What do you guys like for handheld backup radios?

Came in this morning. Haven’t got a chance to use it in the plane yet but here are my first impressions.

First thank god they put that warning notice that I have to agree to every time I turned it on. If ever my whole panel dies in IMC I’ll surely look at that legal notice and know not to use the radio. :rolleyes:

Lawyer BS not withstanding, it feels hefty and well built enough. I was able to figure out how to do all the important stuff without reading the overly thick manual that came with it.

Two issues come to mind. While loading up the AA batteries I realized swapping out batteries was not something I’d want to have to do in flight. They fit very tightly into the pack and are difficult to remove. Sitting here at home not a big deal but if I was hand flying IMC that might be a serious problem. Hopefully I just check it before I leave home and this is never an issue but worth some thought.

Second issue is the cover for the headset adapter- it’s held on with 2 screws. The screws have the wide slots that you can use a coin or something to turn so that’s nice but again thinking of the intended use case I’d normally not want the headset plugged in unless I had all my panel radios go out. So then I’d either need to leave the panel removed at all times or have to deal with removing the screws/cover during flight, locating the headset dongle, and hooking up the headset. I’m probably just going to remove the little cover permanently... again small gripe but worth thinking about. Maybe I can just use it without a headset, hearing over the engine noise would be an issue though.

Overall it’s about what I expected. Will have to actually do some testing in the air.
 

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Yaesu FTA-450L for me, solid performance with the rechargeable battery pack. Programming from the PC but the interface looks dated and the manual with it is vague at best
 
I would gladly attend a class on how to actually dial in and keep a frequency on the Yaesu 550. I like the radio but it leaves a lot to be desired in the programming/changing frequency instructions.
 
I got the Yaesu 750 and the Icom A14. I intentionally avoided anything with NiMH batteries because the self discharge rate is so high. I also didn't want to have to mess with AAs. The lithium ion batteries hold a charge for at least a few months, and theoretically they can last much longer. I have a Garmin InReach satellite communicator that's rated to hold a charge for 3 years when it's turned off.

The Yaesu is cool with its VOR functions and whatnot, but way too complicated to actually use most of the features and I doubt I'd ever really need to use them anyway. The Icom A14 is really nice because it's super simple and feels great in the hand.
 
Steve Kanefsky said:
I got the Yaesu 750 and the Icom A14. I intentionally avoided anything with NiMH batteries because the self discharge rate is so high. I also didn't want to have to mess with AAs. The lithium ion batteries hold a charge for at least a few months, and theoretically they can last much longer. I have a Garmin InReach satellite communicator that's rated to hold a charge for 3 years when it's turned off.

The Yaesu is cool with its VOR functions and whatnot, but way too complicated to actually use most of the features and I doubt I'd ever really need to use them anyway. The Icom A14 is really nice because it's super simple and feels great in the hand.
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The A14 holds a charge for at least 6 months....there's one in my flight bag somewhere...sometimes I remember to charge it before flying...usually not though.
 
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