Hi Bob,
I read with interest your problems with the Icom unit. I think you've
mentioned this to me before and I had to weigh up the pros and cons of the
opinions
of those who think very highly of it and those that have had problems. You
appear to have experienced some very frustrating problems - but many highly
recommended it.
I too originally had problems with my old Terra comm unit - poor transmission
and the like and installed a Bob Archer antenna. I installed it and had it
checked with a WSWR meter and it was way off. He asked me to send it back as he
found he had a bad batch. I used the next one he sent me but still found 'dead
spots' usually masked by the engine block (i.e., when I was flying towards my
destination and trying to make radio contact!). I finally switched it out for
a small external whip antenna on the underside with copper strips radiating
around as the ground plane.
Never had a problem since.
Today I flew the Icom and - apart from no sidetone - found it to work just
great. I could hear ATIS from around 40 miles away and I could be heard 'loud
and clear' at Jabara about 30 miles away. I even picked up a Beech 1900 going
into Hays which is over 100 miles away. An RV operator in Australia contacted me
to tell me he had a similar lack of sidetone and simply switched the speaker
output and headphone output as he claimed the wiring diagram was wrong. I
didn't have time to try that so I will live with no sidetone for the time being.
Regards,
Martin
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