For a couple of hundred bucks, a handheld VHF radio is cheap insurance against a comm failure and its useful for obtaining clearances on the ground or just monitoring ATC. As we reported in our October 2005 mega-review of VHF handhelds, the would-be buyer has plenty of options. In our previous wrap-up, we picked the Sportys SP-200 and ICOM IC-A6 as our top choices. Since then, Vertex 176
New Vertex VHF: Thanks, But No Thanks
For a couple of hundred bucks, a handheld VHF radio is cheap insurance against a comm failure and its useful for obtaining clearances on the ground or just monitoring ATC. As we reported in our October 2005 mega-review of VHF handhelds, the would-be buyer has plenty of options. In our previous wrap-up, we picked the Sportys SP-200 and ICOM IC-A6 as our top choices. Since then, Vertex Standard has introduced the VXA-710 Spirit and the VXA-220, touted as improved versions of the previous models. Are these good enough to knock Sportys and ICOM off the VHF pedestal? Unfortunately, we don't think so. If anything, at least one of the models may be a step backward, in our estimation.