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> Second question - I recently bought a Garmin Etrex Summit GPS for my
> mountaineering needs after much research. Is a GPS a GPS? Meaning > can this be used for aviation (this is probably a silly question and > the answer is likely no). In either case, any recommendations for a > standalone handheld aviation GPSs? GPS is GPS is GPS, you can use your Etrex in the cockpit. You will be able to determine your latitude and longitude, which may be just fine for an emergency unit. Unfortunately it won t have the nifty features you will really want in an aviation GPS, like "find the nearest airport" and "draw a line from my current location to my destination airport and calculate how long it will take to get there". Just like your aviation GPS wont have mountaineering features, your mountaineering GPS wont have aviation stuff. But itll work just fine, and in fact you will probably enjoy better reception in the air than under the trees. > 2. Noone commented on the A23, which is the newest version of ICOM - > much more compact. Also, based on my research so far, the A23 does > not come with a battery pack which could take alkalines. So I may not > have a choice but to stick with the NiMH (of course, I will have a > spare NiMH). I thought someone had mentioned the A23. There is an optional alkaline battery pack available from Icom. > 3. Someone implied that the cigarette charger voltage in a plane is > different than in a car. Is this really true? I always assumed > cigarette chargers worldwide are the same. This would also have > implications for handheld transceiver chargers, laptops, portable CD > players, portable flashlights, etc. which come with cigarette lighter > adapters (not necessarily specifically meant for planes), which I (or > a passenger) may want to use in a plane. In the US at least, cars are nearly always 12VDC. Airplanes are sometimes 12VDC, sometimes 24VDC. Many planes are 24V but step the voltage down for the outlet, some dont bother. Some aviation-related items, like portable intercoms and such, can take either voltage without a care since they are designed that way. Gadgets that were originally designed to plug into cars---like the battery charger mentioned in the previous message---may have less-rugged voltage regulators that would fry on 24V. That being said, my Nokia cell phone charger never had one problem with 24V. It really just depends on what youre plugging in. > 4. I also missed the posting which mentioned that one needs a radio > license to operate a handheld transceiver on the ground. Is this > true? What does it take to get one? Does it also imply that it can > be used in the air without a radio license? I live in London, so the > answer may be different for me anyway, but I would be interested in > the answer for the US also. You can take a US radio license test courtesy the FCC. You can use the aviation radio in an airplane for aviation-related activities without a license. Ordering fuel with it while parked at an FBO is aviation-related. Using it (for example) to tell your wife (waiting on the tarmac with a scanner) that you want anchovies on your pizza tonight is not an aviation activity, and if you get caught doing that on an aviation band you could probably be fined. Im not sure what the UKs version of this law is, but I am guessing it is similar. |
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