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Last year ( 2014) there was a thread on hand held transceivers titled:

Hand held radio...which one?

https://www.backcountrypilot.org/forum/hand-held-radio-which-one-15652?p=212414#p212414

So it is 2015, almost 2016. I wanted to revisit the topic. I am looking at several units, and am not looking for all the bells and whistles. In fact, I prefer the exact opposite, namely a unit that is simple, quick to operate, rugged, and ergonomic. I don't need NAV, GPS, ILS, CDI, etc. I need a simple, no brainer, idiot-proof unit that won't break the bank.

Here are some of the contenders.
Anyone here using any of these, or have any comments?
Feel free to make a suggestion.

REXON RHP-530 Air-Band handheld Radio with VOR and Headset Adaptor ($ 195)


Yaesu FTA550AA Handheld VHF Transceiver ( $ 189 Alkaline & $ 270 Lithium)


Icom A6 ( $ 239)


Sporty’s SP400 Transceiver ( $ 315)


Sporty's SP200 Transceiver (Now Discontinued, but available used; about $ 75-100)

I bought the Icom A-14, great radio. Simple, no fancy features you will never use. Good/great battery life, holds a charge better than any other Icom radio i have owned in the past. Got transmit and receive range. Very happy with purchase. I can't answer many questions about it since all I have done with it is charge it up, dial in freq and use it around the grass strip where I live.

Kurt

I have an old Yaesu AirBand from 2009. Very simple. Rechargble.

For seaplane use, the new Cobra Marine VHF.

No complaints.

G44 wrote:I bought the Icom A-14, great radio. Simple, no fancy features you will never use. Good/great battery life, holds a charge better than any other Icom radio i have owned in the past. Got transmit and receive range. Very happy with purchase. I can't answer many questions about it since all I have done with it is charge it up, dial in freq and use it around the grass strip where I live.

Kurt

+2 for Icom A-14 ,I've got one with a external antenna on the bottom. Anyone have cloning cable and computer disc. = great radio.

My wife bought me an Icom IC-A6. I haven't had a chance to use it much, but I like it so far.

Icom A6. Cheap and easy to use, nice size. Better than the A23 I had before. I wear it on a chest harness with a speaker mic for filming.

Don't bother with a radio with a nav receiver.

I picked up a Icom A6 for my non-electric Tcraft. So far I'm really happy with it. It might seem silly, but the one complaint I have is it has too much range on receiving. When the conditions are right I get traffic from 3-400 miles away. It makes for nonstop radio chatter. This is with a external antenna.

I have an Icom A6 and do not like it. Basic reason is I use it very little in my J3 and its not easy to pick it after 6 months and try and program it. The older style that has two knobs, one for freq and one for volume with squelch adjustment is what I like. The problem is that Icom makes a lot of different radios many of which are for Hams, I am one, and they are used most every day. A aircraft handheld is not always used every time you fly and remembering how to program the thing is a chore.

Perhaps the new A-14 is better.

Tom

I have the SP400 and am happy with it. It isn't minimalist, so it's a little more expensive, but if someone doesn't looking for barebones it's a solid choice.

I used a handheld with external antenna in the Luscombe. The first radio was a RHP-520 which I really liked. The nav portion was useless but the com side worked well and was easy to use. After several years the squelch went bad so we bought a A6. It is a great radio and would be the one I'd recommend. I think the rhp was a touch easier to use but I'd still suggest the A6.

I just bought two of the Yaesu FT550 - one for me and one for a friend. Very happy with them. I went in to Pacific Coast Avionics and looked at the Yaesu and Icom. Yaesu seems better made, water resistant, more complete & definitely has more features with the bigger display.

Steve
RV-4
Bearhawk 4PL

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a3holweman wrote:

I have an Icom A6 and do not like it. Basic reason is I use it very little in my J3 and its not easy to pick it after 6 months and try and program it. The older style that has two knobs, one for freq and one for volume with squelch adjustment is what I like. The problem is that Icom makes a lot of different radios many of which are for Hams, I am one, and they are used most every day. A aircraft handheld is not always used every time you fly and remembering how to program the thing is a chore.

Thanks for all the great comments from all the folks that piped in. Ergonomics is my highest priority. I too am a ham radio operator, and find many of the hand held rigs just too cumbersome to operate with their multifunction multilevel buttons. The Google home page is great because it is simple and uncluttered.

Seems all the rigs pictured in my initial post can be operated with just one hand, although some probably more easily than others. In reading on other websites it's funny. Some people do not like the Icoms and complain that the A6 is too complex to use and program. Others say the same about the Yaesus. That's why I posted some current rigs .

Seems the Yaesu and SP400 by Sporty's have large screens. The SP200 is as simple as a brick. ZZZ's use of a speaker mic is a very helpful feature, and I do have an old Avcomm ANR900 headset that has a PTT button on one side of the headset.

I guess at this point, I will continue to read the posts here. I am sort of leaning towards the Yaesu FTA550AA, or the old Sporty's SP200 because it is as simple as a brick with buttons, and is dirt cheap. I can probably use it later as a backup backup.Stay tuned..film at 11 ...

All good choices, one thing that was important to me was whether or not an AA alkaline battery pack was available also. With that pack and AA batteries, I was assured of always having a working radio if I did not have a 12V receptacle to recharge it. Iv'e been out in the sticks where that has come in handy more than once.

