Be-23 pilot reports inadvertently setting 7700 into his transponder while attempting to to tune the ...

Attributes
ACN	854932
Time
Date	200909
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Sundowner 23
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	None
Flight Plan	None
Component
Aircraft Component	Transponder
Person 1
Function	Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Instrument
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 10 Flight Crew Total 4100 Flight Crew Type 20
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural FAR

Narrative:

I turned on ADF to attempt to listen to news/music. Instead of turning ADF to 770 for a music station; I turned the transponder to 7700. The collins flat pack ADF is below the transponder. The display is same size and color as ADF. Not able to hear the news/music; I turn off ADF; but did not notice my error and did not correct the code. When contacting tower to return; tower told me ATC wanted me off 7700. Returned transponder to 1200. From now on I will double check to ensure I am tuning the radio I think I am. This is especially necessary when operating collins stack in which the ADF is not a box but a flat pack that is close in size and position as that of a transponder.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: BE-23 pilot reports inadvertently setting 7700 into his transponder while attempting to to tune the ADF to 770. The error was not discovered until checking in with tower for landing.

Narrative: I turned on ADF to attempt to listen to news/music. Instead of turning ADF to 770 for a music station; I turned the transponder to 7700. The Collins flat pack ADF is below the transponder. The display is same size and color as ADF. Not able to hear the news/music; I turn off ADF; but did not notice my error and did not correct the code. When contacting Tower to return; Tower told me ATC wanted me off 7700. Returned transponder to 1200. From now on I will double check to ensure I am tuning the radio I think I am. This is especially necessary when operating Collins stack in which the ADF is not a box but a flat pack that is close in size and position as that of a transponder.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.

Be-23 pilot reports inadvertently setting 7700 into his transponder while attempting to to tune the ADF to 770. The error was not discovered until checking in with tower for landing.