Aviation Radios
- Thread starter g2em3
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20 miles is more than marginal. I only need 5miles to do what I need.
I'm a commercial rated pilot and own a plane. I can stand next to my hanger looking at the tower and still have marginal transmission quality when getting a clearance so I'm speaking from actual experience. You?
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DeStig, what make/model handheld do you have? What you stated above does sound pretty marginal at best.
several different Icom's and Yaesu's they all behave the same. 5 watts (peak to peak more like 3 and something continuous) thru a rubber ducky antenna doesn't do that much
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This is the model of the handheld radio I have decided to purchase. It had the best reviews on broadcast distance. It is a bit pricy but I plan on using it as an airplane backup as well as 107 work.
Sporty's SP-400 Handheld NAV/COM Aviation Radio
Sporty's SP-400 Handheld NAV/COM Aviation Radio
Is there anything DirStit is not an expert at? He must live in a hanger because his head sure wont fit through a normal door.
I know I used a handheld during my stent as an A&P mech and it worked great. Do not remember the model. Drove all over Orange County airport using one and never had a problem.
I know I used a handheld during my stent as an A&P mech and it worked great. Do not remember the model. Drove all over Orange County airport using one and never had a problem.
One outright a DA-42. Then positions in eight other serial numbers for the flight school I'm a partner in
Der Steig you told me you fly a Lear and invented the internet, you're really one impressive character can you leave a link to your web site and post a few photos of your plane?
No Lear's, getting the type rating doesn't make sense since I'm not an owner of a lear nor fly them for charters. Everyone knows that the internet was invented by AL Gore. As for a life well lived? yes I've done a lot of stuff. but you getting into my personal life, no not going to happen
Well I have no pilots license but I have flown a Lears, Citations, Falcon Jets, a few different Twin engine planes and lot of different single engine planes. So does that make me an expert about handheld radios or drones? **** no but if Dershit can throw useless info out there so can I!!
It really helped to be raised by my grandfather that was an FAA examiner.
It really helped to be raised by my grandfather that was an FAA examiner.
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I didn't expect this much drama in a thread about glorified walkie talkies!
I will soon begin 107 work and I feel like I need a handheld radio for situational awareness. I'm very safety conscious and I feel uncomfortable without one. It seems like every third time I fly some low flying helicopter or small plane comes near me. It's happened so often that I'm ready to take the plunge even before I begin working.
The Sporty that was mentioned earlier in this thread looks real nice but I need to stay under $200 if I can. I like a Yaesu that I saw on Amazon for $170 which claims to be tough and have a million features. There is also some other brand on Amazon that also claims to be real tough and waterproof and dustproof, but it comes with two of them for $100, so I'm pretty wary of the quality. I've never heard of any of these brands! Doesn't Samsung make one of these and why not?
Anyhow. My needs are for listening, but I feel like I should be able to call a tower if my auth ever requires it. That's happened to my friend who flies for a company nearby. So I do need one to talk into, but mostly just to listen.
Thanks!
I will soon begin 107 work and I feel like I need a handheld radio for situational awareness. I'm very safety conscious and I feel uncomfortable without one. It seems like every third time I fly some low flying helicopter or small plane comes near me. It's happened so often that I'm ready to take the plunge even before I begin working.
The Sporty that was mentioned earlier in this thread looks real nice but I need to stay under $200 if I can. I like a Yaesu that I saw on Amazon for $170 which claims to be tough and have a million features. There is also some other brand on Amazon that also claims to be real tough and waterproof and dustproof, but it comes with two of them for $100, so I'm pretty wary of the quality. I've never heard of any of these brands! Doesn't Samsung make one of these and why not?
Anyhow. My needs are for listening, but I feel like I should be able to call a tower if my auth ever requires it. That's happened to my friend who flies for a company nearby. So I do need one to talk into, but mostly just to listen.
Thanks!
Yaesu is good stuff, when I was into Amateur radio All I owned was Yaesu gear -- you can trust it, cannot answer the Samsung question..
PatR
Premium Pilot
Heaven forbid but I have to agree a little bit with DerSchtick. The aviation hand held's I've used were pretty range limited (ground to air) unless they were hooked up to a boosted external antenna. They worked better from air to ground than they did from ground to air.
The next problem we encounter with a ground based hand held is what frequency are we going to dial in to? For ground to air comms we need to know what the aircraft will be broadcasting on. Will they be talking to Tower or Approach? Will they have left Tower frequency for a CTAF frequency? Might they have changed over to an air to air frequency? Do we monitor the emergency frequency? We certainly can't be broadcasting on that one unless there's an emergency. Then again, once out of radio required airspace the pilot just might turn down the volume to make for a nicer flying experience. So we need a scanner to determine who's broadcasting on what but we don't know who is doing the broadcasting. Unless we can see their tail number it doesn't really matter that a conversation is initiated with identifying information. That helicopter you see and want to talk to might well be tail number N1234ZV when you are hearing a conversation started by someone identified with N14773 that's well out of sight.
So unless we are operating in an area that ATC has been notified of and provided a contact frequency for ATC to distribute to aircraft as an advisory, or a NOTAM was issued that listed your contact frequency, which needs to be a frequency approved for ground to air comms, you'll be rolling dice when trying to maintain situational awareness with a hand held radio. If, in the U.S., you're working so close to an airport that your altitude might be in conflict with full scale you really need to have been in contact with ATC long before flying there, and have provided all the info needed to the area FSDO to issue a NOTAM describing your location, altitude, and operating times. The NOTAM will not in any way reduce your responsibility to see and avoid. Hand held's are nice to have, but think about buying one real hard first.
The next problem we encounter with a ground based hand held is what frequency are we going to dial in to? For ground to air comms we need to know what the aircraft will be broadcasting on. Will they be talking to Tower or Approach? Will they have left Tower frequency for a CTAF frequency? Might they have changed over to an air to air frequency? Do we monitor the emergency frequency? We certainly can't be broadcasting on that one unless there's an emergency. Then again, once out of radio required airspace the pilot just might turn down the volume to make for a nicer flying experience. So we need a scanner to determine who's broadcasting on what but we don't know who is doing the broadcasting. Unless we can see their tail number it doesn't really matter that a conversation is initiated with identifying information. That helicopter you see and want to talk to might well be tail number N1234ZV when you are hearing a conversation started by someone identified with N14773 that's well out of sight.
So unless we are operating in an area that ATC has been notified of and provided a contact frequency for ATC to distribute to aircraft as an advisory, or a NOTAM was issued that listed your contact frequency, which needs to be a frequency approved for ground to air comms, you'll be rolling dice when trying to maintain situational awareness with a hand held radio. If, in the U.S., you're working so close to an airport that your altitude might be in conflict with full scale you really need to have been in contact with ATC long before flying there, and have provided all the info needed to the area FSDO to issue a NOTAM describing your location, altitude, and operating times. The NOTAM will not in any way reduce your responsibility to see and avoid. Hand held's are nice to have, but think about buying one real hard first.
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I feel like, at the very least, I want to be listening in on CTAF and those frequencies are listed on my charts. Also, my accomplice has had instances in which he was authorized to fly but was required to report to ATC when he began and when he was finished, so I feel like I need that ability. If I need to figure out what plane is broadcasting and from where just based on their signal, well, then I don't know what I'd do. for now though, just listening to the nearest CTAF and knowing I can call ATC when they require it would be enough.
I also have this hangup about cheap stuff. I want a quality radio.
I also have this hangup about cheap stuff. I want a quality radio.
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