Greetings, you people!
     Just got back from Dayton a while ago where I bought two IC24AT handheld 
radios. Great HT except for the included Rubber Duck which ICOM surprisingly 
put their name on....the antenna radiates as well as a dummy load. Now, I 
realize
that most duckies are not meant to be great (they are safer to use), 
but when compared with the Larsen KulDuckie or the Standard (which comes with 
the Heath HT)
dual band ducks, the ICOM FA-1443BA offers literally 10-20% of the 
performance. Several people at the Dayton 'fest say they found the 
same problem. A good duck
may be the best upgrade around for the one of the best dual-band HT's around.
						73,
						Jerry Falletta KD2DR @ WF2A