This is the homely, inexpensive, simple little radio setup that I use when I fly out of towered fields or when I otherwise need to have a radio aboard. Not in the picture is a portable 2-place Sigtronics intercom that I use when I fly a passenger, but there is so much black spaghetti in the cockpit with all that stuff that I try to avoid it. Simple little Icom IC-A23 and a basic headset. Connecting the two I have an Icom headset adapter and the jack for a remote push-to-talk (PTT) switch is hanging free at the top of the setup. The only oddball component is the little aluminum project box that I cut out and bent up to contain a small Radio Shack impedance matching transformer. The audio output from the handheld wants to see 8 ohms but the receivers in the headset are 300 ohms, so the transformer makes them friendlier to each other and it raises the headset volume so I can actually hear something. Without the impedance matching the audio was so feeble I had to reduce power and duck behind the windscreen to just barely make out what I was hearing. This is much better. The part about the whole radio setup that I never did like was the Velcro-attached PTT with the coiled cord, and after it started falling apart I threw it against the hangar wall and decided to get a real PTT. Having heard good things about the Ray Allen grips, I purchased their G101 model, which is their simplest and least expensive at $36. I like it!

Here's the front page of the stick grip instructions...