Yaesu FTA Series vs. Icom IC-A Series Portables

Hi all, newbie here with a quick question, I have the Icom IC-A6 which vor scans the entire VHF aviation bandplan however you cannot lock out any frequencies in that mode, you can only lock out frequencies in the dedicated scanlist you program yourself, this is particularly annoying when one wants to scan the entire bandplan with the inability to lock out ATIS transmissions, the owners manuals don't mention this so I called Yaesu tech service & they acted like they never heard of such a thing, anybody here have one of these radios & have possibly tried to lock out any frequencies while the radio is in vor scan mode? Thanks for your time.

Welcome to Yaesu.com

There is no temporary lockout or nuisance delete on the A series in vfo mode as far as I'm aware.

If you really want to scan, you may want to save the A6 for flight operations, and invest in an inexpensive Uniden 75xlt or the 125at scanner which does fine with airband and of course has these temporary lockout features. Of course, you won't be able to hear these scanners on the flightline like you could with the A6.

Plus, the A6 antenna, the Icom FA-B02AR, makes a good narrowband vhf airband antenna for the scanners with bnc mount.

I'm not sure about the FTA series. I've done it both ways and at home, I prefer a scanner for scanning, and not the backup handheld transceivers, as sexy as they may seem initially. Save those for the flightline.

Do note that handheld radios for aviation purposes are designed for use in case the radios/electrical system on the aircraft fail completely. They are not designed for scanning, they're designed to communicate. You're supposed to know what channel you're on and if you don't know, you can yell for help on 121.5 MHz.

They're also commonly used by ground crews at airports for handling fuel truck requests, Pre-heats, De-icing, and so forth. Again, they're not designed for scanning.