Hi All,
My 20+ years old handheld radio has had it, so I am now looking at the market for a new one. I see some have NAV, ILS and even GPS features.
Out of curiosity, I am interested to hear what you think of a NAV feature in a time when VOR’s are phased out, and GPS on devices without mapping functionality. Is it really that useful to have it on your handheld radio, where it is probably the backup of a backup of a backup?
(Note that I have my opinion on this but I do not want to influence the thread, therefore I will express it in a later post.)
Thanks!
Etienne
Absolutely gimmick. As you say, almost no more VORs here. GPS is on your phone and ipad.
I don’t even think the COMM functionality of a handhelds is of much practical use. So I don’t carry anything.
boscomantico wrote:
I don’t even think the COMM functionality of a handhelds is of much practical use. So I don’t carry anything.
@boscomantico, you are wrong! Comm function is a great way to get your pre-start ATIS without draining the a/c battery. :)
Oh, and if you have the headset connector it might help in case of your radio failure.
I am with @boscomantico. When we started IFR training I took along a handheld, but COMM was not satisfying. It’s a top-of-the-line product, even with these gimmicks like ILS receiver. But who would really fly an ILS based on this?
Then we switched over to using the inbuilt comm and of course it doesn’t drain the a/c battery. You just use it for several minutes. And the case of radio comm failure, still the engine is running. The transmission quality is not good enough under these circumstances. Even when connected with the headset.
I plan to put a second circuit for my standby garmin GNS so that I can switch it on separately without the other avionics. The switch is already there, I just have to make the wiring. That would be the perfect solution.
arj1 wrote:
Oh, and if you have the headset connector it might help in case of your radio failure.
This happened to me once. My onboard radio installation sometimes has issues whose root cause I have not found yet. On that day my transmission was unreadable, so I switched to the handheld for the landing. I did not have the 2nd COM installed back then. (Nowadays switching transmitter usually solves the problem, although I am still looking for a solution.)
I have to say, my use of a handheld COM is much more mundane: namely dialing in on the tower frequency to listen to what is going on, particularly at airshows. Nothing I really need (I’m not flying when I do this) but I find it fun :)
A handheld COM may be handy for emergency use, like when you crashed/ditched.
In the days when I used to be based at Schiphol I experienced 3 COM failures and each time my handheld saved the day and I was able to return to base
I had the COM2 antenna wired to a port on the panel, so I can plug the handheld into it. It’s much better than with the built in antenna for reception, but for emission it’s still very weak. Good enough within 10 miles of the airport though.
Denopa
That’s what I would like to.do
denopa wrote:
I had the COM2 antenna wired to a port on the panel
Now that is a beautiful idea. But isn’t this a potential input for noise? Did you have a short plug to not have the port unprotected when the handheld COM is not connected?
I could do that, but would be interested in further info. Was it just a simple wire or did you have some protection?
