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07-25-2010, 10:00 AM
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Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Baton Rouge, LA
Posts: 23
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VHF range
I have no experience with VHF handheld use in planes but based on 20 years of hamming, I think the limitations are about 90% due to antenna placement.
VHF range has almost nothing to do with power nor should the radio itself be a limitation. Similar handhelds with similar antennas have been often used to communicate with the space station and space shuttle and I have used them at 5 watt power levels to communicate over ranges of about 60 miles mountain top to mountain top with a rubber duckie.
If I were to buy one, I would keep it with an antenna that I could mount by suction cup to the glass to get it as out of the airplane as much as possible. An aluminum airplane is basically a Faraday cage. Being able to reposition the antenna for best effect would be good.
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07-25-2010, 11:01 AM
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Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Baton Rouge, LA
Posts: 23
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O0ps
I popped off without looking at the specs! 1 watt stinks. Similar ham handhelds that I own put out 5 watts. The presence or absence of obstructions is still supreme but with rubber duckie antennas on VHF, for ground based work there is a big difference in effective range between 1 watt and 5.
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07-25-2010, 03:41 PM
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Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: KSLC
Posts: 4,021
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KurtB
I popped off without looking at the specs! 1 watt stinks. Similar ham handhelds that I own put out 5 watts. The presence or absence of obstructions is still supreme but with rubber duckie antennas on VHF, for ground based work there is a big difference in effective range between 1 watt and 5.
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Sporty's 400 --
Transmitter Power
1.5 Watts ? 20%, 5 Watt (PEP) at 85% modulation
The Icom IC-A24 shows the same, in it's specs.
L.Adamson
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07-26-2010, 06:21 AM
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Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Baton Rouge, LA
Posts: 23
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Double oops
Cascading situational awareness failures. You have the controls.
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02-11-2011, 04:07 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Newport, TN
Posts: 7,496
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SP-400 question
I bought a SP-400, planning to sell my SP-200 as a trade up and it arrived today.
The radio is super cool with one exception....Screen contrast stinks or at least it does on the one I got...
Anyone else see a problem with theirs?
I called Sporty's and they said send it back and they will look at it. They claim the one on their desk was fine.
Problem is I do not know what fine is. I could spend my dime to send this back and it come back as "Thats normal".
To me the one that I received does not look anything like the pics on the box or the promo video but I know marketing folks have a way of making stuff look better than it is.
What say you that have seen or have one of these? Send it back or is it normal?
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02-12-2011, 08:57 AM
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Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Fort Myers
Posts: 370
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I've got one and tested it a few times while approaching airport and landing. It was quite good. Had no trouble picking up loc and gs 5 miles out and it was accurate throughout the approaches. At one point I had sent my radio (SL40) off to Garmin for a SB and I hooked the SP400 up to my external antenna and headset. I did a couple of flights like that it worked surprisingly well. Overall a great backup unit for the money.
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02-12-2011, 11:24 AM
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Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Albuquerque
Posts: 297
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SP400
I bought one as a backup comm & nav radio.
I think they're fine and the display & key size is large enough for old guys with fat fingers.
As far as power goes, 1.5W is adequate for a backup radio.
Connected to an exterior antenna would be better.
I think my panel radio is only about 5W (doubling power = 3db) and it works well.
With my 2m ham handie talkie with 150mw (0.15w) and a short antenna,
I can nail a repeater about 70 miles distance (line of sight).
Of course its NBFM not AM like our aviation radios and slightly shorter wave length.
Just my $0.02
Dave
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02-12-2011, 03:01 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Newport, TN
Posts: 7,496
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I compared my new SP-400 with one local on the field today and I am definately sending this one back. The other one had much more contrast that was instantly noticable when held side by side.
Strange they did not give you an option to control screen contrast on these radio's. Most devices these days do????
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02-12-2011, 03:53 PM
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Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Lancaster, PA
Posts: 144
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Got one for Christmas and love it. Both the comm and nav aspects of the radio work very well. As far as the contrast goes I couldn't be happier. Had no difficulties seeing the screen under direct sunlight and also works well with the backlit screen/numbers at night.
__________________
Andrew
Lancaster, PA l RV-7 #3898 l Empennage l N627AB
"I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things" ~Antoine de Saint-Exupery
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02-12-2011, 04:00 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Newport, TN
Posts: 7,496
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Yeah, I have a SP-200 that I will be selling that always worked as advertised on the VOR/LOC.
The testing I did today looks like this one will work just as well in that regard.
I think I got a dud in the screen department or they just need to tweak the contrast (they should have given us control of that). The backlight works great, it is just that the graphics are all washed out due to low contrast. The one I compared it with today was much better.
Last edited by Brantel : 02-12-2011 at 04:04 PM.
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