Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Not for an airplane
by longeze driver from NM. 
Pros: backlit panel, direct voltage in, easy read panel
Cons: receiver flawed
Review: I purchased this product as a backup radio for my experimental aircraft. For two weeks, I tried to get it to work properly, even enlisting the support from vertex. Nothing worked and I tried every trick in the book including ferite beads,changing antenna location and regrounding of the antenna.I also tried changing every setting in the menu of the radio.I also have a standard aircraft antenna in my airplane. The radio suffers(and the owner) from hetrodyne effect. In layman terms, it picks up multiples of other frequencies. On final approach one day to a tower controlled airport it picked up a tv station. The next time it picked up a fm radio station and every time thereafter.That along with the terrible hiss makes it dangerous to use at a airport with a tower when clear and concise instructions are necessary for safety. Their more expensive radios have this problem too...Read the reviews carefully. I guess it would be ok if you are just strolling down the flightline on the ground listening to radio chatter but I would not use it as a backup com in the air.

Thursday, December 10, 2009
Great Transceiver for the price
by Bill from Clarks Summit PA USA 
Pros: Size
Cons: Could be a little more user friendly
Review: I think the Vertex Pro VI VXA-220 is a great transceiver for the price. I fly an experimental aircraft where space is a problem so it works great for me needs.

Saturday, October 17, 2009
Don't waste your money.
by Tim Devine from Upstate New York 
Pros: Nice Radio
Cons: Can't use it because of junk headset adapter.
Review: Radio works great. Headset adapter is junk. Will not accept David Clark or Sigtronics plugs reliably. Vertex tech support useless. sent you to David Clark or Sigtronics to solve problem. If you want a cheap airshow or just listening toy the VXA-220 is for you.

Thursday, October 15, 2009
by John from Tomball TX USA 
Review: The unit performs great with good power. The only thing objectionable is the programming process. Even the tech people at Vertex could not do it initally. They had to teach themselves then call me back. Once the programming is done then frequency changes are easy. It has already been invaluable when we lost radios on a flight. The contact distance was around 5 nm which is not good for B & C but it was good for D. Have not tried to contact center but will to check it out.

Friday, September 18, 2009
GOOD FOR THE PRICE
by DAVE ROBINSON from Evansville IN USA 
Pros: LOTS OF CAPABILITY AND EASY TO USE.
Cons: BATTERY WON'T HOLD A CHARGE.
Review: EXCELLENT FOR THE PRICE

Tuesday, August 18, 2009
by Dale from Greenville MS 
Review: This radio has excellent reception and a long battery life. It is very easy to use. I mainly use it to just listen to other pilots talk and haven't used it to transmit.

Monday, June 15, 2009
Great Radio
by Rock from alamogordo NM USA 
Pros: Excellent transmission and reception quality
Cons: No complaints, does all I require of it.
Review: Menu selection easy on the ground but changes inflight for single seat pilot take some thought and preparation. This radio serves me well in a low-traffic uncontrolled-airport as my primary communications device. The 220 would be a great back up at busy airports.

Monday, June 15, 2009
Great product, great price !
by john v from bishop GA USA 
Pros: small size, good instructions, good battery life
Cons: non
Review: The Vertex Pro VI VXA-220 is less than the evivalent ICOM unit & the instruction manual is fairly easy to understand. Reception & transmission are good... did a radio check to the tower from inside my house a couple miles from the airport! Can't get over how small, but powerful the unit is.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009
It was a good decision to buy this product!
by Heli Pilot Andi from Liestal in Switzerland 
Pros: Easy to handle, excellent sound, sensitive, good price
Cons: charging equipp. not for continuous ops.,
Review: This product is real perfect. It's handsome and easy to handle. The alpha numeric memory system is absolutely great. If the battery charger would be made for continuous operation, that would be great. I use the transceiver very often, especially by ground handling the helicopter. A good gadget for a good price! Unfortunately I didn't ordered the headset with...

Monday, May 18, 2009
Vertiex fine, Service perfect.
by Michael from McLean VA USA 
Pros: More intuitive, easy to use, improved squelch.
Review: The radio is easier to use than it predecessor model from 1998 that I used to own, though it still have many more functions than I need. Improved squelch control, easy access volume control, large/visible digits for frequency. Battery life is excellent. I am very satisfied. Price and shipping speed from mypilotstore was perfect, too. Mike

Saturday, November 08, 2008
Great radio, great value.
by Av8rnfla from Palm Bay, FL 
Pros: Good as more expensive models, waterproof.
Cons: Headset adapter, hard to screw in all the way
Review: This radio is used in my experimental as the ONLY comm unit. It is connected to my external antenna, and transmits and receives well. ATC has no problems with this unit. The only thing I dont like about it is the headset adapter, which you need to screw in ALL THE WAY, or it will not work. I think this radio gives you the best bang for your buck.

