Need Radio Recommendation

[cbfisher]

I currently use an ICOM IC-A5 radio in my gyro. The IC-A5 is a hand-held portable radio that uses rechargeable battery pack. I am finding that there are periodic problems with using a hand-held radio and I am looking around for a dash mount tranceiver that will be connected to the internal power supply.

Can anyone suggest:
1. A good, reliable slim tranceiver that could be mounted under the instrument panel?
2. A source for the tranceiver recommended.
3. A reputable source for reconditioned tranceivers. Tranceivers removed from aircraft due to upgraded equipment.

[PW_Plack]

Phil, do you have room (and budget) for one of the panel-mount radios that go in a standard 2-1/4 inch instrument hole?

Check out the Xcom 760 (http://www.mcp.com.au/xcom760/), or to save a few bucks the Microair (http://www.microair.com.au/), both from Australia.

[KenSandyEggo]

1. ICOM panel mount.

2. Spruce, Chief, or try your local radio shop. Mine matched prices with the mail-order houses and pre-wired it to boot.

3. Joliet Avionics (you'll have to do a search). I bought a $325 David Clark Isocom intercom from them that looked like new and works perfectly for $50. It was removed for an upgrade.

[Joe Pires]

Icom does make a battery replacement power cord that plugs into a lighter socket. While I know a ppc is a different beast what I did was to mount a lighter socket plug and use the eliminator for power. Then I used the mount sold by bear perkins to attach the A-5 to my frame. Bear sells the battery replacement plug too.

Look here and search universal mount http://www.bearperkins.com/accessories.htm

[drleon]

Icom is Sh**
Their service sucks
All their radio's have somekind of problem, you always have to change something
Their aloder models where great but recent ones, no no
Buy they best

[gyropilot]

Icom is Sh**
Their service sucks
All their radio's have somekind of problem, you always have to change something
Their aloder models where great but recent ones, no no
Buy they best"All" and "always" are words you might want to use more carefully...

I've owned and used an Icom A22 and an A6 on my gyro without any problems.

John L.

[KenSandyEggo]

I used an ICOM panel-mount in my first gyro for 500 hours flying out of a towered airport without a hint of a problem.

[J-SiN]

I'll buy that ICOM off of ya :-)

[flingace]

Here is his name and number.

Rodney Grim
Technical Support Manager
ICOM America, Inc.
2380 116th Ave. NE
Bellevue, WA 98004
Ph. 425.454.8155
Fax 425.637.8417
RodneyGrim@IcomAmerica.com

[scottessex]

I have an A-22 and it works OK, I need to install an external antenae.

[gyroplanes]

I sold ICOM radios for many years (and actually still do) and I never had one customer complaint. I had one customer's radio that failed, way out of warranty, and ICOM repaired it for under $100.

I currently have a small, very popular radio that is made by Yaesue (sp?) very nice little radio and packed with features.

I don't advertise my radio sales because they are a very, very low profit item and larger retail outlets that buy hundreds from the manufacturer must be getting a better deal than me because they often sell them below my cost.

There is a new (old) radio that is quite affordable and full of features too. I say "new (old)" because it was popular under one name and was sold to another company that changed the name to something like JDM. Adam Helwich bought one. Maybe he'll give us a road test report.

I'd be happy to give anyone a quote on most brands.

[Hognose]

There are two other brands to consider in the panel mount, small-instrument-hole radios: Becker and Filser. I just found out about Filser today (www.filser.de).

Becker has a reputation for high price but it may be competitive with Microair or XCOM. All depends on exchange rates.

cheers

-=K=-

[PW_Plack]

There's also a panel mount from a company called Dittel, although I've never heard of them before.

Xcom has a chart comparing advertised features, specifications and prices of the five panel-hole-mount radios, here (http://www.mcp.com.au/xcom760/comparison/comparison.html).