Radio advice - newbie

"Roger Worden" wrote:

I'm a student pilot, and it's about time for me to get a radio. For general
soaring purposes, what's a decent handheld? I really know nothing about
them. Is the Sporty's SP-200 a good choice?

Thanks in advance.



Shortly after I got my license in 1992 I asked some ham radio
operators in my soaring club which brand of hand held radio to buy.
They all recommended the Icom brand and very reliable. I purchased an
Icom AC21 in 92. I run a commercial glider operation and was in need
of a second hand held and purchased an Icom AC-4, 4 years ago. Both
are still working flawlessly. If I lost one of them I would not
hesitate to purchase another Icom.

Shortly after I got my license in 1992 I asked some ham radio
operators in my soaring club which brand of hand held radio to buy.
They all recommended the Icom brand and very reliable. I purchased an
Icom AC21 in 92. I run a commercial glider operation and was in need
of a second hand held and purchased an Icom AC-4, 4 years ago. Both
are still working flawlessly. If I lost one of them I would not
hesitate to purchase another Icom.

I bought the original ICOM AC20 back in the late 80's. I instruct and it
gets a lot of use and abuse - it's been dropped, among other things.
Last year, I replaced the antenna connector (it broke off of the circuit
board) and a few years before that, the rechargable battery pack.

I'd like to replace it with the smaller AC22 or the smaller yet AC4 but
the damned thing just won't die.

Back when I bought the AC20, the only competing product was the King
KX-99. Like JC, I went with the ICOM because of its rock solid
reputation in the ham radio community.

You can't go wrong with ICOM.

Tony V.