Also, I believe all of the Icoms have detachable antennae, and if I remember right, my Yaesu did not, which eliminated carrying that one in my chart box, or hooking up the aircraft antenna in an emergency.

Zenithguy wrote:....

Also, I believe all of the Icoms have detachable antennae, and if I remember right, my Yaesu did not, which eliminated carrying that one in my chart box, or hooking up the aircraft antenna in an emergency.

My Yaseu has a permanently bent antenna from carrying it in small pockets. Removable is good.

I use the Yaesu Pro-X with the Lithium battery. I have walked around with it on all day long at Reno, HSF, and various fly-ins with plenty of battery left at the end of the day. In the Champ I plug it in through the portable intercom and use a push to talk switch. The large screen is really nice when you are in the air, and you can switch between all your recently used frequencies with the push of a button, or just punch a new freq in on the keypad whenever you like. I don't use it much, but the VOR feature is pretty cool to have...just punch in the freq and it will recognize it as a VOR display your radial on the screen. You can also scan with it.

Works well for me in the pattern. Within 4-5 miles of the airport I can listen to the AWOS and figure out where the traffic is. Not sure how far out my calls can be received, or what the quality is...been meaning to check that out. But I get a "loud and clear" for most of my radio checks when taxiing.

Anyway, I think its easy to use. 90% of the time I just turn it on, and use the ENT and scroll button to switch frequencies. I also abuse it quite a bit and it has held up well.

I agree with the idea of a removable antenna. I used an icom a23 for eight years in my Savannah. With the rubber ducky antenna it worked okay, but the external antenna made a huge difference.

As far as simple is better, the A23 sucked. The A6 would have been much better.

The A23 could be run with aa batteries, but I don't know about the A6, but that is an important idea for a backup. AA alkalines will keep fresh for years. NiCads don't hold a charge for crap, so don't count on them. Lithium ion batteries could probably be charged at six month intervals for reliable operation.

tom

I wish Baofeng made an avband handheld. Anyone used their little 2M handheld? It is awesome! And only $36! The user interface is superior to icom and yaesu for the feature set.

a3holerman wrote:I have an Icom A6 and do not like it. Basic reason is I use it very little in my J3 and its not easy to pick it after 6 months and try and program it. The older style that has two knobs, one for freq and one for volume with squelch adjustment is what I like. The problem is that Icom makes a lot of different radios many of which are for Hams, I am one, and they are used most every day. A aircraft handheld is not always used every time you fly and remembering how to program the thing is a chore.

Perhaps the new A-14 is better.

Tom

I had the same exact experience as Tom. Not being a computer of techie type person, not using it for several days/weeks/months, and I was lost trying to program or use it. The battery also didn't seem to hold a charge for long when it wasn't being used. It was always in my flight bag but probably not used for a month or more and when I needed it, it was most likely deaed or so close to dead as to be worthless. I did get an additional 'AA' battery pack for it that I carried along but was still dissappointed that the rechargable pack was something I couldn't depend on.

I would try and charge it if I was going on a longer cross country so I knew it would be useable. The other downside was the instructions stated a limit on the amount of time on the supplied charger so I couldn't leave it on the charger all the time and then just unplug it when I go flying.
I ended up putting a timer inline with the charger so I wouldn't overcharge. Spare batteries aren't cheap.

On more issue I had with it, in my non-electric Champ, it picked up a real bad noise. I tried the various 'fixes' but never could completly get it to stop. It got so irratating when flying more than an hour, I had to disconnect or shut it off. Ended up using an out dated King KX99 when I flew longer distances.

Still have both radios but rarely use either one since the radios in my planes have been trouble free.

I'm with Tom, a ham with an Icom A6 which I don't care for all that much.
I have used mine in two modes:
1. As a back up w/whip antenna
2. As the main radio in my Champ w/external antenna, stick push button and wired into head set.

In the Champ it is not too bad for local or set up flights, but my personal observation is that it and nearly any other hand held radio is not user friendly.

Buttons are too small
Takes two hands and hold to face to do any but simplest actions
Labels are too obscure (there's not much room for good labels)
Operation is not intuitive when it comes to menu diving
Inadequate battery life indicator
Supposed to not leave on charger more than 8 or so hours, which is not always easy to put a timer on it.

The one time I used it as a backup in a Cherokee Six, it was pretty hard to use in a noisy cockpit with no headset. ATC couldn't hear me well and I could barely hear them. Need an easy way to quickly wire into headset and external antenna just when situation may be demanding and extra time not available.

Mine is the older 25kz version. I went through a lot of trial with Icom trying to get a computer program to program it. Never got it done. Did get my friends 8.33 version programmed via computer. So, my personal experience with Icom customer support is unsatisfactory.

I think a hand held radio should be easy to use, ergonomic, intuitive, have good power, easy to get battery power, have standard antenna connectors (Yaesu does not).

ARRL magazine QST reported last month that a high percentage of Bao Feng had unacceptably high spurious emissions - out of FCC compliance.

I have a Yaesu 70cm/2m hand held and it suffers all the problems of being a small radio.

I've only used a very old Sporty's but would be inclined to look hard at it.

I'm not sure there's a handheld out there with bigger buttons than the A6.