Handheld/Portable Nav-Comm Radio

DutchessFlier

DutchessFlier

Line Up and Wait
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DutchessFlier
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My birthday is coming up, so in honor of surviving another year, I have decided to buy a hand-held nav-comm for emergency and NORDO use, etc. After reading about so many pilots losing their panel comms and navs, I think its a good thing to have one aboard.

I am open to any suggestions / experience / recommendations you all might have. Looks like the two brands alot of people buy are ICOMM and Vertex. What say ye?
 
- A cheap handheld GPS will do so much more for your backup navigational capabilities than the mikey-mouse NAV feature on those handheld radios.
- I have a Vertex VX220 COM only. It worked well when I had to use it 'in anger'. The one gripe I have about it is the byzantine multilayered incomprehensible user-interface. To change the squelch you have to navigate through some submenues wtf. There should be a FCC rule about this: 'Thout handheld shalt have three knobbens only, their names shall be volume, frequency and squelch.'
- If you own a plane, there is great value in having an avionix tech splice a switching outlet into the com2 antenna (or simply a connector you can use to disconnect com2 and connect the handheld to the antenna. It increases the range of those units considerably over the use of the little rubber antenna.
- As a flashlight is a 'tubular device to store dead batteries in the cockpit', a handheld tends to be 'device with blinkenlights designed to hold a discharged expensive battery'. So in addition to the rechargable pack they all come with, get a second back with AA batteries. Rotate the batteries every 6 months into childrens-toys, remote controls etc.
 
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Hand helds are really a good idea. I have one in the hanger and use it all the time to let incoming pilots know the winds, NORDO traffic that I know of, parachuter activity, ect. Ya just never know when you'll need to talk to someone in the pattern.

ICOMM is good, don't know anything about the other. I have a Sporty SP-200.

Try to find one with a rechargeable battery, and a 12v plug in / charger.
 
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I've had a Sporty's Sp-200 for 8 years. Now it's hooked up in my Chief with an external whip antenna ($20) and powered by a rechargeable hobby battery (12v stepped down to 9v through a power adapter).

With the whip antenna I hear others 60+ miles away and have clear comms with Class D tower 15 miles way.

I've used the Sportys to check ATIS while preflighting, listen to students during solo pattern work, call ATC when I lost all electric in a Bonanza while IFR, and for TRSA and Class D entry when I lost all electric in a C152 on one of my student solo XC.

Great handheld -- I can heartily recommend.
 
I have a Vertex Standard VXA-220 and love it. Very easy to use once you learn the interface and a great backup radio. Nice size as well, much smaller compared to iCom/Sporty's and it does the same job.

Best,
Jason
 
I have an Icom A-22. Have had it for 14 years now without a failure. The rechargeable battery pack is a bit pricey ~~$60 IIRC. I got my last battery pack at Sun-n-Fun for about $40.
If had to replace it I'd get another one in a heartbeat.
 
I have an A-20 sport(reg. batteries) I've dropped it on cement and had it come off my belt while running glider wings a couple of times. Still works fine. I used one of the newer smaller ones last summer and now I have radio envy. I may have to start dropping it more see if I can break it and buy a new one...
 
Our glider club relies on handhelds for in-flight and ground crew, so I've used most of the brands out there. I personally have an ICOM NavCom. I've heard not to spend the extra money to get the nav functions, but there was a rebate and I had a gift certificate. I think the Sporty's is too large, and I think the ICOM *just* beats the Vertex on ease of use. The ICOM and Vertex are pretty much a dead heat, but I found the ICOM just a little bit simpler to work through the sub-menus and settings.

They all do the job, so it's really going to be up to you to find the one that works for you.
 
Icom and Vertex both build quality radios. Choice between the two is kind of a Ford vs. Chevy thing. The Vertex radios are a bit more compact, the Icom probably have the most readable display. Vertex tends to be a bit less expensive, Icom has a reputation for perhaps being easier to operate. I personally chose the Vertex VXA-710 because it looks identical to, and shares battery packs with, the Yaesu/Vertex VX7R amateur radio handheld which I also own. I've been extremely pleased with the '710 and use it on a daily basis to monitor the local Unicom from home and in the car in addition to using it in my NORDO Aeronca Chief.
 
FWIW: the Vertex Pilot III is a good buy. Very small, with lots of features.
The CDI actually works; not very good as one's primary means of navigation, but it's good to have. A cheapo GPS would be a better nav tool, but a lousy comm tool. :D It's nice to have a navigational aid in the same unit as a handheld 2-way.

I've only had one problem with mine: stopped transmitting voice after a couple of years (and 1 1/2 glider seasons), although it would break squelch. Still within warranty (just barely), so I sent it back and they fixed it.

I agree that the menu navigiation leaves much to be desired... especially changing squelch, but that's not something I find myself messing with in flight.
 
I have the Sporty's handheld with a spare battery pack. Both packs are AA battery packs. If you are using the radio a lot, NiCad batteries make sense. If only infrequent use is planned (like me), AA batteries self discharge at a much slower rate and are better.

The Sporty's radio is somewhat large and clunky, but unlike some others, the user interface is straightforward and you won't forget how to use the basic functions, even if you don't use them but once a year or so. I sure can't say that for my current Yaesu amateur handheld radio.
 
