Radio Scanner/Transceiver

[WILCO.XMG]

Dear all,

I again require some of your great information.

I want to purchase a scanner to practice some RT. From other posts it seems the Maycom AR108 is the one in which many people recommend.
IC-A6E : Portable VHF COM Transceiver (Ground use only) - Handheld Aviation Radio : Icom UK - two way radio transceivers, receivers and navigation products

Then I feel it could be worthwhile to go out and purchase a transceiver. In case i ever have to squawk 7600. I feel it would be a sensible investment.

From other posts i see the Icom IC-A6E is what many people recommend. However in their website it states quite clearly in bold. (For Ground Use Only).
IC-A6E : Portable VHF COM Transceiver (Ground use only) - Handheld Aviation Radio : Icom UK - two way radio transceivers, receivers and navigation products

Am i missing a trick here?

Can someone give some information on wether a transciever would be a sound investment or should i just go for the AR108?

I appreciate ye all reading this.

[mixture]

Have you done a search ? It's been covered before ....

here.... http://www.pprune.org/private-flying/376782-should-i-buy-scanner-transceiver.html
or here..... http://www.pprune.org/private-flying/234464-portable-transceiver-question.html
etc. etc.

[patowalker]

Then I feel it could be worthwhile to go out and purchase a transceiver. In case i ever have to squawk 7600.

If you have to squawk 7600, you have bought the wrong transceiver.

[BackPacker]

(For Ground Use Only)

Most likely some sort of legal disclaimer. I can assure you they work just fine in the air.

On the original question: I bought a second hand scanner (a Uniden Bearcat 200XLT if anyone cares) for 40 euro during my PPL training. It has had it uses but I really should have gone for a transceiver instead.

[Intercepted]

I recommend the Vertex VXA-300. You will get one for £200 and apart from being a tranceiver it has a VOR receiver built in as well.

[Whopity]

Both Vertex (Ex Yaesu) and Icom are very good. They are invariably not type approved for use in UK or EASA reg aircraft, and to use them on the ground you would need a radio station licence. That said, if you carried it in an aircraft and used it in an emergency nobody would be too bothered. To be honest its not much use for practising RT!

[Genghis the Engineer]

EASA made a massive cock-up when they took over avionics certification, they had all the national authorities wind down their approvals capability for airborne handhelds, but never re-established their own approval facilities.

So the older ICOMs carry approval numbers based upon UK CAA approval from the 1980s and 1990s, but the A6E, which postdates EASA, does not.


I have an A6E, it's a super piece of kit. To use with a headset you need two add-ons, one is the headset adapter, the other is an external PTT. Buy a PTT on eBay, it's much cheaper than the official ones and works just as well. It does admittedly turn into a bit of a birds nest of cabling, but not dangerously so.

Mine is not registered with RCA, because without an approval number, I can't. It still works perfectly well without that however and if the authorities give me no route to be legal, what can I do about it? CAA won't pursue anybody for using an unapproved handheld because of the public embarrassement that this would cause.

G

[WILCO.XMG]

Thanks for the reply all.

Genghis.

After some more research i have read some interesting reviews regarding the Icom manual. Many say that it is written poorly and thus impedes on learning the programming for the A6E.

Have you any experience regarding this?

[Genghis the Engineer]

As it's a backup, I don't usually bother programming it, just punch the frequencies in as required.

As for the manual, yes, useless. But on the whole, it is very intuitive and half an hour's mucking about one evening and I'd worked it out mostly on my own.

G

[FlyingStone]

ICOM A6/A24 manual can be found here. But as said, ICOM uses very intuitive interface and it's not that difficult to use, at least basic functions (entering frequency, setting squelch, tagging channels for scanning, recalling channels from memory).

I too own an A6 without having it registered, since I only use it for startup/ATIS and in case that aircraft's battery/alternator/avionics pack up. As Genghis says, I'd really like to see any CAA or inspector to punish you in any way for using an unregistered handheld transciever in case you have communication failure.

[trex600]

I have an old A3e too and although i'v never transmitted on it the battery life is sad! Im sure these days the newer model's must be better.. Iv also never registered it as i didn't know i was meant to 'Bought 2nd hand' years ago.

If you want this PM me a realistic offer but my advice would be purchase a newer version with a warranty (2 battery's)

[BackPacker]

the battery life is sad!

NiCd probably? They degrade over time, suffer from memory effect and all sorts of other things. They were relatively easy and cheap to get replaced (new ones were soldered in place of the old ones) but I don't know if that's still allowed. AFAIK the sale of NiCd is forbidden now in the EU.

My Bearcat has NiCd batteries too and the battery life is approaching 10 seconds on a good day.

[Whopity]

sale of NiCd is forbidden now in the EU.

Go in any DIY shop and they are full of drills stuffed with Nicads!
For better results replace old Nicads with NiMH cells that can always be found in the same sizes. I refilled my Icom with NiMH and the difference is a huge increase in battery life.

[patowalker]

I have an old A3e too and although i'v never transmitted on it the battery life is sad! Im sure these days the newer model's must be better.. Iv also never registered it as i didn't know i was meant to 'Bought 2nd hand' years ago.

If you want this PM me a realistic offer but my advice would be purchase a newer version with a warranty (2 battery's)

Advertise it on here and it will be snapped up, as it is the microlighter's favourite. Because it is normally wired in, battery life is immaterial.

BMAA Forum

[BackPacker]

I refilled my Icom with NiMH and the difference is a huge increase in battery life.

But can you charge NiMHs from a NiCd charger, or do you have to update the charging system as well then? Depending on how the unit is wired and where it gets its external power from, that might not be trivial.

[Zulu Alpha]

Get an ICOM or Yaesu/Vertex off ebay.

The battery will probably be no good but Combat Alexander do replacement batteries.

[BillieBob]

But can you charge NiMHs from a NiCd charger, or do you have to update the charging system as well then?

Google is your friend - look here, for example. A replacement NiMH battery pack for the A3e, which uses the original ICOM charger, is under £30. There are plenty of other companies specialising in replacement batteries that may be even cheaper.

[Golf-Sierra]

WILCO,

in the links you gave it clearly states that the 'ground use only' thing is purely to do with it not having the appropriate approvals.

It also states: "Under the Wireless and Telegraphy Act of 2006 this radio can be used for emergency communication and navigation (VOR) should your life be at risk."


Regards,

Golf-Sierra

[Whopity]

But can you charge NiMHs from a NiCd charger,

The original Icom charger has worked longer with the NiMHs that the NiCads, so long as it can cope with the additional capacity it is no problem. Most chargers are pretty crude devices and have no idea what is hung on the end of them

[trex600]

How do you test your radio legally?
If you was to make your first call for taxi on the handheld instead of the A/c set and then switch back for reply would Atc know and if so would they mind?