Yaesu FTA550 Handheld VHF Transceiver

I bought this radio to have out in the field with when operating drones to listen to local air traffic and increase situational awareness. It feels heavy and solid and it quite larger than my ham handheld radio. Works great!

I bought this radio as a backup for the single COM radio in my airplane. I am based at a tower-controlled airport and my single radio fails, it is much more difficult to get back into the controlled airspace to land. I also wanted to be able to listen in to air show control at events like Oshkosh and other events. I only fly VFR, so I don't need it to work with ATC enroute controllers, most of whom would be located many miles away.I bought the AA version because I didn't want to mess around with a rechargeable battery - I would use this radio relatively rarely and alkaline batteries were all I needed. I also bought a 2nd battery tray for $15, so I can carry a spare set of batteries in their own tray - reviewers that pointed out the difficulty of getting batteries into the tray were correct. I didn't think it was too hard to do on the ground, but I wouldn't want to do it in the air.I also bought a PTT switch for it. I have since returned it.I have been having periodic problems with my COM radio, and it happened again today. Tower was reporting "barely readable" and was struggling to hear me. I pulled our the FTA550 and plugged it into the cigarette lighter socket I use for 12VDC in the plane. With the PTT switch, my transmissions were also nearly unreadable, which was also the case with the radio's side tone. I was using my Dave Clark 13.4s using the included headset adapter (Thanks for providing all of the accessories, Yaesu!!) and the received audio was strong and crisp. I removed the optional PTT switch (which is being returned to Amazon for a refund) and just used the PTT on the side of the radio. It worked just fine.Using the included BNC antenna, Tower was able to read me from eight miles out, but not as strong as usual. At five miles they were reading me loud and clear. It probably helps that my plane has a bubble canopy that lets the antenna transmit without being blocked by aluminum wings or fuselage, but I am still going to get and mount an external antenna, or put an A-B switch between my primary COM and the FTA550.This radio provided the redundancy that I needed at a very reasonable cost. I would not use it for IFR in less I had no other choice, and I would definitely install an external antenna if I thought I would ever have to use in for that kind of flying. I have not tried using the VOR function and don't anticipate a need for it because I also carry a backup GPS. I might try it someday to see how it works, just in case.

Good radio, well built. Wish it had rechargeable battery. It’s just for air band but works great for that

Got the job done. Not bad. Not great but not bad.

AA batteries are very very tight fit and need a screwdriver to remove from their pack, but that's probably not a design fault, as it appears to be built for the rechargeable pack and this AA version is a bit of an afterthought. Like so many other devices, when used with Ni-Mh batteries it reports "battery low" very quickly but then runs forever in that state. I've never let it run out, but have used it to receive consistently for at least 8hrs. Antenna doesn't have a positive -click- and likes to come loose, but overall it's great for the price, compared to other options, and I think it would be unfair to knock off a star. Probably no point in talking about range because I don't have another handheld radio to A/B it with under the same conditions, and range is all about wattage and altitude, but I cannot notice a great receive difference between it and the Garmin or King radios in the plane. Cannot comment on transmit as I haven't used it for that. It's mainly for getting ATIS/AWOS before starting and to listen to traffic at airports that don't have an outside speaker. Good, clear, and loud.

The unit I got was defective. The squelch would work. Tons of static. The vor function was fine. If I played with the antenna the static would go away so I'm guessing that was the issue. I have the 850L and love it. This was going to be a back up to the 850. I plan on getting another 550. I like the yaseu brand but think I just got unlucky with this one.

I work in aviation communications and I bought this to avoid using the radio that was given to me by the company I work for. In comparison, the battery is still full after 7 jobs I have done. The RX capability allowed me to listen to an aircraft landing about 40 miles away with the squelch quiet open. It sounds very clear on TX and RX. The auto VOR feature is awesome to have as a pilot. I will definitely going to have it near me when flying my bird.

This is my first hand held so I really don't have any other radio to compare it to, but with that said I been trying it out for it's reliability. On the ground I've been able to get 25 mile range picking up the bravo from my house with good clarity and probably more if I wanted to push it further . At 11 nautical miles out at 3500 ft I was able to pickup the attis and it was scatchy but readable .I then ask for a radio check from a delta atc. The signal was weak but we were able to communicate . I was also able to use the vor on the ground and it worked great 5 miles out. When I get around to it I'll try the vor in the air . This radio for me met and surpassed my expectations . I have rechargeable battery in the radio and they last pretty long even though the battery indicator is a little off. The one thing I forgot to mention is I used a base antenna instead of the original one when I was 3500 feet in the air. Don't know how the original antenna would have worked. Overall for the price it's a good investment for a backup radio.