Van's Air Force
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VAL avionics?
- Thread starter harleyl
- Start date
Brian Denk
Well Known Member
I have the 760 Com and it works well. LED displays aren't readable in direct sunlight, but hasn't been much of a problem. Unit puts out a good signal and I've never had anyone say they couldn't hear me. It's a very simple, no-frills radio and priced as such. No complaints here.
I have been using a VAL com in my RV4 for the past 5 years with an externally mounted antenna on the belly with good results. The performance/range is compariable to more the expensive King/colllins radios I use professionally in my day job. The prewired kit also makes installation very straight-forward.
pierre smith
Well Known Member
Ditto....
Ours is going on two years and is very clear with the belly mounted Comant bent whip. Good value but I too, would like to see the standby freq although I usually remember it since I put it in.
Regards,
Ours is going on two years and is very clear with the belly mounted Comant bent whip. Good value but I too, would like to see the standby freq although I usually remember it since I put it in.
Regards,
Richard:
You only get what you pay for.
I have an Icom A200 in my hangar as my hangar radio. It displays the standby frequency and also allows you to store (IIRC) 10 frequencies. It is an LCD display that is visible in sunlight. I am flying an SL30 and GX60.
Having flown a lot of formation, the guys flying VAL radios have not been able to hear the other airplanes when they are close. IMHO, the AGC in the receiver circuit appears to not work well enough and the receiver is overloaded with too strong a signal from the close airplanes. IMHO, the VAL radio transmiter does not sound as good.
I purchased the Icom NEW for my hangar. It costs more than the VAL. IMHO, the VAL was not worth the money it costs. Others that have purchased VAL radios appear to like them.
The VAL is a CHEAP radio and NOT for me. The difference in price between VAL and Icom is small if you compare it to the total cost of the airplane.
You only get what you pay for.
I have an Icom A200 in my hangar as my hangar radio. It displays the standby frequency and also allows you to store (IIRC) 10 frequencies. It is an LCD display that is visible in sunlight. I am flying an SL30 and GX60.
Having flown a lot of formation, the guys flying VAL radios have not been able to hear the other airplanes when they are close. IMHO, the AGC in the receiver circuit appears to not work well enough and the receiver is overloaded with too strong a signal from the close airplanes. IMHO, the VAL radio transmiter does not sound as good.
I purchased the Icom NEW for my hangar. It costs more than the VAL. IMHO, the VAL was not worth the money it costs. Others that have purchased VAL radios appear to like them.
The VAL is a CHEAP radio and NOT for me. The difference in price between VAL and Icom is small if you compare it to the total cost of the airplane.
Lotsa good info
Thanks for all the good input. I like the Icom A200
and the price is also very reasonable. Price is not the
only thing driving my query, mostly panel space and weight.
Let's shift gears a little and see if anybody has any
experience with the VAL INS422. Hey, this is all good
stuff.
Thanks,
Pat
Thanks for all the good input. I like the Icom A200
and the price is also very reasonable. Price is not the
only thing driving my query, mostly panel space and weight.
Let's shift gears a little and see if anybody has any
experience with the VAL INS422. Hey, this is all good
stuff.
Thanks,
Pat
gmcjetpilot
Well Known Member
VAL has good products
There COM has been around for a long time and all the points are made. I have an ICOM.
They have a new audio panel that looks cool:
http://www.valavionics.com/
There other product is the VAL_INS_422, all in VOR/LOC/GS/MB receiver in a 3.125 in round package with LED course and glide slope deviation.
It is like a Narco NAV122D:
I kind of fancy the INS 422 as a compact relatively cheap (about $2000) unit to go IFR. The narco 122D is $3320/$3875 w/ gps coupler.
Don't know how I'd like the Val LED bar display and no OBS card (the 360 degrees). In VOR mode cardinal headings and needle deflection on the face of the display helps visualize intercepts and position, like a mental HSI. Flying a VOR OMNI head is not something I do much of anymore, a dead art, since the map displays on the Boeing or even any cheap handheld GPS does all the visualization for you.
DOES ANYONE FLY A Val INS 422?
There COM has been around for a long time and all the points are made. I have an ICOM.
They have a new audio panel that looks cool:
http://www.valavionics.com/
There other product is the VAL_INS_422, all in VOR/LOC/GS/MB receiver in a 3.125 in round package with LED course and glide slope deviation.
It is like a Narco NAV122D:
I kind of fancy the INS 422 as a compact relatively cheap (about $2000) unit to go IFR. The narco 122D is $3320/$3875 w/ gps coupler.
Don't know how I'd like the Val LED bar display and no OBS card (the 360 degrees). In VOR mode cardinal headings and needle deflection on the face of the display helps visualize intercepts and position, like a mental HSI. Flying a VOR OMNI head is not something I do much of anymore, a dead art, since the map displays on the Boeing or even any cheap handheld GPS does all the visualization for you.
DOES ANYONE FLY A Val INS 422?
Last edited:
terrykohler
Well Known Member
George:
I recently installed an INS422 due to limited real estate available on my "old school/steamgage" panel. While a garmin 196 (hopefully to be replaced by a 496) provides about 90% of my pilotage requirements, the Val will allow me to shoot precision approaches without replacing my SL40 with a 30. If you think of the light bars as needles, it's not so different than a conventional head. While it has an auto self centering "to" function, setting up radials takes some getting used to and is kind of a pain if you need to switch back and forth between two radials for position fixes. On the plus side, full deflection in either vertical or horizontal plane is 10 dots in each direction. So far, I find this easier to help keep my nose where I want it. Incidentally, as a backup to Nav and Comm, I keep an Icom with dual capability handy. The Icom can be used in a pinch to fly VOR approaches. In my next life, I'll go glass. In the meantime, this works.
Terry
I recently installed an INS422 due to limited real estate available on my "old school/steamgage" panel. While a garmin 196 (hopefully to be replaced by a 496) provides about 90% of my pilotage requirements, the Val will allow me to shoot precision approaches without replacing my SL40 with a 30. If you think of the light bars as needles, it's not so different than a conventional head. While it has an auto self centering "to" function, setting up radials takes some getting used to and is kind of a pain if you need to switch back and forth between two radials for position fixes. On the plus side, full deflection in either vertical or horizontal plane is 10 dots in each direction. So far, I find this easier to help keep my nose where I want it. Incidentally, as a backup to Nav and Comm, I keep an Icom with dual capability handy. The Icom can be used in a pinch to fly VOR approaches. In my next life, I'll go glass. In the meantime, this works.
Terry
