Just returned from a very interesting experience in flying from Norway to
Deauville in Normandy in company with LN-STE, I have concluded that a second
VHF radio will be on top of my list of winter projects.
We missed a good means of communicating between us when the weather
deteriorated (as forecasted), or just for the feeling of companionship. We
tried hand-held Icoms, but they were far too weak.
We also experienced some intermittent difficulties in communicating with the
air traffic controllers which we believe was due to the non-omnidirectional
characteristics of the Archer tape antenna in the fin. Finally, to fly
between Luxemburg and the Normandy coast below 5000 ft MSL (no Mode S) with
a sudden loss of communication would not have been nice. I am therefore
interested in learning what recommendations/experience others may have with
respect to:
- Really small, yet fully-fledged VHF radio
- Fitting a VHF whip antenna inside the fuselage
- Connecting a second radio to the headset - I suppose parallel
inputs/outputs is all that is required, with a separate PTT push button for
the extra radio far away from the standard radio PTT (to avoid mixing them
up) will work?
Svein
LN-SKJ
(what a great touring aircraft the Europa is!!!!)
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