Brian,
>
> Does any one know of a UK supplier for the Icom IC A200 transceiver? I know
> I can get it from the US but it would be nice to have UK supplier support.
>
> Brian Davies kit 454
I have one of these but as yet no in-flight performance experience. The issue of
"approval" or otherwise will vary from country to country but despite a fair
amount of research I found nothing at all to confirm the rumours. I suspect this
is a typical piece of the "noise" (replicated by well meaning people who like
bad news and believe everything they hear) that makes the Internet an unreliable
source of information unless you apply a reasonable degree of skepticism
to the information content.
The real bad news is that the technical support for the IC-A200 leaves a lot to
be desired. The radio is a good looking unit and includes very nice features
like a built in intercom and multiple audio inputs but the documentation
supplied
with the unit is essentially an external wiring diagram -- no application
notes and no information on singal levels or even the meaning of the
abbreviations.
I have checked all the Icom websites (Europe, USA, Australia and Asia) and
they have nothing useful.
The local so-called "technical support" people have this documentation and
detailed
repair manuals but no design guidance of any form and their view was that
nothing else would be available from other centres. In other words, if you want
anything but the most basic istallation, you are on your own. My radio came
with a partially complete kit but I try to steer of companies with this sort
of attitude. There are plenty of other good and relatively inexpensive VHF
Aircraft
radios available.
If you do decide to go ahead with the Icom unit and want to use some of the
features,
let me know off list and I will share what I have been able to nut out.
Best regards,
Nick
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