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The ICOM IC-A23
Transceiver
 Then last year along came
"JRC" with their portable transceiver. While not as small as the Yaesu,
it offered as many features as the ICOM A22 and the Yaesu Aviator Pilot not to
mention the fact that it was easier to operate. I found during my product
"Reviews" the ICOM, Yaesu and JRC all offer about the same quality and
performance specifications. ICOM was losing some sales because many pilots
wanted the smaller radios that fit better in the flight bag and in some cases
were cheaper. Well ICOM struck back; they introduced the IC-A23 and the IC-A5,
which is basically an A23 without the VOR functions and frequencies. The new
A-23 has some features other models do not have at this time. If you are in the
market for a new handheld aviation transceiver, you may want to take a few
minutes and read our "Review" on the new IC-A23 transceiver.
Here’s what the new IC-A23 is supposed to do. The A23 measures 2
9/32"(W) X 1 1/8" deep and weighs around 12 ounces. This unit
transmits and receives on all 760 channels of VHF aviation COM band
(118.00-136.975Mhz) and the navigation section receives all 200 channels of the
navigation band (108.00-117.975Mhz). Yes, duplex operations are available
meaning you can transmit on one frequency and receive over the VOR. Duplex is
still used today via flight watch in some areas. The VOR frequencies can be
displayed as a bearing to the selected station or a radial from the station.
Also the A23 has a built-in VOR indicator (we will she just how well this works
later). There’s the capability of selecting a bearing or radial from the
station, then intercept and track what you have selected. The A23 will not
display any course deviation when a localizer frequency. Yes, you can ident the
localizer but there is absolutely no tracking indication displayed. In my
opinion a handheld such as the A23 does not receive a localizer signal well
enough that it should ever be used for navigation, not even during an emergency.
Volume, frequency and several other features can be operated via the
"up/down" keys or by turning the knob on top of the unit (more on this
later). The A23 has your usual NOAA weather channels, tag scanning and memory
bank scanning. We heard that ICOM had a new product out that was supposed to within time replace the famous A-22. Finally, I was able to get my grubby hands on the new A-23 and A5. The A-23 comes packaged nicely in a heavy-duty box. Included is a 760mAh Ni-MH battery pack and the related charger, the whip antenna, carrying case, belt loop and lanyard along with the headset adapter. Most transceivers today come with a sticky piece of clear plastic over the LCD display area for extra protection but for some reason ICOM felt it wasn’t necessary. The new A23 feels good in your hand and is well built just as you would expect from ICOM. The battery case snaps tightly into the back of the transceiver, as it should. Everything from the good fitting battery pack to the well-marked keys just glows with ICOM quality. I’ve learned to expect quality from this company and they know how to produce it. Lets see if this new product lives up to its reputation on the bench. I let my new A23 charge over night and then gave it a workout on the bench and the results were excellent. Transmit power across the band was 5.2 watts on an average. The receiver weighed in at 100dB at 6dB signal to noise ratio. The speaker output was plenty loud but there again, you will need the headset adapter in the cockpit environment, few radios can over-ride the 95dB cabin noise. Even though the A23 is one of the smallest portable transceivers I’ve ever tested; it had the loudest volume output when turned up and audio distortion was minimal. The display is easy to read in any lighting conditions and the backlight is excellent, even on the keyboard portion. I found the push buttons on the keypad were well marked and easy to operate. The A23 was placed on the shake table for two hours with the antenna installed, then three hours in our 0f environmental chamber. The receiver is so good on the A23 that the unit was receiving ATIS three miles away inside the icebox! I found the A23 would pick up aircraft crystal clear. Other transceivers would pick up the signal but the audio wasn’t as crisp and clean as the A23. The ICOM A23 didn’t like my Compaq computer; my computer kept opening the squelch on the ICOM. But come to think about it, I don’t like my Compaq computer either so the ICOM and I have something in common. Even though I keyed the transmitter more often than the average person would, had the back lighting on and placed the A23 in sub-zero conditions the battery still lasted seven hours and seventeen minutes before giving up the ghost. In normal use I’d expect eight hours or more on a fully charged battery. I was rather impressed with the long battery life of the little ICOM, normally I’d only expect around six hours of use under these conditions but then again, this is ICOM. Every time I asked for a radio check from the tower (on the ground and three miles away) they came back loud and clear. I noticed on the bench the VOR receiver in the A23 would work with a signal as low as 96dB but the results greatly deteriorated when I was using the supplied rubber whip antenna. On the ground at SMX, with the VOR in line of sight (4.7 miles out), the A23 still would not display the VOR signal. I could hear the VOR ident and voice but the indicator never came alive. This problem is twofold. First off, VOR signals are transmitted out horizontal and the A23 antenna stands vertical. Even if I placed the antenna in the horizontal position, the A23 still wouldn’t give me an idea where the VOR was. Other portable transceivers I’ve tried in that spot have presented the VOR even though they may bounce around some. Since the VOR receiver was extremely sensitive on the bench the only logical answer is the supplied antenna just doesn’t do justice with the A23. We’ll see just how well the A23 VOR works during our test flight. The weakest link in the A23 is the instruction manual. When I
