Friday, May 20, 2011
works great
by A Customer from NC USA 
Pros: easy to use
Cons: battery doesnt last
Review: Works great. Battery doesnt last very long though.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011
I would buy again
by morris d from beaver OK USA 
Review: The transceiver need a battery icon in with the number so you can monitor it better

Thursday, February 17, 2011
Well built but complex
by A Customer from North Mankato MN USA 
Pros: Dials & buttons
Cons: Programmer approach to using it readily.
Review: Very well constructed radio. It takes some reading and practice to be able to use comfortably.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Good product
by Harley from Afghanistan 
Pros: Good product
Cons: None
Review: I am using this radio in Afghanistan as an emergency communication sysytem. Everything works as expected.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010
A great radio if you can figure out how to use it.
by Douglas from Manassas VA USA 
Pros: Great reception.
Cons: Not user friendly. Dificult to use if following the instruction booklet.
Review: This is a good radio, good reception, but dificult to use as it is not user friendly, especially the book of instructions.

Saturday, January 23, 2010
A24 with external headsets..... GROWLs
by Walt from Appling, GA 
Pros: Good solid radio
Cons: Feedback with external headsets... DC power cord intermittent.
Review:

I purchased my A24 in 2005 at the Oshkosh EAA fly in. I have had it 'ON' nearly continuously mounted in my pickup with the DC power cord and an external antenna. I transfer it into my flight bag when flying, and back to the truck when on the ground....recently, my #2 NavCom died in my aircraft, so I wanted to use the A24 until I could replace the panel mount.

Tried it with a PTT from Sportys and my headset. Growls on transmit. I also tried my other external PTT and two additional head sets (all three headsets tried are different brands). All three headsets and both PTTs work in the aircraft with the panel mounted #1 NARCO radio. But all combinations growled with the A-24 / OPC-499 / remote PTTs/ 3 headsets.

Last night I spent several hours with my former boss and Ham radio operator, at his work bench (he has better test equipment than my shack, and was an avionics tech while on active duty). It seems to be an impedance issue in the mic circuit. - Radio with out any external attachments checked out fine (frequency count and stability good, power and modulation as expected using HP freq counter/ modulation check / spectrum analyzer) - plugged in the OPC-499 head set adapter. No headset expected nothing but carrier but had modulation I was keying with the PTT in the body of the radio. Added the EXTERNAL PTT switch (still no head set). When using the external PTT (no head set) I got the pure carrier I expected.

Apparently, even though the OPC-499 was plugged in, it does not disable the internal mic from the internal PTT. Now add the headset GROWL!!!!!!!!! Some type of feedback/ oscillation!!! Removed the rubber duck antenna and replaced with 50 Ohm BNC termination plug (i.e. eliminate the RF feed back.) Still GROWLssss!!!!!! Showed ~10v open on mic circuit, and loaded with mic from head set pulled down to ~4.4Volts. Placed variable resister across the mic I could pull down the circuit until I stopped the oscillation, but that also pulled down the audio drive to where the modulation was very low. Went online and looked at schematics of some ICOM 2 meter units I saw biasing circuits with a dropping resister and by-pass capacitor in some of their tone encoding mics. I also re-read the manual . On the head phone circuit it specified 8 olms great for Hi-Fi but not 600 olms of aviation head sets.

Hey ICOM how about an adapter that works with a broad class of aviation headsets not just Dave Clarks. As suggested in the manual. I'd sure like a fix for this!!!

Thanks Walt. Ret. Military Communication Officer Ham Radio Operator Private Pilot.

P.S. The DC power cord plug in the lower right side is a weak point I have to use rubber-bands/wire ties/Velcro to keep the plug in reliably.

Monday, January 18, 2010
Great Tool for a genius
by Rich from San Antonio TX USA 
Pros: Strong signal, clear sound, durable
Cons: Complicated to program and use. The VOR is tough to read sometimes. No BAttery life symbol to watch the battery life. Just a low sign, then it's gone.
Review: This Handheld has everything you need, then some, but if your planning on using all the features, you might consider really spending some time in the right seat playing with it before you try and fly with it. It's pretty complicated and the button reaction time expects you to know what you are doing. But once you get comfortable with the radio, it is really nice. Great Range, clear sound, durable, other than the antenna falling off on occasion. I really like it. It gives me good peace of mind.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009
by Michael Thompson from New Brighton PA USA 
Review: Works well but the antenna keeps falling off. A paving contractor that was also working at the same county airport paved over his antenna that fell off. It doesn't work well with out the antenna. I have been fortunate I always was able to find the antenna. Michael C. Thompson

Sunday, October 18, 2009
Manual written in China: BEWARE!
by Jim from Apple Valley, CA 
Pros: Appears well-built.
Cons: 1980's bass-ackward keystroke sequences to memorize.
Review: "Scratchy & unreadable; not up to ATC standards". Sent back to Icom twice; "Bench tests fine". Spent 5 hours reading three memory channel pages; it's like a page is missing. Translated from Chinese perhaps. Nobody else could get the memory channels to work as advertised, & the distributor has no training with it. Ground use only.

