Icom IC-A23 Aviation Tranceiver(merged)

[Land After]

Which is the best handheld transceiver

I'm thinking of buying a handheld transceiver as a backup to keep in the flight bag. I normally fly club PA28 and 172s - the quality of the radio fit is interesting in some a/c and excellent in others.

I'm interested in views on any of the models currently available.

Both the Icom and Yaesu models seem to be about 330GBP - can I get them any cheaper anywhere in the UK (or shipped to the UK)

Thanks in advance!

[ 25 September 2001: Message edited by: Land After ]

[Flyswift]

Hi Land After,

I have an Alinco DG-5 duel band transceiver. Had it for about 4 years and it still works as new. Cost about £450 when I got it, but I'm sure they are much cheaper now. Watch out though, as some of the handhelds don't transmit on the AIRBAND frequencys! they only receive.

[Genghis the Engineer]

I've got an elderly thing called a Win 747, it works beautifully, but I've never actually seen another one.

I also use other peoples quite often, usually in homebuilts. I'd say without a doubt that the Icom A22 is the best thing going, but it isn't cheap. It does handle VORs as well as comms, if you don't want that, the Icom A3E is about £20 cheaper without the nav facility.

If buying one, see if you can get an adapter to plug your headset into it at the same time, it makes life much easier in a noisy cockpit.

G

[Land After]

Hi Flyswift,

Does the Alinco transmit AM in the airbands or is it FM tx only?

For Anybody- are there any approvals for Handhelds before they can be used in an aircraft? Do you need a licence for them, or does the aircraft one suffice?

[pilotwolf]

I have the Icom A3E and in the R22 it seems to work OK in the air, BUT also use one at work in a vehicle,(and use in own car for listening), and the electrics - alternator, indicators and especially the alternating relays for the beacons and flashing headlights REALLy cause 'static' interference so its possible that airplane electrics could cause similar problems....

[Genghis the Engineer]

Landafter, you need a portable radio license, which is annually renewable at about £30. The necessary forms you can get from the RA. If you get one, congratulations, you may well be the first person to bother.

Pilotwulf - the measures put in place on an aircraft to prevent strobes, etc. affecting your primary radio should work similarly (if not necessarily completely) for a handheld.

G

[SkyMed]

I suffered a Radio Failure in a controlled Zone. The added worry was the decreased visibility at height (haze).

ATC could not hear me but I could hear them. After changing from Box 1 to Box 2 sqawked 7600. Vectored me to return to the Runway. landed ok

I had just bought myself an Icom A22. Why the f**k I left it at home - on charge I will never know - What a plonker!!

moral of this story. get a transceiver - anyone that works at the time will do. I personally recommend the A22 BUT TAKE IT WITH YOU and have it within reach. Make sure you can connect your headset!!

Good luck

[sanjosebaz]

I have an ICOM A23 - smaller (and more expensive) than the A22 (comes with a headset adapter lead by the way). One thing you may need to try before you buy, is that the COM function is not as useful as it might look at first glance. It may well be useful in the case of a total a/c system failure, but the COM part is quite deaf - you need to be VERY close to a VOR transmitter to get a fix. This is probably due to antenna positioning on the handheld - you can get an extension lead to stick the aerial more remotely, on the glass... Haven't tried that though.

[Pilot16]

Icom IC-A23 Aviation Tranceiver

Hi,

Looking at all the aviation tranceivers available in the market (and there aint many in this country) I found the ICOM IC-A23 (more info here) . This is a better version to the IC-122 and the main selling point is its small size (also has a recording function).

I have been keeping an eye on this product for a very long time yet it has not been released into the UK market, however I know someone who is selling one. But I do remember hearing someone that the A23 will not work in this country (or something to this affect)?
Does anyone have this product and using it in the UK?

I would appreciate any feedback.
Thanks.

[greatorex]

Some useful links that may answer some of your questions:

Here

Here

Here

and

Here

Hope that helps.

Cheers,

G

[Genghis the Engineer]

It's not on the UK market because CAA refuse to give it an approval. The reason is that the record function allows RT to be recorded and re-transmitted, something that not unreasonably they think is potentially rather dangerous.

Of-course, because the A23 is there on the US market, good second hand A22s are very cheap out there, and it's worth looking on places like US eBay for a bargain.

Same applies to the A4, which is an A23 without the VOR receiver.

G

[IO540]

I also vaguely recall that it's illegal to record these radio comms without a written authorisation, hence transceivers with a recording feature are not CAA approved.

But it's easy enough to import one of these from the USA

[Pilot16]

Thanks for all the info

Here is what a seller of the item is saying:

'It is currently in use with British Airways in the UK and around the world and the reports that have come back have shown it performs admirably against their usual A3E and Walter Dittel units.

Prior to distribution with BA, test units were sent to their technical approval workshops, and were found to have the smallest channel deviation of any handheld radio they had tested...... they quote less than .0001%/kHz deviation.'

Thought that might be of interest to others.

I understand it is not CAA approved because of the recording feature (and what on earth is BA doing with it if it isnt , if the person who said the above is saying the truth)

However is it 'illegal' to own one?

[yawningdog]

sanjosebaz, I assume you mean the NAV function, not the COM.

Has anyone tried Sporty's Tranceiver with VOR function, it's much cheaper, around £164?

www.sportys.com/pilotshop/sp-200.cfm

[bar shaker]

Another vote for the A22.

I haven't bothered using the VOR bit, but its there if I ever need to.

As its a hand portable, you get your equipment license for £15, saving 6 pints of Stella unless, it is properly nailed in, when you need to pay the full whack.

[GRP]

I picked one of these up in Dubai 2 years ago. Very good! I had no idea it was not 'approved' here. The problem I had with it though was that mine came with a 110 volt battery charger. These never seem to work very well if you use a transformer but after a bit of research I found that I could buy a charger for a different ICOM that did the trick if you used the UK power supply with the original charger. It was somewhat of a faff though!

Having got it to work I had to use it on a flight last autumn after my audio panel packed in and I needed to get the aircraft back to where the panel had been fitted. Having used it for that flight with a headset which worked fine (if a little short on range and fiddly having to keep remembering to use the portable PTT rather than the one on the yoke) it now will not route audio to the speaker. At this point I don't know where I could send it for repair!

On balance... I think in future I'd stick with something bought in the local market!

Oh... and the CAA presumably haven't factored in the fact that most of us would not remember how to get the d*&^ed thing to record in the first place, let alone know how to transmit the recording. I didn't know that was possible even!

[bcfc]

I've got the Sportys SP-200. It was far cheaper than the rest and its seems to work fine, though a bit heavy with the 8 AA's. It sits in my bag most of the time, waiting for the radio to conk out. Its also pretty good for listening into approach when I'm bored.

I did try the VOR function once, and it worked quite well, although I can't imagine ever using for real.

[S-Works]

I have the A22E, used it in the microlight all the time even the VOR function which is a bit limited on range. I use it as a backup radio connected to my audio panel and available via a headset connector in the Cessna. Very solid radio and well worth the money.

Also with the VOR function it lets me listen to the ATIS in places like Guernsey which is broadcast on the VOR. Handy for a check before leaving the hote!!!