Scanners — Aviation Hobby Forum

Sponsor Message:


My Starred Topics \| Profile \| New Topic \| Forum Index \| Help \| Search

Scanners

AM From Mexico, joined Oct 1999, 578 posts, RR: 2
Posted (13 years 6 months 4 weeks 23 hours ago) and read 1604 times:

Hi everyone,
I'm just about to buy a scanner so I can listen to my local airport's frequencies, but I don't know much about radios. Could anybody help me? How expensive is a good scanner? Can I receive all the ATC band with it (118-136Mhz)? Can I be at home 20 miles from the airport and still be able to receive the tower frequency loud and clear or do I have to be near the airport?

Thanks a lot in advance,
Bernardo Curiel.

"... for there you have been and there you will long to return."

3 replies: All unread, jump to last

Ual1636 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR:
Reply 1, posted (13 years 6 months 4 weeks 20 hours ago) and read 1543 times:

A good scanner will be about $100-$150. Yes, you can receive all the freqs. If youre 20 miles it wont be loud and clear unless youre upstairs or sitting on your roof or another high elevated spot.

BC-12D From United States of America, joined May 1999, 60 posts, RR: 0
Reply 2, posted (13 years 6 months 3 weeks 5 days 7 hours ago) and read 1534 times:

The best investment I made was an external antenna for my house and another for the car. It really extended the range of the scanner. I can usually pick up the guys in the tower, ten miles from the airport, and the aircraft up to fifty miles out.

When you buy the scanner, the frequencies it receives should be listed on the placard on its back. Some of the cheaper ones do not get aviation bands.

Good luck!

Exnonrev From United States of America, joined Oct 1999, 621 posts, RR: 4
Reply 3, posted (13 years 6 months 3 weeks 4 days 12 hours ago) and read 1522 times:

If you're also interested in monitoring military aircraft, consider a scanner that recieves the 225-400 MHz band. Those frequencies are usually only on the top-of-the-line model scanners.

Here in the US, all military transports and newer tactical types are equipped with both VHF (118-136) and UHF (225-400) radios. When operating at or around civilian airports, they often use VHF. Some older tactical types have only UHF radios.