completed my product "Review" of the JHP-520 sometime back, I thought
that was the worst manual ever written but I was wrong. Let’s talk about some of those features and how to make them work. To turn on the A23 simply press the Green button marked power. Now press the "CLR’ button and key in whatever frequency you desire on the key pad. Folks the A23 isn’t so hard to operate after you figure it out; I can operate just about all the functions after a couple of hours of sitting at my desk and struggling my way through the features. To set the squelch just press the "Sql" button and the up/down key and that’s all there is to it. By pressing the "F" key, which stands for function, you then can press any key and whatever legend is printed above that key is what function will be activated. Example: Press the "F" key. Now press the key that has "WX" above it and you’re in the weather band, yes it was that simple. The A23 has sidetone when you use the provided headset adapter but there’s more. In most transceivers you must go into a setup mode to set the sidetone level that is best for you. No so with the A23. While pressing the PTT switch located on the side of the unit, press the up/down keys to set the sidetone to the desired level. There’s a "low battery" indicator that displays on the big LCD display. The A23 has an LED on the front of the unit that turns green when you are receiving a signal and red when you are transmitting. Once the "Low Battery" icon is displayed; you have around 15
minutes of receive use left or 3 minutes of transmit before the A23 packs it in.
The transceiver will store up to 200 frequencies along with a 6-character note.
This is handy in referencing just what the frequency is you have stored. Now here’s a feature no one else has yet that I’m aware of. By simply pressing the "F" key and the "REC" button, you can record up to 20 seconds of whatever you are receiving or transmitting. This may be a handy feature if you wish to pick a short IFR clearance on the ground and play it several times to figure out just what the heck you are supposed to do. I found the recorder handy in SBA. There clearance transmits a message on all the things they want you to have ready before giving them a call. I recorded their message and replayed it several time until I had all the information they requested. I could vision the A23 recorder feature being a handy tool on the ground but not much use in the air due to the fact you normally will be using the panel mounted coms during flight. The aircraft I was going to be using for the test flight was a Piper 140 with
only one radio and no way to connect the A23 to the outside world. In order to
connect the unit to the aircraft antenna, I installed a splitter where as I
could disconnect the aircraft radio and connect the A23 to the same antenna. The
panel mounted radio was a Narco something another. After firing up the engine I
received ATIS with the portable A23 and asked to taxi out. In the run up area I
asked tower for a radio check using both the A23 and the aircraft panel mounted
radio; tower reported the handheld was "loud and clear" but the panel
mounted radio was weak and scratchy. Keep in mind this aircraft is a rental
aircraft so you get the picture of the condition of the machine. Once airborne I
turned the little A23 volume full blast but unless you held it close to your
ear, there’s no way you could ever hear it without the headset adapter. With
the power back at idle, one could get by without the headset adapter but in any
other situation while flying the headset adapter is a must. I also found out
that if you are using the supplied headset adapter and key the A23 via the
built-in press-to-talk switch on the side of the unit; not only is the mic in
your headset active BUT the mic located in the A23 is active also. In other
words, both the headset mic and A23 built-in mic are transmitting at the same
time. This is unacceptable due to the fact the A23 transmits so much back ground
noise via the built-in mic, no one can make out a thing you are saying. Also,
when headset mic and the built-in mic are keyed, modulation appears to be very
weak. But there’s some good news. The A23 headset adapter has a prevision for
a remote press-to-talk switch. If you use this provision (you will need a PTT
switch who’s male jack is only 3.5mm) then the A23 only keys the headset, not
the built-in mic. Based on this issue, all of my in flight test were conducted
using a press-to-talk switch. If you plan on purchasing the ICOM A5 then I’d
recommend picking up a PTT switch; the PTT switch is an option on the A5 but is
standard equipment when you purchase the A23. At 25 miles out and 5,000ft, tower
stated the panel-mounted radio was unreadable but the portable ICOM was still
readable when using the external antenna and the LightSPEED 25XL headset.