Saturday, January 26, 2008
better than a radio shack scanner
by Francis from Columbia Missouri USA 
Review: the 2-legged headset adapter is the pitts

Thursday, January 10, 2008
Good product, no complaints
by josh from lincoln CA USA 
Pros: Very loud volume, and long battery life
Cons: wish it had a little longer antenae
Review: I have had no problems with this product at all. Range and volume all seem good. Headset adapter worked fine as well, easy to use and would work great for a backup!

Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Does what it should
by A Customer from Huntington, WV 
Pros: Durable, good battery life, great reception
Cons: None
Review: Received this Tx for my birthday in July. Have used it quite a bit as a reciever on the ground and in the air. Have had no problems with noise and the one time I used it airborne (just to see if it worked) my transmissions were picked up just fine. I also like the ability to tune into NOAA weather broadcasts while airborne and to listen to the ATIS before I leave for the airport.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007
by IKONOMOS from Jamaica NY USA 
Review: I would buy this product again and again
Your shop have:
Good prices
Good delivery
Analytical information delivery
I hope to shop and other time (maybe leather fly jacket delivery direct I Greece)

Saturday, November 03, 2007
Fixed the hissing audio problem
by C-150 Pilot from Ottawa Canada 
Pros: Radio works ok.
Cons: none
Review: There would be a hiss in the audio as described below (even at full squelch - 8). This was fixed by using a smaller external antenna similar in length to the rubber ducky antenna that comes with the radio.

Saturday, October 27, 2007
Can't be used as an inflight back up radio.
by Cessna 150 pilot. from Ottawa Canada 
Pros: Works well on the ground as an air band reciever.
Cons: Dosen't work while air born.
Review: [editor note: this customer has submitted a modification to this original review above]
This radio works well on the ground as a toy. But I don't think you can use it as a backup com.

Mine produces a hiss in the received audio when air born that makes it sometimes impossible to hear a tower radio transmission. This hissing starts when your about 200ft above the ground on take off and continues until about 200ft from the ground on landing. Turning the squelch up full (8) makes no difference.

Also the unit will not transmit with the power needed for reliable communication from inside a metal aircraft while air born. I understand that its only 5 watt, but if the tower can't receive your transmit from only 8-10 miles away then the radio can't be used.

I hooked the radio up to the aircrafts external com antenna, and this improves transmit. The radio transmit was acceptable and could be received from twenty miles, but the received audio hiss still occurs.

I sent the radio back to Vertex for warranty and it was returned after about 1 month. They said they replaced some parts and the radio tested normal. But its operation is still the same as described above.

The radio receives the weather channel broadcasts very well from inside the aircraft at all times regardless of which antenna is used.

Friday, October 05, 2007
vertex vxa 220 transciever
by scott from Rahway NJ USA 
Pros: quality product
Review: great unit,lives up to all expectations, performance and quality that semms rare these days

Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Good Value Excellent Performance
by GD from Martinsburg, WV 
Pros: Durability, Transmit power, Volume level, programable features, battery life (includes rechargable battery and charger)
Cons: Headset adapter
Review: After 30+ years of GA and commercial flying this is my first handheld transceiver. Guess I have been lucky - so far only one comm outage albeit on a VFR in the NY Metro area! This is a nice unit. I looked at the Sporty's navcomm but the durability of this unit is what sold me. I know, nobody preflights in the rain right?

Good performance as a backup comm although the headset adapter seems a bit finicky. I can't get it to work with my ptt and Telex headset.

Overall a good unit for the <$200 price. Some places it is offerred for [less]. Shop around [and do a price match].

Thursday, August 16, 2007
Transciever
by A Customer from Manila 
Pros: Great reception.
Review: This is really cool. The reception is amazing. The best toy I ever had.

Sunday, August 05, 2007
Great
by Jake from California 
Pros: Small, compact, light, strong build, quality good
Cons: Headset adapter SUCKS and requries push to talk switch
Review: Works as advertised. Well built and easy to use. Great for IFR backup, listening to tower and for student solos. Battery life seems pretty good so far. I am very happy with this purchase. Much smaller than the Sporty's one.