handheld radios

[scottessex]

what seems to be the popular choice in handheld radios that people are using?

[barnstorm2]

Scott I use a Vertex Standard Pro V ( 2 of them ) one for my single place and one for my 2-place. I am VERY happy with them.

I also considered getting the 'Sportys' handheld which seems to have a good price for the features but it is rather large and bulky so I went with a radio I could fit in my pocket.

If you want more info on the ProV I can email you a pdf of the user manual.

[scottessex]

I have also heard that the icom A-4 is a good radio, and to go with the ni-cad batteries insted of the 'AA' batt. Are most small radios compatible with headsets and push to talk switches?

[Jim]

I have a Icom IC-A5 and am very happy. You can buy it as a basic model (and get all the goodies later), or get it with optional accessories to accommodate PT switches, external mic., headset, and rechargable batteries. I bought it through e-bay, but you can get it or other avionics direct from:
Eduardo M Gonzalez
FlightEssentials.Com
24911 Magic Mountain Pkwy
Suite 1115
Valencia, CA 91355
United States

1-877-PILOTSHOP

He runs an honest and good business, and his prices are good. Check his website at http://www.flightessentials.net/

Jim

[Harry_S.]

My Icom-22A works beautifully. You can get optional accessories to accommodate PT switches, external mic., headset, etc.

Comes with rechargeable battery and a charger.

[barnstorm2]

Scott, For all of my radios I get a GA plug set.

Then I make sure all of my radio accessories plug out to GA. That way I can switch radios and not have all of the expensive cables remade.

[scottessex]

Cool thanks guys!

[GyroRon]

I have a Icom, Sportys and a Yaseu - or something like that... - I like the Icom best. But if I were in the market for a new handheld I would look at the one that has the AM-Fm radio built it as well. Not sure which brand it is - I think it is a Vertex but not sure. This way you can tune in a radio station while you fly and the radio will automatically mute the FM your listening to when you make or receive a transmission on the Aviation band.

[gyromike]

Ron,

that would be the Yaesu VXA-700:

VXA-700 (http://www.vertexstandard.com/indexVS.cfm?cmd=DisplayProducts&ProdCatID=204&ProdID=18&DivisionID=2)

You can get 'em for around $400.

What puzzles me is this: Why can they produce a handheld radio with all of these features for $400 (including a $90 NiCad battery), but the base model panel-mount radios cost around 3 times as much? With nowhere near the features.

The VXA-700 also allows you to broadcast on the Ham radio 2 meter frequency (if you're into that).

If they offered one with airband, NOAA weather, and FM radio recieve in a panel-mount for $500...they would make a killing!

[PW_Plack]

The handheld and panel-mount radios have very different missions.

The panel-mount radios have more transmit power, can be serviced instead of thrown away if they go bad, and are designed to produce performance good enough to be made available in certified versions. The receivers have filtering which attenuates all signals outside the aircraft bands, to protect against overload from nearby transmitters on other bands and frequencies. High-quality receive filters require more circuit board space than is available in handhelds.

The better handhelds are certainly not toys, but they make compromises to achieve small size and low current consumption. A handheld receiver section which covers multiple bands can be useless in an urban area due to overload from high-powered broadcast, pager, cell-site, police/fire, radar and other transmitters. The problem is especially annoying if you use a good, external antenna. When this overload occurs, it can "block" your receiver completely, so you may not hear the interference, but it could prevent you from hearing ATC.

The Sportys and JRL handhelds have cool features for the price, but Icom and Yaesu/Vertex appear to be of better quality, both receivers and transmitters.

If you run your handheld off the gyro's 12V system while in flight, upgrade from the standard nickel-cadmium battery pack to the optional nickel metal hydride pack. Ni-cads which are dischaged only partially before charging can lose much of their capacity in just a few charge cycles. If you do have ni-cads, let the radio run its battery down until the radio shuts off automatically before recharging to avoid this problem.

[PW_Plack]

Steven,

That's too bad! I haven't been inside a panel-mount in a while. If you fly near a city, you're often going to be eye-level to transmitters making thousands of watts of effective radiated power. I hope these new radios work when you need them!