Range using the rubber duck antenna supplied with the ICOM was around eight
miles in the air, which is far more than I expected. Using the supplied antenna,
VOR range with a good signal was around five-six miles. The transceiver would
work further using the ICOM antenna but the signal was unsteady. When connected
to the aircraft COM antenna, the ICOM VOR worked well up to about 12 miles out
at this altitude. One of the problems we often have with powerful transceivers such as the A23 is feedback into the headset when transmitting. During this part of the evaluation regardless of how I wrapped the headset cable of my 25XL around the antenna of the transceiver, it never produced a squeal; this was a good thing. For fun I tried the A23 with a Peltor 7006 with bad results. During transmissions there was such a loud squeal that unit was useless. Regardless of where I placed the headset cord it picked up the powerful ICOM. At this point I figured it would be best if I experimented with some other headset manufacturers so you’ll know what will and what will not work with this ICOM. Take a look at the table below and see if your headset will work with the A23 headset adapter. Sorry, these are the only headsets I had available at the time.
I don’t believe the entire squeal, feedback problem is with the headset alone. The problem seems to be a relationship between the headset adapter and the headset. Sometime when I have the chance, I’ll research and figure out just why the squeal does exist with using some headsets and not others; who knows, maybe ICOM would give me a bonus if I figured out the problem. ICOM states in the manual to use a headset like "David Clark" but as you can tell from the above table, not all DC’s will work with the A23. In summary, the A23 is a good, small unit. It took all the punishment in the environmental chamber I could give it and didn’t come apart on the shake table: it’s ICOM quality throughout. When the A23 is used with the headset adapter and a PTT switch, its performance is excellent in the aircraft. Backlighting is good and some of the features such as the easy side-tone adjustment and recorder functions put the A23 on a new level as far as portables are concerned. The downers of the A23 are the issue with some headsets (see table above); it only will work off 12Vdc if plugged into the lighter, there is not an alkaline battery pack available yet for the A23 or A5 nor is there a PTT switch made by ICOM that I could find to fit the A23. Other manufacturers do make a PTT switch that will work with the new A23 and A5 and we normally stock them. Take some time to learn the new ICOM and you probably would be happy with it, I was. The ICOM A5 only comes with the basic radio (same power as the A23), Ni-MH battery and charger, antenna, belt-clip and that’s it. This radio does not support duplex operations nor does it receive the navigation band. Order the optional OPC-967 headset adapter and a remote PTT switch if you plan on using the A5 in the air. You may want a carrying case for the A5 and if you do, it’s an option also. Check the prices closely; chances are you’ll find it may be cheaper to purchase the A23 than an A5 with all the options you desire.
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I also found a (Auto Noise Limiter) button to reduce noise and a
low battery alert indicator on the LCD display. The new ICOM has a back lighting
for the big display along with the keypad. A feature only found in the new ICOM
A23 and the A5 is the voice recorder that allows you to record up to 20 seconds
of anything you are receiving or transmitting. I’m anxious to see just how
handy this new feature is in real life.
