Radio advice - newbie

I have used a Sporty's handheld for several years, and it's always worked
fine.
I like it because it is simple to use, and it just works.

"Roger Worden" wrote in message
om...
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.

never wear anything around the neck lest you want to be choked by it...
(sigh) Always someone on the Internet to tell you that what you are
doing is mortally dangerous. I did say "light" lanyard and you could just
as easily get wound up and horribly injured in the cord for that speaker
mike. (said with a grin)

I understand the "tongue in cheek" comments..

but at least with my speaker/mic combo.. the cord has to get around my
neck... with your set up.. it's already there.. LOL

regardless how "light" the cord.. you can get twisted on a string..

to each their own preferences..

BT

Thanks to all the people who responded! ICOM seems to be the near-unanimous
favorite.

One other question: the models people mentioned seem to be COM only, no NAV.
Is there a need for NAV features in soaring? From what I've read so far, it
would seem that it's not used even in cross-country soaring, only in power
flight.

"Roger Worden" wrote in message . com...
Thanks to all the people who responded! ICOM seems to be the near-unanimous
favorite.

One other question: the models people mentioned seem to be COM only, no NAV.
Is there a need for NAV features in soaring? From what I've read so far, it
would seem that it's not used even in cross-country soaring, only in power
flight.

Especially since the introduction of GPS, the NAV function is
unnecessary, especially for gliding. Even if you do get it, trying to
use it while soaring would be difficult and dangerous at best! (think
looking at a sectional to find the nearest VOR, setting the freq,
finding the radial you are on, then trying to plot that on the
sectional - oh, and stay in that half knot thermal while you are doing
it. Lookout, what lookout?

Of course, you can also bury your head in the cockpit with a handheld
GPS, so it still takes discipline.

BTW, if you get an ICOM, and plan on using it a lot in a club
environment, I would suggest also getting the optional AA battery pack
(about $35, I think). That way when your NiCad runs out you have a
backup. I also use the handheld mike, clipped to my parachute harness
or shoulder strap - a lot easier to use than fumbling for the whole
radio, which then has to be re-stowed - not a good idea in the
pattern.

Good luck

Kirk
66

In article ,
Roger Worden wrote:
Thanks to all the people who responded! ICOM seems to be the near-unanimous
favorite.

One other question: the models people mentioned seem to be COM only, no NAV.
Is there a need for NAV features in soaring? From what I've read so far, it
would seem that it's not used even in cross-country soaring, only in power
flight.


For the price of the added VOR/NAV function, I'd prefer a handheld
GPS (even a very simple one). But if you have the money for
both...

By the way, I use rechargeable AA's in all my portable electronics.
Several times I've had to "steal" batteries from GPS for the
radio or vice versa and it was nice to have compatible batteries.
I also put a little piece of plastic between the ICOM contact and
battery in the back, with a little tab of it sticking out. Then
when I'm ready to turn it on, I pull out the tab. This avoids
it accidentally turning on (volume switch) in my flight bag.

By the way, I use rechargeable AA's in all my portable electronics.
Several times I've had to "steal" batteries from GPS for the
radio or vice versa and it was nice to have compatible batteries.
I also put a little piece of plastic between the ICOM contact and
battery in the back, with a little tab of it sticking out. Then
when I'm ready to turn it on, I pull out the tab. This avoids
it accidentally turning on (volume switch) in my flight bag.


Yeah, the rechargable AA NiMH are great. I use them in my digital camera all
the time.

Thanks.

In article ,
Marcel Duenner wrote:
Is my impression correct that in the U.S. many if not most fly around
with handheld radios only?
If yes - why?

In (continental) Europe virtually all sailplanes have built-in radios.

None of our 5 club gliders have radios. Part of it is to
keep the rent cheap, cheap, cheap. Another part is simplicity:
nothing to break, repair, steal, or recharge. Another part is that
we very seldom have simultaneous tows, and the 400 foot width
of our main runway makes unplanned simultaneous landings a cinch.
Finally, there is very, very little "radio required" airspace
within even 50 miles, and I don't know anyone who has
made it to 18,000 above our sea level airport (18,000 feet is
again where radios are required).

