Radios & intercoms

JOHN TIPTON · Post by **JOHN TIPTON** » Wed Jun 23, 2010 4:09 am

Hi Guys

Most if not all radios have built in intercoms, so why do we need a seperate
intercom

Best regards: John (RV9a wings - long way to go before fitting radios)

Brantel · Post by **Brantel** » Wed Jun 23, 2010 5:49 am

The only reason would be that most of the built in intercoms have been reported to be poor performers.

The Icoms have lots of reports of having really poor voice activation/squelch control. Some report that in an RV it is so poor that the mic stays open all the time. I have seen some complaints on the Garmins as well.

I have no idea if these reports are true or not since I took the warnings and went ahead and installed a standalone intercom.

painless · Post by **painless** » Wed Jun 23, 2010 7:20 am

Another factor can be the number of aux. inputs allowed. You may want to have auditory alarms coming from your engine monitor for example, as well as music input. A stand alone intercom also allows you to have a second com radio wired in that you can also be monitoring.