The ICOM A23/A5 manual
is bad not only from a language translation but some items just don’t work as
the manual states. Here’s an example: "Push 5 appropriate digit keys to
input the frequency". Now why didn’t ICOM word the phrase this way:
"Key in the desired frequency". Even the "Beginning
Operation" section doesn’t work as it is stated. The book also leads one
to think the A5 has duplex operation but it doesn’t; nor is there a belt-clip
in the box as the manual states for the A5 (the A23 has a belt-clip). This ICOM
unit is made in Japan and the manual is printed in Japan. Now one might suggest
that maybe the Japanese lost the concept of what they were trying to get across
during the translation of the manual but I don’t believe that; most Japanese
folks that I’ve spoken to speak better English than I do. ICOM if you ever
read this article here’s what I’d recommend. You build your usual excellent
product; give it to some 100-hour private pilot and pay them to figure the unit
out and write the manual. The A23 is not a handheld you will be able to just
turn on and operate; it requires some training time, mainly because it operates
differently than past transceivers. Here’s what I recommend. Send the kids and
spouse away to the mall some afternoon. If you have weapons in the house, lock
them in the safe and give the key to the spouse. Be sure you do not have any
hammers available. Unplug the telephone and turn on the A23, then try to wrestle
your way through the manual, no drinking allowed at this point (you’ll need it
later). You’ll be amazed at some of the nice features the A23 has but you will
have to work to find them.
For
example, you can store 118.30 and give it the name "Tower" so later
you’ll really know what that frequency pertains to. One can easily scan the
complete VHF COM band, frequencies or only the ones you have in memory. The A23
allow you to "TAG" a stored frequency. This stored frequency will be
scanned during normal scan operations; non-tagged frequencies will not be
scanned. Normally you would not TAG channels such as your ATIS, if you did the
receiver would stay locked on the ATIS because of its continuous operation.
If the A23 had been connected to the aircraft VOR antenna
instead of the COM antenna system, I’m sure the range would have been better.
In all fairness, the VOR range I noted on this unit is about average; it may get
you out of a pinch but that’s about it. While flying around I tried out the
duplex portion of the unit (talking over the com and receiving over the VOR) and
that feature worked great not to mention it was easy to set up. About 34 miles
out tower could no longer make out my transmissions even though I still could
hear them fine. While this range may not seem as great as some of the units I’ve
tested in the past, I feel there’s a reason. This aircraft still has the
original coax and stainless steel COM antenna. Had this Piper born a modern COM
antenna and new coax, chances are we could have squeezed a few more miles out of
the transmit range. The A23 did not pick up any alternator noise or emit any EMI
that I could tell. I used the portable transceiver the rest of the flight along
with the LightSPEED 25XL, this combination worked better than the
aircraft radio. After flying this rental aircraft, I’d recommend anyone who
rents to have a portable transceiver aboard; you’ll need it.
The ICOM A23/A5 manual
is bad not only from a language translation but some items just don’t work as
the manual states. Here’s an example: "Push 5 appropriate digit keys to
input the frequency". Now why didn’t ICOM word the phrase this way:
"Key in the desired frequency". Even the "Beginning
Operation" section doesn’t work as it is stated. The book also leads one
to think the A5 has duplex operation but it doesn’t; nor is there a belt-clip
in the box as the manual states for the A5 (the A23 has a belt-clip). This ICOM
unit is made in Japan and the manual is printed in Japan. Now one might suggest
that maybe the Japanese lost the concept of what they were trying to get across
during the translation of the manual but I don’t believe that; most Japanese
folks that I’ve spoken to speak better English than I do. ICOM if you ever
read this article here’s what I’d recommend. You build your usual excellent
product; give it to some 100-hour private pilot and pay them to figure the unit
out and write the manual. The A23 is not a handheld you will be able to just
turn on and operate; it requires some training time, mainly because it operates
differently than past transceivers. Here’s what I recommend. Send the kids and
spouse away to the mall some afternoon. If you have weapons in the house, lock
them in the safe and give the key to the spouse. Be sure you do not have any
hammers available. Unplug the telephone and turn on the A23, then try to wrestle
your way through the manual, no drinking allowed at this point (you’ll need it
later). You’ll be amazed at some of the nice features the A23 has but you will
have to work to find them.