Cogrady84 From United Kingdom, joined May 2007, 4 posts, RR: 0 Posted (6 years 1 month 2 weeks 1 hour ago) and read 9015 times:
Hello
I've just completed my registration to this forum, this is officially my first post (wave).
I've been an aviation enthusiast for probably going on 15 years now, I use flight sims and visit airports as often as possible!
One thing I have always wanted to get into is using "scanners" to listen to live ATC comms, I have visited Heathrow several times now and often there are people sat around listening in, it facinates me and I often listed in on liveatc.net.
I have a planned trip to London coming up at the end of the month and would LOVE to have an appropriate device which will allow me to do this whilst im there! I'm staying in a hotel across from 09 for 2 nights. As I am in the UK I dont think I have the Radio Shack option, although somebody may be able to correct me on this... Could I have some advice on exactly what I should be looking for? What radio frequencies I should be using etc? I'm TOTALLY new to this!
Is this legal practice? Is there anything I shouldn't do?
WestJetYQQ From Canada, joined Jan 2007, 2986 posts, RR: 5 Reply 2, posted (6 years 1 month 2 weeks 1 hour ago) and read 9008 times:
It should be legal to listen to it without sharing it.
You can listen to any of the airport frequencies. It's just a matter of looking up what they are. If you have a British flight supplement, it could be of use to you.
David L From United Kingdom, joined May 1999, 9242 posts, RR: 42 Reply 3, posted (6 years 1 month 1 week 6 days 10 hours ago) and read 8975 times:
Quoting PAHS200 (Reply 1): it is OK to listen for your enjoyment but you CAN NOT share it
Quoting WestJetYQQ (Reply 2): It should be legal to listen to it without sharing it.
In the UK, it is technically illegal to listen to broadcasts that aren't meant for you but apparently the Home Office takes a "relaxed view" provided you don't do something silly with it, like, as suggested, sharing it on the internet.
I bought my AOR AR8200 Mk II from http://www.javiation.co.uk/ - they have quite a wide range of scanners and accessories.
There are lists on the internet but you could start here: http://www.javiation.co.uk/vu.html . You could paste that list into a spreadsheet and sort by location.
Cogrady84 From United Kingdom, joined May 2007, 4 posts, RR: 0 Reply 5, posted (6 years 1 month 1 week 6 days 7 hours ago) and read 8951 times:
Thanks for the info guys... although looking at the site, i still have NO idea what I should actually be getting? I would like something fairly compact, handheld. Range would need to be fairly good i assume. and be able to monitor frequencies at LHR and MME (Teesside/Durham Tees Valley).
David L From United Kingdom, joined May 1999, 9242 posts, RR: 42 Reply 6, posted (6 years 1 month 1 week 6 days 5 hours ago) and read 8940 times:
Quoting Cogrady84 (Reply 5): i still have NO idea what I should actually be getting?
That's tricky. What's your budget? How many frequencies do you need to store? For £70 (at Javiation), you can get the Maycom 108 which seems to be great value for money.
For £400 you can get something that stores 1000 frequencies in 20 banks, so you can store all the frequencies you're likely to need anywhere and only scan the banks that apply at your current location (you don't want to be scanning 1000 memory channels when only 50 apply). You can also connect it to your PC and use control software and save your frequencies to Excel, etc.
Quoting Cogrady84 (Reply 5): Range would need to be fairly good i assume. and be able to monitor frequencies at LHR and MME (Teesside/Durham Tees Valley).
Depending on your location when listening to MME, you may only be able to hear transmissions from aircraft in the air (perhaps only 50 ft or so and higher) and not the tower itself... but it depends. The "official" rule is line of sight but it's usually a bit better than that. From your location, you'll also be able to hear one side of some conversations with with London Centre and/or Scottish Centre by aircraft en route nearby, e.g. north Atlantic traffic, London-Glasgow/Edinburgh traffic.
From a hotel across the runway at LHR, you'll be able to hear both sides of the conversations, assuming the windows have no metallic content - I've been blocked by hotel windows before.
UK_Dispatcher From United Arab Emirates, joined Dec 2001, 2553 posts, RR: 32 Reply 7, posted (6 years 1 month 1 week 6 days 4 hours ago) and read 8932 times:
Nice to hear you are from the MME area. I was brought up in the north east and lived near MME and NCL airports at different times. I worked at MME for a few years before moving to MAN and later to AUH.
Do you get to MME very often? I haven't been using it so much since EY started flying AUH-MAN - it is often easier now to fly there and get the train to Darlington than wait around LHR for a flight to MME.
When you get your scanner if you tune to 131.575, that is the company frequency used by bmi and Aviance at several UK stations including MME. I'm sure someone else can give you ATC frequencies for MME.
Let me know what the goings on are at MME if possible - it is always nice to hear about the more unusual visitors.
KaiGywer From United States of America, joined Oct 2003, 12043 posts, RR: 42 Reply 9, posted (6 years 1 month 1 week 3 days 23 hours ago) and read 8854 times:
Here in the US, a cheap handheld scanner can be had for about $100. Should be good enough for ATC, cops, fire, ambulance.
KaiGywer From United States of America, joined Oct 2003, 12043 posts, RR: 42 Reply 11, posted (6 years 1 month 6 days 13 hours ago) and read 8755 times:
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