Moderators: richierich, ua900, PanAm_DC10, hOMSaR
-
- Trimeresurus
- Posts: 189
- Joined:
Can you talk with a handheld transreceiver to aircraft?
Like an AM walkie talkie, albeit a powerful one with a long antenna. Is it possible to transmit to VHF channels used for aviation? I don't mean the legal possibility of it(eg. ham radio), but technical one. If it is, is it ever done? Do follow-me cars and such talk with the pilots with handheld transceivers? Could they do it if the aircraft was at FL350?
-
- GalaxyFlyer
- Posts: 12402
- Joined:
Re: Can you talk with a handheld transreceiver to aircraft?
Why not, it’s only 6 miles away with no obstructions. You don’t need much transmitting power—5Watts would do it— just an antenna tuned for the frequency. Small planes sometimes carry VHF portables as a backup. Sporty’s sells them, or did.
Re: Can you talk with a handheld transreceiver to aircraft?
Deicing crews are probably using portable handheld transceivers to communicate with aircraft.
I think the limitation for the handheld radio is power out.
I think the limitation for the handheld radio is power out.
Re: Can you talk with a handheld transreceiver to aircraft?
Handhelds are fairly common on smaller airfields where you only need to communicate with aircraft in the circuit or on the ground. Especially useful when you're doing something outside and can't stay near a stationary radio, though the range (especially when transmitting) is very limited. Perhaps around 10-15km in good conditions?
-
- Tristarsteve
- Posts: 3805
- Joined:
Re: Can you talk with a handheld transreceiver to aircraft?
When I worked at ARN for BA I had a hand held VHF radio. Used it every day in the winter to pass deicing codes to the aircraft, and occasionally during delays to talk to the pilots when we didn't have their mobile numbers.
Re: Can you talk with a handheld transreceiver to aircraft?
Handhelds can have plenty of range.
Here’s an example of someone talking to Toronto ATC …. From his bathtub!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvA_-linhg8
That’s obviously ill-advised. Can someone chime in on whether or not this was against the law? I suspect not. He identified himself accurately!
Here’s an example of someone talking to Toronto ATC …. From his bathtub!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvA_-linhg8
That’s obviously ill-advised. Can someone chime in on whether or not this was against the law? I suspect not. He identified himself accurately!
-
- SteelChair
- Posts: 2674
- Joined:
Re: Can you talk with a handheld transreceiver to aircraft?
Suggest thread removal immediately. No profit in giving some clown the idea to lock up/block frequencies at major airports.
-
- CosmicCruiser
- Posts: 2622
- Joined:
Re: Can you talk with a handheld transreceiver to aircraft?
Back in the late 60s I used to ferry new Cessnas from ICT to MEM to the regional dealer. Very often the new planes had no radio package so we would take a portable VHF radio that we would use to call the tower when reaching MEM. Often there might be a flight of 2 or 3 and the guy with the radio would call for everyone.
-
- GalaxyFlyer
- Posts: 12402
- Joined:
Re: Can you talk with a handheld transreceiver to aircraft?
It’s pretty widely known among the “clown” community, not to mention anyone checking out a discarded Sporty’s catalog.
Re: Can you talk with a handheld transreceiver to aircraft?
SteelChair wrote:Suggest thread removal immediately. No profit in giving some clown the idea to lock up/block frequencies at major airports.
The regulators are usually quite capable at searching for unwanted (and potentially illegal) emissions. It's their job, after all. In the US, that would be the FCC. Anybody stupid enough to try this should expect a friendly visit by law enforcement officers in short order.
Re: Can you talk with a handheld transreceiver to aircraft?
Surprised NavCanada didn’t bill the bathtub guy.
Re: Can you talk with a handheld transreceiver to aircraft?
Woodreau wrote:Surprised NavCanada didn’t bill the bathtub guy.
The Toronto Center controller was just so.... polite. Didn't seem miffed in the least. Maybe that's Canadian politeness.
Nonetheless.... I wonder if a report would have been made after the Bathtub Guy did a radio check right after Center was talking to an AA A330
Re: Can you talk with a handheld transreceiver to aircraft?
Handhelds work pretty well. Every CFI I know carries one and most GA pilots who fly their own/rent planes carry one too. Easy insurance against a radio failure or electrical issue. Those big whip antennas work pretty well.
-
- jetblueguy22
- Posts: 3698
- Joined:
Re: Can you talk with a handheld transreceiver to aircraft?
SteelChair wrote:Suggest thread removal immediately. No profit in giving some clown the idea to lock up/block frequencies at major airports.
You must work for the TSA if you think this is a security risk
-
- RetiredWeasel
- Posts: 942
- Joined:
Re: Can you talk with a handheld transreceiver to aircraft?
Every military fighter pilot carries a hand held transceiver in his survival vest.. Used to be able to transmit/receive on guard freq's only (121.5 or 243 MHZ), but I hear the newer ones have GPS and can transmit/receive on several freqs and data transmit coordinates.
Re: Can you talk with a handheld transreceiver to aircraft?
I’ve heard ATIS broadcasts mentioning something like “...caution for unauthorized transmissions on tower frequency”. It happens.
Re: Can you talk with a handheld transreceiver to aircraft?
The FCC does actually not handle all RF emission related issues, for aviation frequencies the FAA itself handles them. Theres a whole organization that deals with those sorts of stuff. They have teams that are specifically charged with finding unathorized transmissions. Ive witnessed them do mock training cases and let me tell you they can find those transmissions pretty quickly. Now days its not only vhf transmission but also gps jammers.
As for hand-held radios, they can certainly be used to communicate with aircraft. When flight checks are conducted at navaids, the ground crew manning the ground equipment will often make tweaks and adjustments to the ground equipment and ask the aircrew if the signal improved or not using handheld equipment. Last time I had to do this we were able to talk to the aicrew from about 15-20 nmi using a common (well maybe not anymore) radioshack VHF transceiver.
As for hand-held radios, they can certainly be used to communicate with aircraft. When flight checks are conducted at navaids, the ground crew manning the ground equipment will often make tweaks and adjustments to the ground equipment and ask the aircrew if the signal improved or not using handheld equipment. Last time I had to do this we were able to talk to the aicrew from about 15-20 nmi using a common (well maybe not anymore) radioshack VHF transceiver.
Re: Can you talk with a handheld transreceiver to aircraft?
mxaxai wrote:The regulators are usually quite capable at searching for unwanted (and potentially illegal) emissions. It's their job, after all. In the US, that would be the FCC. Anybody stupid enough to try this should expect a friendly visit by law enforcement officers in short order.
So for aviation related frequenciea its actually the Spectrum Engineering organization that handles those types of issues. While the FCC technically has authority over all frequencies i believe they delegated authority for aviation related frequencies to FAA and other to DoD and so on but dont quote me on that. But the FAA doesnt have law enforcment officers so they do work with FBI to catch and prosecute those types of bad actors. The FCC mainly handles commercial frequencies cellphones etc.
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 27 guests