Aint nothin like the real thing baby!
Yes that was a line from a commercial but its true...I owned the Icom IC-A22 for a few years before selling it during a money crunch. There is no radio, scanner or otherwise, that will compete with a true aircraft radio when it comes to sensitivity, selectivity, durability. Im sorry but its true. Some radios may come close, but never the same. I am looking into the newer Yaesu VXA-300. It is rugged, sensitive and GOD, it has 800 Mw of booming audio. It also has something that I think sets it appart entirely from the rest of the clan of aircraft receivers. Audio pitch control. Anyone who has been monitoring aircraft comms for any length of time knows how nice this feature is for AM voice signals. You can adjust the bass or treble on the receiving audio. The other nice thing is that the radio uses the exact same battery as the FT-60, KNB-83. So since I have after market batteries for my FT60 of 7.2 v 2500Ma, I can monitor aircraft on battery power for hours and hours without worries. The very best thing is the price. I found it in the $225-240 range which is very reasonable when compared to other radios of this type.
Manny
