It's not just ICOM. The rubber ducky antennas that come with the handheld
units are almost, but not ntirely, useless. Getting a good signal in or out
of a metal enclosure is tough...you have to hold the unit near a window and
keep it vertical for best results.
If you are a renter and can't go for an installed antenna, talk to your
local avionics shop about getting a better antenna.

Bob Gardner


"CHANGE USERNAME TO westes" wrote in
message ...
I recently purchased an ICOM IC-A23 radio, and I'm disappointed in its
pickup. It gets the weather channels fine, but the reception for both
the
airport and airplane radios is poor. Aside from standing next to the
airport or being right under the airplane, do I have any options for
improving gain and the quality of reception? Is there some third party
antenna that I could attach to this radio? It looks like it takes a
standard BNC type connector for the antenna that comes with it.

--
Will
westes AT earthbroadcast.com