Good Day All,

I am in the market for a handheld transceiver as a back-up radio for emergencies (electrical/radio failure) only. I do not need the VOR function. I am looking for durability and transmit/receive power. Rechargeable option is nice(if you remember to charge!) but would also like the ability to use alkaline batteries if required. I always have fresh ones on board. Also info on ni-cad, lith-ion, etc. would be appreciated. I was thinking of an ICOM product.

Cheers

MACDON221

I've had the A3 A5 and A6. All good radios. The A6 has the most features and has been my favorite so far. Not sure if your going to find one that is NiCad and Alkaline.

I bought the Sporty's SP-200 some years ago and it came in handy once when I lost radio Comm in the pattern with the tower. Fortunately I had the headset adapters that are sold separately. Although for the first minute or so I forgot I had it and was trying to remember the how to signal the tower I had lost radio comm. Then it dawned on me that I had the SP-200.
The other thing I would recommend besides the headset connector is the size of the transceiver. While flying back country you certainly want to wear a survival vest and have the transceiver in the vest. The SP-200 is quite big and does get in the way at times. The ICOM and Vertex are small however I have never used one so I am not sure how well they work but I know a few guys who have them and I never heard a complaint. I have also used the S-200 to communicate with others when on the ground.

Ditto about what Green Hornet said about the SP-200. I carry it with me in my flight bag for ground comm and emergencies. I lent it to Glasstar all the way back from AZ in 2004 as he was having alternator problems...a real life saver in the air. I have several friends who have purchased these radios and have heard no complaints.
HC

My ICOM has a slide off NiCad battery and you can purchase a "AA" battery pack that will slide on in it's place.


The NiCad died and I have been using the AA pack with Ray-O-Vac Hybrid AA rechargeables. I can recharge the AA's w/ my Solar charger when in the field.

TD

I've been running the Icom A23 (A5 with VOR) as my main radio for four years. It works fine. I bought the alkaline battery pack, and have that attached at all times. I also have the 12v power plugged into it at all times. It will then run off the aircraft power until that fails, then automatically use the alkaline batteries. With an external antenna the radio will work fine at greater than 40 miles. I always carry the rubber ducky antenna in case of an emergency.

From what I have read either the Icom or the Vertex Standard would have the same power and pretty much the same features.

tom

I have had good luck with my A6, meaning I haven't had to use it for flight ops......yet!

I do have both the NiCad rechargeable and the alkaline AA battery pack.

I do use the unit for ground ops (ATIS, WX, friends in the air, etc) but haven't had an electric or radio failure yet, knock on wood.

Flynengr

I can only vouch for Icom, but the A24 I have used since a student pilot a few years ago has turned out to be a really good backup. Works well on the ground (Grabbing ATIS while pre-flighting, listening to traffic around any airport) And should a radio ever fail, its a dependable backup. Mine does have the VOR function, which also works very well, but if their other models work as well as this one, they get two thumbs up from me.

The only issue I have read about the Icom is the requirement to NOT overcharge the battery. They need to sell it with a charger that either indicates a full charge or an auto shut-off. I seem to recall that 8 hrs was max. If you have a radio that has been sitting a couple of weeks how long do you expect to charge it from the state of charge that is unknown.

I've lugged the same King KX-99 around for over 20 years now. It's been my primary nav-com in several airplanes, backup radio more times than I can tell you in work airplanes when the electrics have failed in shit weather, and has a pocket in my vest for hitting the ground running.

I got rid of the ni-cad battery pack and use alkalines instead and just keep a big stash of AA's in the airplane (several stashes actually) to run that radio and the spare GPS. The little radio has functioned flawlessly over the years, and has never let me down.

The only advice I can give re: the KX-99, or any handheld used as an emergency radio, is to wire in a spare comm antenna and keep the rubber duck for playing around the airport to listen to AWOS or for ground/clearance if you're sitting for an extended time waiting your turn for an IFR departure.

It'll boom out there 40-50 miles with an external antenna, but with the rubber duck you're lucky to get a mile, and that don't cut it when trying to get a clearance when the wx is down where you want to go.

Gump

I keep a piece of RG-58 with BNCs on it for the exact same purpose. Just disconnect the main radio and hook up the SP-200 to the airplane's antenna and with the headset adaptor you are ready to go. Takes less than a minute to do the change.
HC

I went for the VXA-220 Pro VI see link here:

http://www.pilotshop.com/vxa220-pro-vi-p-2788.html?osCsid=363a4ec09da589d1344ed8a97afea286

The first thing that grabbed my attention about it was the low price then I read more about it and it had great reviews and for good reason. The thing is light and build like a rock, has an awesome clear sound, battier life is great I still haven recharged it after 3 mouths (but I don't transmit much). Comes with an adapter for your headset, and charging stand, plus it's water prof.

I used to be in to amateur radio before I started to fly and this is one of the best handhelds I've seen. It's simple, simple to use, and does a lot. Just what every pilot wants. I love it. but that is just my 2 cents.

I'd like to pick up a nice (and cheap!) handheld one of these days, mainly to monitor unicom from my hangar but also for backup on trips, etc. Choice for me looks like it's betweem the Icom A14 for $185 or the Vertex VXA-220 for $175. Anyone here have experience with both? What's the pro's & con's of each compared to each other? I'd be inclined to go with the Icom just cuz I'm familiar with the name. BTW I just ordered a new Icom A200 (pretty much discontinued now in favor of the A210, which costs about $400 more) to replace the Val 760 in my 150.

Eric