Handheld Transcievers

[Ken Spencer]

Not sure if this is the best group to post this in, but I am trying to
decide between the Vertex 710 and the ICOM A-24 LilIon handheld
transcievers. Sporty's specs show the Verte as having a 15 hour
battery life, and the ICOM NiMh as 6 hours or so.

Do any of you have experience with either of these units?

thanks,

Ken

for email response remove "ECM" from my email address:

[tjd]

I recently had the same question (also considered the Vertex Pilot
III) and for all the research I did, it seems like pretty much a toss-
up. In the end I got an A24, and I've been happy with it. BTW, you
can get the A24 with Li-Ion as well though it costs more. Battery
life hasn't been an issue but I've only used it for checking ATIS on
the ramp and listening to the planes flying over my house - its
primary purpose is just as a backup but I haven't yet tried it in-
flight. I also bought the battery pack that you put standard AAs in
(of which I have plenty in my flight bag) in case I ever need it but
forgot to charge it.

If you can find a shop where you can play with both of them, I'd do it
and see which one you like better. I still have never seen a 710 in
person. I think the A24 is reasonably easy to use - I'd change a few
things if I could but no major complaints. But, in general I don't
think you can go wrong either way; if they were the same price I'd
have flipped a coin but the A24 was a bit cheaper so it won out.

todd.

[Larry Dighera]

On Mon, 05 Mar 2007 20:51:03 GMT, (Ken
Spencer) wrote in >:

>Sporty's specs show the Verte as having a 15 hour
>battery life, and the ICOM NiMh as 6 hours or so.

I use alkaline cells exclusively for all my aviation equipment: GPS,
Lamps, Transceiver, Active Noise Reduction Headset, ... That way,
it's difficult to find yourself frustrated by an exhausted battery
pack; it's always possible to 'borrow' a cell or two from another
device. And in the event of a forced landing, the redundancy could be
a lifesaver.

[Kyle Boatright]

"tjd" > wrote in message
ups.com...
>I recently had the same question (also considered the Vertex Pilot
> III) and for all the research I did, it seems like pretty much a toss-
> up. In the end I got an A24, and I've been happy with it. BTW, you
> can get the A24 with Li-Ion as well though it costs more. Battery
> life hasn't been an issue but I've only used it for checking ATIS on
> the ramp and listening to the planes flying over my house - its
> primary purpose is just as a backup but I haven't yet tried it in-
> flight. I also bought the battery pack that you put standard AAs in
> (of which I have plenty in my flight bag) in case I ever need it but
> forgot to charge it.
>
> If you can find a shop where you can play with both of them, I'd do it
> and see which one you like better. I still have never seen a 710 in
> person. I think the A24 is reasonably easy to use - I'd change a few
> things if I could but no major complaints. But, in general I don't
> think you can go wrong either way; if they were the same price I'd
> have flipped a coin but the A24 was a bit cheaper so it won out.
>
> todd.

One thing to be aware of if you plan on using it in flight in conjunction
with your headsets. You need a $10 push to talk switch if you want to use
your headset's microphone.

KB

[BT]

we use the A-24s for glider ground operations.. last well beyond the 6 hours
on a regular charge
our "special" when we bought included both the NiMH and the LiION batteries.

I've owned an older A-22 for over 8 years, sued every weekend for periods of
greater than 6 hours, the original NiCD battery had to be replaced after 2
years. The NiMH replacement has lasted ever since.

Another member had one of the older (early model) Vertex radios and sent it
back within a few months.

BT

"Ken Spencer" > wrote in message
...
> Not sure if this is the best group to post this in, but I am trying to
> decide between the Vertex 710 and the ICOM A-24 LilIon handheld
> transcievers. Sporty's specs show the Verte as having a 15 hour
> battery life, and the ICOM NiMh as 6 hours or so.
>
> Do any of you have experience with either of these units?
>
> thanks,
>
> Ken
>
> for email response remove "ECM" from my email address:
>

[tjd]

On Mar 5, 7:53 pm, "Kyle Boatright" > wrote:
> One thing to be aware of if you plan on using it in flight in conjunction
> with your headsets. You need a $10 push to talk switch if you want to use
> your headset's microphone.

At least on the A24 that is not true; I just tested to make sure.
With a headset (and its mic) connected via the adapter, the behaviour
is the same as it is without a headset attached - you push the PTT key
on the unit to transmit. I don't own the external PTT switch but it
would appear to just be in parallel with the builtin one - possibly
more convenient but not required.

todd.

[Ron Wanttaja]

On 5 Mar 2007 22:22:27 -0800, "tjd" > wrote:

>On Mar 5, 7:53 pm, "Kyle Boatright" > wrote:
>> One thing to be aware of if you plan on using it in flight in conjunction
>> with your headsets. You need a $10 push to talk switch if you want to use
>> your headset's microphone.
>
>At least on the A24 that is not true; I just tested to make sure.
>With a headset (and its mic) connected via the adapter, the behaviour
>is the same as it is without a headset attached - you push the PTT key
>on the unit to transmit. I don't own the external PTT switch but it
>would appear to just be in parallel with the builtin one - possibly
>more convenient but not required.

