Handheld transceiver recommendations? Icom, Yaesu, or Sporty's?

Ryan A

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austinrc
Looking at getting a new handheld transceiver. I'm trying to decide if I should go for the Icom A-16, Yaesu FTA-550, or Sporty's PJ2.

Anyone have any experience with any of these?

Thanks.
 
I have the Yaesu 450. I haven't used it as an emergency radio in the air yet but it works well for ground to air comms and checking AWOS. Lives mostly in my flight bag but seems sturdy enough.
 
I've got an older Icom A-22 Nav/Com. They aren't made anymore but I've had a couple of the Icom portables and they are pretty hard to kill.

A friend came into the airport the other day. He had the Sporty's radio. Said he liked it for the full size headphone jacks but complained about having an issue with it. It wasn't clear to me what the problem was ...
 
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I use sportys. I find it the easiest to use, turn it on and punch in a frequency. Or use one from the memory function. I had to use it twice in rentals when radios weren't working.
I had an icon but sold it. It was just to complicated for me.
 
Yaesu is great. I have had one for years.

Stay as far away as possible from Sporty's. Build quality is terrible. I know at least four people that have had theirs just stop working. One let the smoke out, which is kind of terrifying for an aviation product.
 
Yaesu is great. I have had one for years.

Stay as far away as possible from Sporty's. Build quality is terrible. I know at least four people that have had theirs just stop working. One let the smoke out, which is kind of terrifying for an aviation product.

I had a Sporty's handheld from about 10 years ago (SP-400?) It worked great for checking ATIS. The one time I needed it for a NORDO situation, the screen went dark. I also had an iCom IC-A2***Something (also from about 10 years ago). For awhile it was my only radio in a little non-electric fun-flyer. It would pick the most inopportune time to decide to quit working. Fresh batteries wouldn't last a whole flight. And the little cigarette lighter adapter connection on the radio was finicky. So, I would find myself at the 45 for entry and not able to get anymore than my N number out before it'd quit working.

I've had a Yaesu FT-550AA now for about a year. It works great. I think the button-ology could be a little simpler. But, other than that, no complaints!
 
I ordered a Yaesu FT-550AA. Sounds like I made a good choice. Thank you all.
 
I had an icon but sold it. It was just to complicated for me.

I can't disagree with that. Sometimes it takes a second round to get where you are going. I think that's because I seldom use it.

I like the Nav feature on mine and it worked pretty well back in the day when I used to use it. I'm now a child of the magenta. :blush:
 
Looking at getting a new handheld transceiver. I'm trying to decide if I should go for the Icom A-16, Yaesu FTA-550, or Sporty's PJ2.

Anyone have any experience with any of these?

Thanks.
I have a Yaesu Pro-X, which is a great radio (with VOR/LOC nav built in as well). You can use it with its own built-in rechargeable battery or alkaline batteries, and it comes with a headset adapter at no extra charge.

The only negative point is that if you want to plug in the headset adapter, you have to unscrew a little plate to do so, which would be an annoyance in an emergency.
 
I have the Yaesu FTA-750L and I love it.
GPS, VOR, Glidepath all work. Lot's of advanced features.
I would buy another in a heartbeat.
 
I have a Yaesu Pro-X, which is a great radio (with VOR/LOC nav built in as well). You can use it with its own built-in rechargeable battery or alkaline batteries, and it comes with a headset adapter at no extra charge.

The only negative point is that if you want to plug in the headset adapter, you have to unscrew a little plate to do so, which would be an annoyance in an emergency.

Have the same. I just leave the adapter installed, mostly out of fear of losing it in my bag.
 
I have a Vertex Standard VXA-300 picked up cheap off of Craigslist. I've never used it in anger, though. I doubt the NiCD/NiMH/whatever batteries have any life left in them, but I do have the alkaline battery tray as a standby and it's full of Energizer Lithium.
 
Whatever you get, make sure you have the AA battery tray for it. Unless you use the radio a bunch and need rechargeable capability you'll want to use disposable batteries. Much cheaper in the long run.
 
I use energizer lithium. They actually give me decent battery life in a very old Sporty's.
 
I vote for the simplest radio possible. The one time I used mine in anger it was at night. I had just lost everything electrical at night with some smoke in the cockpit. I had just taken off to give a pal a ride to get his plane after annual. I told my pal to take the controls while I rooted around in back to get the hand held. I was able to turn it on by feel, call the tower and tell them of my plight, and return to land.

It was one of the earlier Sportys.
 
I still have an ancient Sporty's SPA-400. Aviation Consumer just did a review of portable COMs, for those who are interested. The current crop is a lot smaller than the one I have. An AA battery pack is a must, charged with alkaline or lithium batteries that have low self-discharge rates. (NiMH batteries will deplete over time, leaving you in the lurch during an emergency if not frequently recharged.) Alkaline or lithium cells are pretty much a do it and forget it for a year. To make portables useful, one should also purchase a headset adapter, and optionally, a external antenna adapter in the panel. I have the former but not the latter.
 
I have the iCom A-25N. It has some pluses like the screen and NAV that works, and it's nice and useful to have a ground radio.

The A-16 has nice specs and good price but I wouldn't recommend an iCom based on the difficulty of programming the A-25N, unless don't care about that. The iPhone app for it is totally useless and abandonware. And must buy special cables and software to program it (none of that is really documented), or else do it manually.

The rechargeable battery (a $125 replacement item) gave up in less than 2 years. I think to just use the AA battery tray from now on. I always carry lots of AA batteries in the airplane. Maybe it's because I didn't use it enough that the battery went dead. I definitely agree with above comments about AA batteries.
 
Sporty's PJ2. Stone simple to use and my headset plugs directly into it. When I need to use it I just want to turn it on, plug in my headset, and key in the frequency.
 
General question for all of you, are any of these radios loud enough to use in a, say, C172 cockpit in flight without connecting to a headset in an emergency?
 
I have the iCom A-25N. It has some pluses like the screen and NAV that works, and it's nice and useful to have a ground radio.

The A-16 has nice specs and good price but I wouldn't recommend an iCom based on the difficulty of programming the A-25N, unless don't care about that. The iPhone app for it is totally useless and abandonware. And must buy special cables and software to program it (none of that is really documented), or else do it manually.

The rechargeable battery (a $125 replacement item) gave up in less than 2 years. I think to just use the AA battery tray from now on. I always carry lots of AA batteries in the airplane. Maybe it's because I didn't use it enough that the battery went dead. I definitely agree with above comments about AA batteries.

I got less than 18 months out of my A25 battery. Very disappointed, especially with the replacement battery cost.
 
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