Chances are you’ve never seen a handheld navcom radio quite like this. The Yaesu FTA-550 Pro-X radio can transmit and receive on the full aviation-frequency band between 108.000 MHz and 136.975 MHz, with dedicated scanning for comm and nav frequencies from an easy-to-read menu page on its LCD screen.
The FTA-550 also includes VOR and ILS navigation features plus NOAA weather band monitoring, making it an excellent emergency backup in the event of lost communications radios or other instrument failures. When the FTA-550 receives a VOR signal, the display will automatically switch to the nav-band screen, which shows a CDI based on the received signal.
The radio can be programmed with up to 200 preset channels and quickly called up by selecting the station name. With the capability of using up to 15 alphanumeric characters per name, the FTA-550 allows for complete channel descriptions. The radio can be programmed on the user’s computer with the included USB cable.
Two versions of the radio are offered: FTA-550L comes with a lithium-ion battery, 110-volt and 12-volt DC charger with cradle, alkaline battery tray, antenna, belt clip, headset adapter, and USB programming cable, while the FTA-550AA comes supplied with alkaline battery tray, 12-volt DC power cable and antenna, plus the belt clip, headset adapter and USB programming cable.
