortly before sunset.My aircraft is an amateur-built experimental; and its weather-proofing leaves much to be desired. Small amounts of water entered the cockpit from beneath the canopy; and some of that water worked its way behind the instrument panel. The GPS/NAV/COM (a newly installed Avidyne IFD440; which is the only installed radio in the aircraft) screen began to blank out; and then the unit powered off completely; presumably due to the rain. I continued the flight; carrying a portable tablet and GPS for navigation as well as two handheld radios as backups.[South of San Jose] I tried calling NorCal Approach for flight following to San Carlos; but received no answer. While I could receive on the handheld; apparently it did not have enough oomph to transmit for the TRACON to hear. I entered the pattern and landed at [a uncontrolled airport]; making radio calls from the portable (and verified that it was able to activate the pilot controlled lighting; so it must have been transmitting with some power).After a delay and further investigation; I gave the failed GPS/NAV/COM another try and it powered on. I prepared the second hand-held radio as a backup in case the Avidyne unit failed again.The unit did; indeed; fail again. I did my best to avoid the Class-C and D airspace for San Jose; Moffett Field; and Palo Alto. I fiddled with my portable radios; and was able to call Moffett Tower and hear a response from them; but that portable radio's battery apparently failed immediately thereafter. I switched to the other portable radio; received the ATIS information and listened to transmissions on the San Carlos Tower frequency; but could not transmit successfully. The unit became intermittent; as if it had a loose connection in the power/volume knob; and the push-to-talk button appeared inoperative.After circling outside their airspace; I switched the transponder to broadcast 7600 and made an overhead midfield approach to San Carlos; followed by a normal right pattern approach and landing. The Tower signaled with a green light; and landing and parking were normal. I was greeted by a member of the airport staff; who asked if I needed assistance and verified my tail number for the Tower.

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.