Ghery said:
The Sporty's radio is somewhat large and clunky, but unlike some others, the user interface is straightforward and you won't forget how to use the basic functions, even if you don't use them but once a year or so. I sure can't say that for my current Yaesu amateur handheld radio.
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Yep!!! :yesnod:
 
I got a KX99 when I first started flying, primarily to release my fears of MIC fright and get familiar with the lingo. The '99 was a huge radio when compared to my ICOMM A23 which replaced it. The '99 was recycled to an fellow internet pilot.
I've used both to get situational awareness, pickup atis before engine start, and as backup, once was when I had an early life failure on an alternator
Shop via the internet then challenge your local pilot shop to beat the price. Many will give you a good deal.
 
I have one of the Sportys SP200 handhelds. Easy to use. I have the alkaline battery case so batteries are cheap. It saved my bacon one night. I had just taken off at night from a towered airport when everything went dark and I had smoke in the cockpit. The chap with me took the controls while I rummaged in back for the radio. I called the tower with the handheld and we came back for an uneventful landing.

The smoke was a short circuit which killed all electrical power. I now have the radio within easy reach when flying.:smile:

Paul
N1431A
2AZ1
www.indianhillsairpark.com
 
I bought an Icom A22 eons ago. I've only used it in a power plane once (alternator issues coming home from Gaston's), but it's been quite usefull at the glider port. If you plan to use the handheld on the ground or in a glider I really recomment getting one of those speaker mic extenders. I found not having to hold a giant brick while flying a landing pattern really made using the radio much safer.

For use in a power plane make sure to get a headset adapter, and maybe the PTT switch.
 
SCCutler said:
I have a JRC JHP520 (now known as Rexon RHP520). It is by far the poorest excuse for electronics design and manufacturing I have ever encountered. Avoid it.
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Tell us how you really feel ;)

You could always sell it to some sucker on ebay for more than it's worth...

/break

I have an Icom IC22. Works well, but don't bother with rechargable batteries. Go for the AA option, preferably get a second battery pack.
 
In 2000 I was flying about my 4th Soaring contest with my wife crewing for me. I had an old Delcom Radio that my wife hated, so I told her to go check out what kind of handheld radios all the other crews were using and decide which one she like best.

She ended up picking the Icom A-3 ( or the same version with the nav feature) which I purchased. We have been using it ever since, I replaced the battery about 2 years ago. It has been used a lot for contests and glider instruction, and a bit in the NORDO T-Craft I occasionally fly and I have been very happy with it. I don't think Icom makes it any more but I would buy another ICOM when it comes time to replace it. It will be clipped to my belt next weekend while I am spend two days doing glider instruction. For anything other than emergency use where you transmit with it I do recommend the Speaker/Mike or headset adaptor for it.

Brian
CFIIG/ASEL
 
weilke said:
- So in addition to the rechargable pack they all come with, get a second back with AA batteries. Rotate the batteries every 6 months into childrens-toys, remote controls etc.
Click to expand...

Regular old off-the-shelf alkaline AA cells are built with what is called "5 year chemistry". That is, they will self-discharge to some marginal level 5 years after manufacture. Duracell imprints this 5 year figure on their cells at manufacture. You can safely use them up until this time, not every 6 months.

Thomas distributing has a line of low self-discharge Lithium Ion AA cells that I've found particularly useful in handheld radios, digital cameras, etc. I have not looked into their useful life; I simply take them out and recharge them once at the beginning of flying season (May) and once at the end (October). So far, no problems.

http://www.thomasdistributing.com/s...41_142.html?osCsid=vb6r7t3ncbalj5anl2ejtbfd94

Jim
 
I bought a used Vertex VX-150 from PoA Dean a couple years ago. It was and remains in like-new condition and serves my needs sufficiently. On my way to KIWI I can check the ASOS from several miles away. Residing on a hill, pending WX, I can sometimes listen to traffic at airports 25-35nm distant(Twitchell's Airport, Portland International Jetport, Augusta, among others). It came with the headset adapter; now if I could only find the Owner's Manual(which was obviously put in some container while some renovations were being done in the house).

HR
 
Follow-up: Icom A-24 (Nav/Com) and headset adapter - The radio comes with a headset adapter, but no PTT. I've tested the radio with my headset, and without the PTT the headset mic won't work, only the built-in.

I just added a remote PTT to the system a couple days ago. That combination generates feedback through the mic circuit that shows up as a squeal or growl in the headset speakers. Icom knows about this and has a PDF on their support website that shows how and where to add ferrite cores to the headset cables.

Since that's happened to me, I started checking around and it seems like this is a not-uncommon problem. The Icom support PDF shows how to attenuate the feedback on a DC headset and maybe it works, I don't know. I do know that it doesn't work on a Lightspeed QFR ANR headset. I'm still working with Icom, but haven't checked with Lightspeed yet to see if they have any ideas.

Without the remote PTT, you can still use a headset, but you'll need to key the mic with the switch on the side of the radio and use the built-in microphone.

Since I only plan to use the radio without a headset (glider operations), I don't expect to really miss anything, but I'd sure like to be able to use the radio as an emergency backup in the plane and be able to just plug right into it.

Anybody else had this problem?
 
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