portable transceiver question

[acuba 290]

just like to know your experience, people;)
there is some transceivers on market like from ICOM. How many of you use them as backup in your flightbag? I just starting my experience as fresh PPL-pilot and don't know if i have to buy it or not...How many of you had already radio failure during flying and how many of you own such transceiver?

[Kyprianos Biris]

In 15 yrs of flying I only had once a COM failure. It was in a rental a/c in sh*t condition with one vhf only.

I had it and I used it. We managed to communicate with the tower some 5 miles out and all went ok (no extra antena just its own rubber duck type).

Nowdays, flying own aircraft with com1 & com2, I usually use it to take ATIS or request start up so I won't consume aircraft battery. This also serves as a self test before flight.

Its good to have one, just make sure the batteries stay healthy and charged all the time otherwise it'll be useless.

If you're a fresh or trainee PPL it will help you a lot in your R/T knowledge just by monitoring airport frequency. It helped me a lot back then.

[IO540]

I had a failure in a rental a/c in sh*t condition with one vhf only :O

So the next day I bought an Icom A22 (the one with the VOR receiver feature; works very well).

One also needs a headset adaptor, plus the velcro-attached PTT switch.

The whole lot now lives in an "emergency bag", together with a 2nd GPS and an EPIRB.

[gasax]

My present aircraft does not have a radio!

It does however have an aerial and my handheld (old ICOM) using the aerial is at least as good as the main box in my last aircraft (King KY97). Using the rubber duck gives poor performance - particularly in the aircraft - but with the installated aerial, its as good as a panel mount. Really!

[justinmg]

I understand that an electrical failure is 5 x more likely than an engine failure.....

[Longbow55]

Got a Sporty's SP200 great assest, and actually had to use it for a radio failure in April.

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

Beware the new Icoms. They won't work with a headset (think there was a thread on this some time back).

SSD

[drauk]

I don't know if the figure of 5 times is right or wrong but I am sure that electrical failures are more common than engine failures. The nice thing about electrical failure (versus engine failure) is that a 200 quid transceiver and a 200 quid handheld GPS mitigates the problems in 99% of cases. And of course, the aircraft keeps flying even when the electrics fail.

My opinion on a handheld transceiver and a handheld GPS is, "why not?"

[acuba 290]

Got a Sporty's SP200 great assest, and actually had to use it for a radio failure in April.

but where is possible to get it in Europe?
I see only ICOM in all catalogues and there is also VERTEX in USA on market, but maybe somebody sells it in Europe too?

[acuba 290]

ok, ordered VERTEX VXA-300

[oscarmike]

ok, ordered VERTEX VXA-300

Got one of these myself, and found it compares very favourably to the Icom range.

It has Com and NAV frequencies, plus a load of preprogrammed frequencies like major ATC and ATIS units in UK and Europe.

Also it comes complete with the all important headset adaptor.

However, I did have to purchase the PTT button separately - I ordered this from the USA for less than £20.00

Works fine, and has a good range even using the rubber duck antenna.

Also has a beefy 1700mah battery which I think exceeds the spec of most of the Icom range.

All in all, very impressive! :ok:

[acuba 290]

However, I did have to purchase the PTT button separately - I ordered this from the USA for less than £20.00

why? there is no PTT button there?

[acuba 290]

If you're a fresh or trainee PPL it will help you a lot in your R/T knowledge just by monitoring airport frequency. It helped me a lot back then.

as far as i know even RT-License don't give a right to use transceiver or scanner just to hear air frequency, it is only pemitted to use it during flight operations, or am i not right?

[topcat450]

I've had 4 comms failures now - including one on my PPL skills test.

After the first 3 I invested in a handheld (ICOM)... And the 4th time was a bit of a non-event. I didn't bother trying to plug my headset into it though when it happened - there were enough wires in the cockpit without wanting to search through my flight bag for that adaptor too. I just cranked up the volume volume and threw it on my lap - telling ATC what had happened and apologising in advance if I was a bit slow to reply.

[Zulu Alpha]

Beware..The latest ICOMS do not work with headsets and/or the headset adapter supplied with them.

If you buy one, ICOM will not reply to your complaint and there are many of us our here with radios that only work as handhelds on the ground and not as a backup in the air.

Please be warned

[topcat450]

For what it's worth, the problem with the latest ICOMs does seem to be a little hit & miss. For example, mine when I've tried it with a headset, a DC 10-13.4 and the headset adaptor supplied it's been fine. The problem doesn't seem to effect every unit and/or headset combination.

