PIREP, Please - Sporty's PJ2 Handheld Radio

[SoCal 182 Driver]

My wife is asking about my holiday gift. I've been thinking about getting a handheld radio to keep in the plane. Sporty's has the PJ2 and now PJ2+, both of which have full-size headset jacks (no adapter needed), and both can be run off a USB cable (assuming I still have power in the plane).

I'd appreciate PIREPs on the PJ2 series of radios.

Thanks!

 

[GaryM]

My wife is asking about my holiday gift. I've been thinking about getting a handheld radio to keep in the plane. Sporty's has the PJ2 and now PJ2+, both of which have full-size headset jacks (no adapter needed), and both can be run off a USB cable (assuming I still have power in the plane).

I'd appreciate PIREPs on the PJ2 series of radios.

Thanks!

I like it for it's simplicity, and for the ability to plug in full-size jacks directly. I had a first-gen PJ2 as soon as they came out...the ones with the bad battery packs. A dead short on mine actually melted a bit of the pack, but Sporty's was kind enough to let my buy a redesigned replacement pack at full retail. Then the rotary on-off switch failed, or mostly failed. It would just rotate freely, without turning on the radio or adjusting the volume. This happened outside of the warranty period. I'd left it on my desk with the switch on and at high volume (I didn't realize it since it wasn't doing anything) and one night it did roar randomly to life, waking my wife and I up with a call to KMMU traffic by a biz jet inbound for landing. Then it stopped working again.

I liked the simple feature set and jack compatibility enough to take a chance on buying a second PJ2. It generally works, though the rotary switch has failed a time or two, then resumed function, so I don't really trust it.

I saw the announcement for the PJ2+, and they make no mention of fixing a switch issue, not that they would necessarily.

 

[NordicDave]

@GaryM did a nice summarizing the good. I own a PJ2 and have had it for about a year with light use. I believe this was Sporty's second model

Upside sides for me outweigh the downsides

Positives:

• EASY user interface
• Dedicated frequency flop button -like most ship board radios
• No dongles or adapter cables required for attaching to ship antenna or modern headsets
• Seems like long battery shelf-life
• Great price

Negatives:

• Larger and heavier than most handhelds
• Seems more delicate than my Yaesu. I'm confident throwing my Yaesu up in the air for a hard landing on the ramp would scuff the plastic and that's about it. Would not try this with the PJ2.
• Latch on battery door is thin plastic, get too aggressive it will crack

I have no regrets with my PJ2. It's the go-to unit for all my ground ops. I keep it in the truck as occasionally I have lunch watching planes at the airport and tune-in. Yeah dorky thing to do and likely the only guy here doing that.

 

[skyking3286]

It’s my primary radio in my classic taildragger. Plenty of squelch to work with unshielded ignition, more than enough range with external antenna and works well with a power bank battery pack. Good buy and it does what it says it does.

 

[David Tulis]

I’ve had a PJ2 for a couple of years and it’s dependable and easy to use. Recently found out it’s pretty tough too. The radio was blown off a 6-foot ladder during a ground ops photo shoot and only scuffed the raised panel surrounding the screen.
I recently tested the PJ2+ version and have no reason to doubt it is equally robust. The main difference is the PJ2+ allows earbuds and relocated the volume and squelch knobs to the same concentric post to make room for the earbud jack. Still able to use dual headset jacks without an adapter.

 

[172andyou]

Sporty's regularly makes junk products and doesn't stand behind them. I'll never buy anything from them again.

Yaesu would be a much better choice.

I'll nitpick at your plan a bit also.
Keeping a radio in the plane is a recipe for failure. Batteries don't like temp swings and will go bad, leaving you with a radio that doesn't work. I keep mine in my bag and use it regularly to assure that its in working condition if I ever need it in the air. But, really, it's been great to have on hand at remote strips far more than as an emergency backup as I read your note to imply.

 

[Pinecone]

Sporty's regularly makes junk products and doesn't stand behind them. I'll never buy anything from them again.

Yaesu would be a much better choice.

I am a Yaesu fanboi and all my Ham radios are Yaesu, about 8 of them.

I picked up a barely used 750. The Frequency knob no longer has clicks.

The squelch level changes based on if I am touching it. And there is not enough squelch to keep it quiet when I am not holding it.

The dongle for a headset is annoying. Plus, you will lose the cover, so the weather resistance becomes compromised without the dongle in place.

And the built in nav is sort of worthless without some level of database. Having to enter the Lat/Long of an airport to navigate to is is a bit of a pain.

 

[Mongoose Aviator]

I keep a Yaesu FTA-450 handheld in my flight bag.

After an upgrade, my twin ended up with a spare comm antennae which was then wired to a jack in the panel specifically to plug the handheld into if needed for better range.

 

[ArrowFlyer86]

I've had a PJ2 for 2 years now. It works OK for my needs.

Only 1 relatively minor complaint... after replacing the batteries the radio wouldn't turn on. I'd have to re-seat the battery pack multiple times until it had good enough contact to come on. That's happened each time I've changed the batteries...

Other than that - it's been $200 well spent.

 

[David Tulis]

Update to previous PJ2+ info: returning from a recent air to air assignment the PJ2+ reception was solid from about 12 miles out @3,000 feet via the rubber ducky antenna. On the ground it’s serviceable to about 3-miles, and slightly further depending on elevation/obstacles.
And don’t forget it can be powered by an external USB power pack or cord from the panel-mounted cigar lighter.
I use Lithium AA batteries which have a very low drain and won’t leak, in my experience.