Just curious... - surfing the net and found these, Yaesu FTA-550A and Icom IC-A14 / A14S for under $300 Also FTA-230 and FTA 310

Is there much between them ? Both brands highly reputable in my past experience. Yes, different features (alkaline batteries only... etc) so I suppose it's 'Horses for courses'.

IF I lashed out, it would (obviously) be a back-up only so hi-price/lotsa features are low on my list of priorities... Ease of use the highest.

On the other hand, the cheapest VHF scanner/receiver is around $100 for reception quality that most likely wouldn't match the above.

Thoughts ?