Also, even if it didn't work perfectly with the headset, I'd still carry it as back-up and not class it as useless. As mentioned above, when I had a genuine failure I wasn't bothered about getting it all working nicely with my headset and a/c intercom system - it was intended for use as a backup when the chips were down and thats exactly what it did. I could talk with ATC as I approached and within the circuit - a handful of calls.

I'd rather have a hand-held radio than nothing at all when the main comms fail.

[Longbow55]

but where is possible to get it in Europe?
I see only ICOM in all catalogues and there is also VERTEX in USA on market, but maybe somebody sells it in Europe too?

Just order it from Sportys.com, heck the cost to you is darn near half the price it cost me. and I don't think the shipping will be to out of wack.

[Kyprianos Biris]

but where is possible to get it in Europe?
I see only ICOM in all catalogues and there is also VERTEX in USA on market, but maybe somebody sells it in Europe too?

Just from memmory:

http://www.transair.co.uk/

http://www.gps.co.uk/

and I am sure there are more.

[Kyprianos Biris]

as far as i know even RT-License don't give a right to use transceiver or scanner just to hear air frequency, it is only pemitted to use it during flight operations, or am i not right?

"acuba 290" honestly I couldn't care less for such useless laws :yuk:

All I know is that half of my R/T confidence was gained via monitoring frequencies with my scanner.

[oscarmike]

why? there is no PTT button there?

Sorry if I mislead you there - of course there is a PTT button on the radio itself, but according to the instruction manual you need an external PTT button to use it with an aviation headset.

I thought this was a little odd as they supplied an aviation headset adaptor with the radio.

I shopped around and the external PTT button appeared to be quite expensive.

However I tracked one down at aircraftspruce.com which cost a total of US$30.55 including shipping (a little under GB£17.00)

It comes with the adaptor lead and a neat little PTT button on a velcro strap that will fix the button to a stick or yoke.

We had a COM failure in our Jodel recently, and this radio worked fine even on the rubber duck antenna. I reckon I was getting a good 10 miles range.

Hope this helps.

regards

OM

[oscarmike]

but where is possible to get it in Europe?
I see only ICOM in all catalogues and there is also VERTEX in USA on market, but maybe somebody sells it in Europe too?

Got mine from Martin Lynch & Sons in the UK

http://www.hamradio.co.uk

regards

OM

[acuba 290]

Just from memmory:

http://www.transair.co.uk/

http://www.gps.co.uk/

and I am sure there are more.

negative! they sell only very expensive ICOM, but not Sportys or VERTEX, which is same but 2 times cheeeper;)

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

For what it's worth, the problem with the latest ICOMs does seem to be a little hit & miss. For example, mine when I've tried it with a headset, a DC 10-13.4 and the headset adaptor supplied it's been fine. The problem doesn't seem to effect every unit and/or headset combination.
Also, even if it didn't work perfectly with the headset, I'd still carry it as back-up and not class it as useless. As mentioned above, when I had a genuine failure I wasn't bothered about getting it all working nicely with my headset and a/c intercom system - it was intended for use as a backup when the chips were down and thats exactly what it did. I could talk with ATC as I approached and within the circuit - a handful of calls.
I'd rather have a hand-held radio than nothing at all when the main comms fail.

We tried several new Icoms in the dealer's shop, with several makes of brand new headset. We couldn't get any of them to work. The old Icom model he had in stock worked absolutely fine with any headset.

And that makes it completely useless as an emergency transceiver - certainly in a Chipmunk, which along with a lot of other 'interesting' aeroplanes is far too noisy to use the unit without a headset.

SSD

[Mariner9]

An ICOM is an expensive bit of kit for something you only plan to keep in your flightbag as a back-up. Possibly useful if you fly IFR in IMC regularly, waste of cash if you're a mostly (or wholly) VFR pilot IMHO. Far cheaper just to squawk 7600!

[acuba 290]

Far cheaper just to squawk 7600!

well, i don't like this solution very much..still prefer backup radio in the bag;)

[fly_sd]

I recently purchased an ICOM A23 sport - primarily to get more familiar with ATC communications as I found I could not concentrate much on the radio side of things while learning to fly the plane. I used to go sit with it in my car at the airport and listen to comms and really found it useful as a learning aid. I became very comfortable with ATC after about 3 such sessions. I picked it up on sale at one of the local pilot supplies places (marvgolden) but they don't seem to sell it anymore. It is the same as the A23 without the charger and rechargable battery pack but you can pick up aftermarket packs off ebay for much cheaper (which I did). Also has a built in VOR but never tried that yet. Also found I can pick up ATIS at home on it (just about) - useful when setting out to go fly. Not tried any headsets on it so no idea if it works or not.