Gotta disagree with you on the Val. I have one in Juliet and it works just fine. It needed a little attention when I first acquired the airplane, but the Val folks did a great job of overhauling it at a reasonable price.
It is reliable, easy to use, and has perfectly usable sound quality and signal strength. If you don't want or need bells and whistles, why pay for 'em. Except, of course, to impress the socks off everybody.
Reg