I suspect in Europe there is much less open land, and much less
uncontrolled airspace. And I suspect gliding is much
more popular because petrol is so expensive and in some
countries one must get a scheduled "slot" to fly a plane.
I imagine this is why winches are popular too.
On aerotow, there are signals that don't require radio,
and are easy to see from 200 feet.
On winch, I bet radios really help a lot.
Don't the flight levels start at 6000 in some places too?
Do you need radios for this?

Now on the US East coast, I couldn't say if radios are
commonly installed. I suspect it's more likely since
the controlled airspace on their sectionals seems to
appear with some regularity...

Perhaps someone could tell us what radio requirements
are over the pond, or in other parts of the world.
In the US, the bahamas, and mexico, it's very easy
to fly anywhere, except major (500,000 person+) city
airports, using only a handheld.

Is my impression correct that in the U.S. many if not most fly around
with handheld radios only?
If yes - why?

In (continental) Europe virtually all sailplanes have built-in radios.

(Mark James Boyd) wrote in message news:3fd60658$1@darkstar...
In article ,
Marcel Duenner wrote:
Is my impression correct that in the U.S. many if not most fly around
with handheld radios only?
If yes - why?

In (continental) Europe virtually all sailplanes have built-in radios.

None of our 5 club gliders have radios. Part of it is to
keep the rent cheap, cheap, cheap.

That's a point.

Another part is simplicity:
nothing to break, repair, steal, or recharge.

We rarely break, repair and never steal our radios either :-)
What we recharge is the battery which we need anyway for the el. vario
and glide computer.

Another part is that
we very seldom have simultaneous tows, and the 400 foot width
of our main runway makes unplanned simultaneous landings a cinch.
Finally, there is very, very little "radio required" airspace
within even 50 miles, and I don't know anyone who has
made it to 18,000 above our sea level airport (18,000 feet is
again where radios are required).

I suspect in Europe there is much less open land, and much less
uncontrolled airspace.

The controlled airspace is not the reason I use radio. Last time I
talked to ATC was at least 300 flying hours ago. We have general and
also "private" chatting frequencies here and I wouldn't like to rely
on the poor transmission range of a handheld. Plus I have enough stuff
flying around (no, not literally) in the cockpit already (food, drink,
maps, jacket, sometimes GPS, sometimes oxygen, sometimes camera) and
can do without an additional handheld radio with all the potential
difficulties described by others in this thread.

And I suspect gliding is much
more popular because petrol is so expensive and in some
countries one must get a scheduled "slot" to fly a plane.
I imagine this is why winches are popular too.
On aerotow, there are signals that don't require radio,
and are easy to see from 200 feet.
On winch, I bet radios really help a lot.

There are also very clear signals for winch launching without radio -
but because of radio long forgotten by most people... including winch
drivers.

Don't the flight levels start at 6000 in some places too?
Do you need radios for this?

Don't know about 6000. In Switzerland and Germany controlled airspace
generally starts at FL100. Swiss Alps FL130, some places and times
even FL150. From there on you need clearance and often enough won't
get it without a transponder. Of course there are also plenty of CTR,
TMA and AWY much lower down. Same thing the very often no or only
very restrictive clearence without transponder. So I just don't go
there. So far most of these airspaces are fly-aroundable. But the
situation certainly is not getting better.


Now on the US East coast, I couldn't say if radios are
commonly installed. I suspect it's more likely since
the controlled airspace on their sectionals seems to
appear with some regularity...

Perhaps someone could tell us what radio requirements
are over the pond, or in other parts of the world.
In the US, the bahamas, and mexico, it's very easy
to fly anywhere, except major (500,000 person+) city
airports, using only a handheld.

Regards
Marcel

Mark James Boyd wrote:

I suspect gliding is much
more popular because petrol is so expensive and in some
countries one must get a scheduled "slot" to fly a plane.

I am deeply shocked to read this statement on r.a.s.! Soaring is popular
here because it's a challenge and it's fun, while flying straight and
level with the help of a fuel to noise converter is just plain boring.

Don't the flight levels start at 6000 in some places too?
Do you need radios for this?

You're confusing flight levels with controlled airspace. Maybe it's the
same in USA, but not here.

Perhaps someone could tell us what radio requirements

All our glider have radio. Not because it's required, but because it's
a) convenient
b) safe (on tow as well as on approach)
c) allows team flying
d) is required for cloud flying

That it allows to enter controlled airspace is a nice side effect.

Stefan