Yaesu FTA-250L Handheld VHF Airband Transceiver (Comm only)

First, a fine radio in terms of reception, sound quality, and compact form factor. Second, very affordable and comes with a lot of great accessories - rechargeable battery and recharger, aviation headset adapter (nice touch that the adapter can screw in to the radio body for more security). My venerable old Sporty’s SP-400 finally had one too many issues so I’ve replaced it with a Yaesu FTA-250L and wow, what a difference in terms of improved quality, features, accessories, performance and smaller/lighter form factor. I compared it with the new Sporty's PJ2+ and it still wins hands down. A really cool feature is that the Yaesu has a digital squelch instead of an analog knob like the SP-400 and it seems much more intelligent. I’ve been listening to aircraft communicating with Charlotte approach that fly the pattern over our house and it is crystal clear. Calling for fuel on the ramp is great. It is smaller and lighter as I mentioned, which makes it easier to hold on to, but I am also impressed with the accessories. The package included an adapter for standard aviation headphones that screws on to the transceiver body to make it much more secure. No data on battery life yet but supposed to be good. Good memory functions, straightforward interface, and ability to also pick up the weather bands, just like the SP-400. Good labeling function on the memory – can spell out KEQY AWOS or CLT APP easily. Great product!

Compact & rechargeable - that’s what makes this radio a great buy as a backup radio for pilots. Adapter cable is good quality, also comes with 12V adapter and a wall charging cradle. After using a radio with AA batteries, this one is so much better.

This has been the best thing I have gotten for my aviation training. It is so much fun and full of practical value as well. I am not sure what the housing it made of, but this thing is solid. I have dropped it on the pavement and it is no worse for the exepreince. -- I use this radio before and during my preflights. I can toggle between the AWOS and the CTAF and get all sorts of advance information about weather and traffic before starting the engine. I have used it to talk to planes in the pattern and it has done great. It also serves as a back-up radio in the plane and it is just fun to have while around the airport to hear what is going on. Highly recommend.

The Yaesu FTA-250L looks and feels like a well-made, durable unit. Using the manual I was able to easily learn its functions. Operation is simple and easy to remember. Reception and transmission are loud and clear. At first, I had difficulty making it charge in the charging cradle, but once I realized how to place it in the cradle, the indicator light is red when charging and it turns green when fully charged. This unit will be a perfect backup for the flight bag and great portable unit on the ground. I am very happy with my purchase.

Overall, the FTA-250L is a very nice VHF AIR transceiver. If only a receiver is needed, then I'd highly recommend the Uniden BC125AT versus the Yaesu. The Uniden will scan the entire VHF AIR spectrum in the time it takes the Yaesu to scan a fraction of it. The audio quality is also a bit better on the Uniden. The FTA-250L is easy to use and has some interesting features. One of those is an option that uses DSP Noise Reduction to cut out the static of routine VHF AIR transmissions. There are 4 levels of NR. The 3rd and 4th levels are almost the same but they drastically cut the white noise behind routine transmission; however, it makes the audio somewhat distorted and hard to hear. It also feels like the transceiver is working harder so battery usage may be impacted. The clear, white LCD is very nice and easy to read. It definitely makes tuning a VHF AIR frequency very easy. For the price, the value is there but again, if you only need a receiver, then the Uniden scanner is cheaper and more powerful, IMHO. The few negatives: recharging must be done using the charging cradle only. You cannot plug in the AC adapter into the External DC jack. (It can be powered from 13.8v DC but it won't charge the battery.) The USB programming cable is expensive and the programming software is very basic and limited. The speaker audio has a higher degree of treble.

I'm still giving 5 stars because I already knew the squelch was digital which working at the airport makes it difficult to adjust as we have strobes on every type vehicle. When I get close to the strobes it breaks the squelch where if I had a squelch knob It would be so much easier to adjust, my bad. It's very sensitive to some aircraft too another need for a manual squelch.

Why did you pick this product vs others?: I choose the radio over the others for the price and reliability. The radio is easy to field program and has great sound quality, with lasting battery life.

The unit is clearly well made, has clear audio quality and seems to have good transmission power. However, the squelch function is time consuming to access through the menu. Also, the squelch is not a set it once and done affair. The unit will break squelch as soon as you put it down on the seat. Making it rather annoying to use in flight.

muy buen radio y buena recepción para uso local

Hasta el momento ha sido lo que esperaba. El squelch es digital y lo puedes ajustar sin mayor problema. Tiene memoria para 250 canales. Para una mejor recepción obviamente debes estar en un lugar abierto. Dentro de 5 kms del aeropuerto es excelente la recepción. Sin duda lo recomiendo.