Vertex Handhelds

The nice thing about being on the engineering side of the house (as opposed to
the business side) is that my decisions are based on the quality and technical
superiority of one product over another. Business reasons played very little in
my decision.

I considered the Vertex superior in terms of mechanical design and the resultant
reliability. As was pointed out elsewhere, that chicken$#!t advertising 5 watts
RF output (and then in small letters "PEP") isn't far from deceptive
advertising, but that's the way some other companies are doing it and I guess to
be competitive you have to play the game.

Actually, you can't really go wrong with either Vertex or Icom. What I wish
Vertex would do is come out with a permanent panel mount flatpack like the Icom
and then I'd REALLY be happy.

Jim



Cub Driver
shared these priceless pearls of wisdom:

-On Wed, 24 Nov 2004 18:11:12 -0800, Jim Weir wrote:
-
-After a hell of a lot of
-work and research, I settled on Vertex. THe reasons would take me an hour to
-lay out, so I won't.
-
-I would one would appreciate hearing any of them that related to the
-units' performance, durability, etc (as opposed to business reasons).


Jim Weir (A&P/IA, CFI, & other good alphabet soup)
VP Eng RST Pres. Cyberchapter EAA Tech. Counselor
http://www.rst-engr.com

Jim Weir wrote in message . ..
As was pointed out elsewhere, that chicken$#!t advertising 5 watts
RF output (and then in small letters "PEP") isn't far from deceptive
advertising, but that's the way some other companies are doing it and I guess to
be competitive you have to play the game.


I think it is deceptive. More than once I've heard somebody saying
that they bought X handheld because it had a 5 watt transmitter.
Several of the companies that sell handhelds are using the gimmick.

Transmit power on most handhelds is about 1.5 watts. The funny part
is that this is plenty of power for the task. You can transmit to the
horizon from jet altitudes with 1.5 watts. When I used a handheld as
a primary radio (1.5 watt w/ external antenna), I had no problem
conversing clearly with Approach when I was 30 miles out. All in all,
transmit power is not a big deal for aviation handhelds.

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

You can transmit to the
horizon from jet altitudes with 1.5 watts. [...]
...transmit power is not a big deal for aviation handhelds.

One of the uses of a handheld is to get weather, clearances and such on the ground in winter before starting the hobbs meter. I suspect that this is
where the extra power comes in handy.

Jose
--
Freedom. It seemed like a good idea at the time.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

Just wondering if anyone here had experience (good or bad) with Vertex
handheld transceivers. I'm about to buy SOMETHING, but I'm not sure whether
or not I'm gonna stick with the standard ICOM.

I've been happy with my Vertex. Right now I'm having problems with its
picking up interference with my Garmin 296; I haven't resolved this
yet, and don't know if it would be better with a different handheld.
(I didn't experience this phenom with my Garmin III+.) On my most
recent flight, I finally turned off the radio while en route, and
turned off the GPS while landing.

all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (put Cubdriver in subject line)

Warbird's Forum www.warbirdforum.com
Piper Cub Forum www.pipercubforum.com
the blog www.danford.net

"Jeff Franks" wrote in message ...
Just wondering if anyone here had experience (good or bad) with Vertex
handheld transceivers. I'm about to buy SOMETHING, but I'm not sure whether
or not I'm gonna stick with the standard ICOM.

I bought the VXA-700 and I'm quite happy with it. I've used it twice
now in the air when I've had radio problems (I don't fly with that
club anymore). Once to fly back into the Wash. DC ADIZ. I monitor
local traffic for my own amusement when I'm on the ground with it too.

I like it since it's small and relatively lightweight. It uses a LiON
battery so there's a very long battery life. It has a 5W output which
is good. It's hardy and robust so that it can bang around in the
bottom of my flight bag w/o harm. All of this combined means that
it's easy to carry and will have the power to be useful when I need
it.

If it's NOT easy to carry, then I'm more likely to omit it and not
have it when I need it. A bigger and heavier radio, or one that I
need to carry a backup battery for, is one I'm less likely to have
with me.

I bought the headset adapter for the earphone plug. I often just
leave that attached to the radio. I can move my headset from the
panel to the handheld very quickly if needed. It has the VOR feature,
but I've not had occasion to use that. It also gets weather radio (in
the US), FM broadcast, and 2 meter band.

Ideally, I would prefer a standard earphone/headset plug and standard
antenna plug, but it's a minor issue. I'm willing to live with
external adapters for the sake of the smaller size and lower weight
than ICOM or Sporty's.

The thing is waterproof up to 3 feet under, so rain won't hurt it
either. There are rubber corners for more protection from getting
dropped too.

I live under and fly in and around the ADIZ. Loosing a radio here is
a big deal. Potentially fighter jets and license suspension type of
big deal. Having a robust, powerful, long-life backup radio is a key
part of my strategy. I would recommend the VXA-700.

-Malcolm Teas

On 25 Nov 2004 09:05:04 -0800, (Malcolm Teas) wrote:

It also gets weather radio (in
the US), FM broadcast, and 2 meter band.

I use this a lot. It's great to have always-on NOAA radio reports in a
battery-operated radio when you live in the country.


Ideally, I would prefer a standard earphone/headset plug and standard
antenna plug, but it's a minor issue.

The headset doesn't matter to me, since the Vertex is my only radio
and it is always hooked up. The antenna plug is another matter, since
the adapter is so small, hence easy to lose! I keep it in a ziplock
bag so as not to mislay it. (Not such an issue now as it used to be,
since the plane I rent doesn't have an external antenna, alas.)


all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (put Cubdriver in subject line)

Warbird's Forum www.warbirdforum.com
Piper Cub Forum www.pipercubforum.com
the blog www.danford.net

My Vertex VXA-210 works just fine...

"Jeff Franks" wrote in message ...
Just wondering if anyone here had experience (good or bad) with Vertex handheld transceivers. I'm about to buy
SOMETHING, but I'm not sure whether or not I'm gonna stick with the standard ICOM.

thanks for any opinions.

jf