Monday, July 27, 2009
like it a lot
by A Customer from REYNOLDSVILLE PA USA 
Pros: Quick and easy frequency entry
Cons: VOR bearing is a little loose within a few degrees depends on antenna oriantation
Review: This radio is exceptionally easy to operate. Being able to directly key in freqencies is especially helpful and allows for quick change over from Comm to Nav which is extremely importantant to me because I work on ILS,VOR and Nav equipment. I would highly recomend it

Thursday, July 23, 2009
It is what I expected, no surprises
by A Customer from Fulshear TX USA 
Pros: Nice features, works well in the airplane
Cons: Takes a lot of reading to take advantage of all features
Review: The radio has a lot of potential. It is not terrible easy to navigate or work. I carry the little "cheat sheet" with me at all times so I can quickly do the basics.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009
This is the beessssstttttttt!
by florin daniel from nannestad Norway 
Review: I'm verry verry pleased!

Monday, June 01, 2009
I definitely recommend
by Vivian from Pflugerville texas USA 
Pros: none
Cons: Clear, audible, and easy to use
Review: AWESOME.  I'll definitely recommend this product to any pilot student or even professional pilots.

Thursday, May 14, 2009
Ancient technology
by Walter from Switzerland 
Pros: Simple and solid
Cons: Old interface
Review: The thechnology of this radio seems to be from the '90. It does his job, but compared to what the technology can offer today, especially the display and the interface, it is really from last century.

Monday, May 11, 2009
Performance summary: ramp operations
by Flingwing Pilot from Lafayette, LA 
Pros: Lasts all day
Cons: Unable to see light on during the day, no indication on display. High noise drowns out belt-clipped radio.
Review: I work at an airport: high noise environment, long hours, constant radio chatter, and I use my IC-A24 the whole day long to monitor traffic, with occasional comms to the tower. The radio performs very well in this workplace. Occasionally I accidentally turn the backlight on (button situated right next to PTT) and in bright sunlight you'll never know the backlight is on, thus battery will inevitably drain a little faster. Hanging on my belt, the radio talks away from your body (and ears). Some kind of speaker deflector is needed to direct speaker towards your ear (I use my hand when I hear the radio) especially during high noise times (jet engines, etc). Radio sleeve cover showing high wear after one year of ramp ops (radio itself still fine). No 'charging' indication on supplied wall charger, which I think makes the radio charger appear a little 'cheap'.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Good solid radio
by A Customer from Berthoud CO USA 
Pros: Solid performance/easy to use
Cons: Squelch is a bit touchy
Review: I purchased this radio to replace my King KX99. The radio performs well as my primary radio in an Ercoupe; although the squelch is a bit touchy compared to the KX99. Overall given the choices out there a best bet.

Thursday, January 15, 2009
by Salvatore D from Rutland VT USA 
Review: I gave it as gift( because his radio failed on one flight). But from what he has told me it has surpassed all expectations.

Friday, November 07, 2008
by bryan from reno NV USA 
Pros: getting ATIS and clearance before you fire the engine
Review: Good buy. I recommend it, although don't buy it if you want to navigate with it.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Exceeded my expecations!
by Piper Colt Pilot from Jamestown NY USA 
Pros: Easy to use with one hand. Memory bank is great on trips.
Cons: Low battery indicater warning only gives about 15 minutes notice before the radio quits.
Review: This is my main radio on the airplane. It works very well and is easy to use. It transmits and receives well. The VOR functions are also easy to use. Sometimes I would get a loud feed back squeal if transmitting through my headset, intercom, and radio. The Icom web site recommended installing a ferrite chokecore on the microphone wire. I bought a chokecore at Radio Shack, installed it, and the squeal was eliminated.