Hmmmm. I was fiddling with an ICOM IC-A5 a while back. I found that when you
used the radio-mounted PTT switch, *both* microphones were live...the one in the
headset, and the one on the radio itself. With the external PTT switch, only
the headset microphone was live.

Don't know if the A24 is the same, but it would be worth testing out. The
radio-mounted microphone won't be noise-canceling like the headset mike.

Ron Wanttaja

[Brian[_1_]]

On Mar 5, 7:04 pm, "BT" > wrote:
> we use the A-24s for glider ground operations.. last well beyond the 6 hours
> on a regular charge
> our "special" when we bought included both the NiMH and the LiION batteries.
>
> I've owned an older A-22 for over 8 years, sued every weekend for periods of
> greater than 6 hours, the original NiCD battery had to be replaced after 2
> years. The NiMH replacement has lasted ever since.
>
> Another member had one of the older (early model) Vertex radios and sent it
> back within a few months.
>
> BT
>
> "Ken Spencer" > wrote in message
>
> ...
>
>
>
> > Not sure if this is the best group to post this in, but I am trying to
> > decide between the Vertex 710 and the ICOM A-24 LilIon handheld
> > transcievers. Sporty's specs show the Verte as having a 15 hour
> > battery life, and the ICOM NiMh as 6 hours or so.
>
> > Do any of you have experience with either of these units?
>
> > thanks,
>
> > Ken
>
> > for email response remove "ECM" from my email address:
> > - Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

That was my exprience as well I have an ICOM A-3 and the glider
operation where I was instructing was using the Vertex Radios. It
seemed to me that the Icom was more reliable and had better sound
quality.

Brian
CFIIG/ASEL

[tjd]

On Mar 6, 2:10 am, Ron Wanttaja > wrote:
> Hmmmm. I was fiddling with an ICOM IC-A5 a while back. I found that when you
> used the radio-mounted PTT switch, *both* microphones were live...the one in the
> headset, and the one on the radio itself. With the external PTT switch, only
> the headset microphone was live.

that's an interesting point, I didn't check that in my test, but
opening both mics would make it a lot harder to xmit cleanly. I will
give it a try when I get home, plus it looks trivial to make your own
external PTT switch so I'll try that too.

[Blueskies]

My Vertex Pilot 210 is wonderful, 5x5 every time, rugged and water proof. The batteries last (NiMH) a long time also.
Just another data point.

[RST Engineering]

We are considering going into the handheld radio market as a sideline to
RST. We evaluated by both specification AND hands-on and IF we go it will
be with Vertex.

I've had a personal VXA-700 for about three years now and I wouldn't trade
it for anything. That LiON battery is a real workhorse.

Jim



"Blueskies" > wrote in message
...
>
>
>
> My Vertex Pilot 210 is wonderful, 5x5 every time, rugged and water proof.
> The batteries last (NiMH) a long time also.
> Just another data point.
>
>

[tjd]

Well, better late than never, right? I finally got around to playing
with this and what I said was wrong, Ron was closer to right (although
he may well be correct for the IC-A5, I have an IC-A24). Here's what
I found:

- The PTT switch on the radio only opens the built-in mic on the radio
- The external PTT switch only opens the external (headset) mic.

Pretty simple, right? I was initially fooled into thinking my headset
mic was live when pressing the radio PTT switch when it was actually
the radio mic picking up my voice. This time I was a bit more
rigorous about my experiments and also used an external PTT.

So, you do pretty much need an external PTT if you're planning to use
a headset... why don't they just include it?

todd.

PS: while my plane was in getting some avionics work done I had them
install a connector to let me hook the handheld up to the external
antenna... looking forward to doing some comparisons vs. the whip
antenna.

On Mar 6, 4:02 pm, "tjd" > wrote:
> On Mar 6, 2:10 am, Ron Wanttaja > wrote:
>
> > Hmmmm. I was fiddling with an ICOM IC-A5 a while back. I found that when you
> > used the radio-mounted PTT switch, *both* microphones were live...the one in the
> > headset, and the one on the radio itself. With the external PTT switch, only
> > the headset microphone was live.
>
> that's an interesting point, I didn't check that in my test, but
> opening both mics would make it a lot harder to xmit cleanly. I will
> give it a try when I get home, plus it looks trivial to make your own
> external PTT switch so I'll try that too.

[JGalban via AviationKB.com]

tjd wrote:
>
>PS: while my plane was in getting some avionics work done I had them
>install a connector to let me hook the handheld up to the external
>antenna... looking forward to doing some comparisons vs. the whip
>antenna.
>
I think you'll be impressed. In my Cherokee, the external antenna is the
difference between being heard from 4 miles away, and being heard 40 miles
away.

It won't do anything for the nav funtion. It'll still wobble without a
horizontally polarized external antenna. When I replaced my old KX-99
handheld navcom, I just bought the IC-A6. Same as the -A24, but without the
nav band.

John Galban=====>N4BQ (PA28-180)

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