Wednesday, April 04, 2007

The Radio

I will eventually need a radio. I'm not the only one flying, so a radio adds extra safety to the equation. I figured that since it would be a while until I actually have a complete Skypup, I could purchase a transceiver and have some more to do while I'm waiting to finally be in the air.

It comes down to reputation. I would like a radio that's built tough, digital, and going to last a long time. The leader of handheld radios is Icom, due to their great reputation of hi quality products (I feel like I'm giving them a free add), and this was what I'm looking for. Since I'd like to keep as much money as possible in my wallet, I was going to give Ebay a try.

There were many Icom airband radios on Ebay, each ending about a day apart from each other. The first three auctions I lost due to people putting bids at the last couple seconds. I never knew that an Ebay auction could be so stressful, but during those three auctions I learned many strategies which benefited me.

During the fourth auction I felt like I would either win the auction, or break my mouse from pounding on it during the last two seconds of the auction. Sure enough, the stress payed off and I won the auction. Yay
!

The radio arrived last week, and as soon as I got back from my school band's spring trip, I took a bike ride to the nearby class delta airport, and turned on the radio. Transmissions were crystal clear, and it made my visit to the airport much more enjoyable than my old ones.


That's what new and exciting in my life. My two new goals are:
A - Learn to read blueprints so I can understand my Skypup plans.
B - Start building my Skypup.

Over,
Mike Alpha Romeo Kilo

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mark,

That's the radio I use in my Airbike. It works well, but could probably use an external antenna.

A lot of people don't use a radio at all in ultralights, but coming from a GA background, it makes me feel more comfortable. Not to mention you can talk to your buddies when they fly with you.

Jack

Anonymous said...

This is great info to know.