Thursday, August 14, 2008
Good Investment
by Nishant from Phoenix AZ USA 
Pros: Excellent communications.
Cons: VOR function is limited.
Review: The radio is excellent. I use it often and value it as an emergency radio. The communications features are great, but the VOR function is very limited. I tried to use the VOR once in a C152 and the signal was intermittent. It seemed as though the aircraft itself was preventing the radio from picking up and maintaining the VOR signal. I tried it at different altitudes and distances to the VOR beacon and regardless the radio did a bad job at best at maintaining a signal good enough to navigate with. I ended up putting it away as trying to use the VOR on the handheld radio was very, very distracting.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Did not perform
by Backwash from Pennsylvania 
Pros: Nice color
Cons: Doesn't work
Review: Receives OK. Transmissions are weak. When I first tried it, it gave no bearing information in the air. So, I bought a remote antena kit. No improvement. Sent it back to Icom which touched up the allignment. Still no bearing info. Sent it back again. Icom said it was unable to verify failure on the bench and replaced it. New radio gives no bearing info in the air, even with a 17 mile clear line of sight to VOR. I couldn't recommend this radio to anyone, (unless you plan to fly a bench).

Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Makes it Easy
by James T Gendreau from Winter Park, FL 
Pros: Great tool in the cockpit no matter what you fly!
Cons: Have none
Review: I found it great to be able to get my IFR clearance before starting up the engine and being able to clearly hear ATC!

Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Overall, and excellent radio
by A Customer from dallas texas 
Review: Great handheld. Quality of Transmit and receive is outstanding. Great range with an external antenna.

2 Items I would improve;

A better charge indicator. It needs something that lets you know it is taking a charge, and a general battery indicator. Cell phones do this, Why not the ICOM? All it has is a low battery indicator, which is just before the transmit function gives out.

Takes a while to figure out all of the functions. It has a LOT of them, which is good, but a little complex to learn.

Overall though, a great radio!

Friday, June 15, 2007
BEWARE of the power input.
by Pratik Pokharel from VNCG South Africa 
Review: The performance is really acceptional and the endurance and the range is acceptional. BUT Beware of the fact that the INPUT VOLTAGE for charging is 120 Volts.. In most of the nations the normal household voltage supply is 240 Volts.... So, Please make sure of the fact and don't regret for nothing like I unfortunately had to.....
This product is good and thanks for "mypilotstore" for helping me get it..
[Editor Note: The IC-A24 here uses the 120V charger that is used in USA and Canada. Most countries outside North America use 220-volt electricity. If you are using 220V you will need the BC-110DR 220V Wall Charger.]

Thursday, March 22, 2007
Love it !!!
by Randy from Shortsville, NY 
Pros: Convenient, easy to use once set up.
Cons: Users Guide is not totally user friendly. They have made assumptions.
Review: This product is everything I expected and more. I absolutely love it. It was difficult at first setting it up - but once you have your channels programmed - scanning works great. Battery lasts quite a while before having to charge it back up.

I have not tried out or tested it's ability to actually navigate yet.

Tuesday, March 13, 2007
by PIPER 3028E from  
Pros: SIZE
Cons: SCRATCHY SPEAKER
Review: PRODUCT OPERATED AS ADVERTISED.. SPEAKER I BELIEVE IS A BIT SMALL MAKES THE SOUND HI PITCHED AND SOMEWHAT ANNOYING, OTHER WISE VERY GOOD. WORKS WELL FOR ITS SIZE

Friday, February 16, 2007
by Bob from Santa Monica, CA 
Cons: None
Review: The IC-A24 NAV COM is an excellent unit that was purchased for emergency use in case of panel mounted NAV-COM failure in our aircraft that is used to deliver medical and school supplies to remote villages in Mexico. It is as advertised and replaces an earlier model that now serves as a base station. In order to make the unit more effective, we also purchased the Icom PTT switch, Icom alkaline battery case (in case the rechargeable battery runs down) and the aftermarket cigarette cable which allows use of aircraft battery power. All are excellent and were priced right and delivered promptly.

Sunday, August 20, 2006
by A Customer from Mesa, AZ 
Review: I have been very disappointed with this radio. Receiving voice signals from a tower tends to be marginal and fades out at 5 miles from the station. The transmitting is very poor. With a 2 mile direct line of sight the tower says the receiving is "readable but scratchy". When 3 miles out it is un-readable. The Nav has the same poor reception and does not give a difinitive signal for a VOR. I would never be able to rely on it in an emergency. I have already sent it back into ICOM and they sent it back saying "it checked out fine on the bench". This is not what I expected for performance with this radio.

There is an Alkaline Battery Case for the A24 available for separate purchase.