A radio question

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4RNB

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4RNB
If I want to listen to airport communications does anyone have a suggestion what radio to get. THeir are some $50 airband radios with bad reviews and some $400 ones on Amazon. For now I only need receive, not sure if I will need transmit down the road.

Thank you.
 
how far away from the airports you'd like to monitor are you located? more than 5-10 miles, depending on terrain, and you may not hear the tower side, atis, etc but you'd have no problem hearing airborne radio traffic.

a couple of suggestions. check out www.liveatc.com and see if the airports you want to monitor are listed. LiveATC is free to use from a computer but the app costs a few bucks. it's a quick and easy way to do some casual listening. or, if you want a radio, cinsider a cheap, used $20-$50 scanner. with the change to digital by many public safety agenies there are lots of now-useless analog scanners for sale. even though they are obsolete for listening to police and fire who have moved to digital they can still be used to listen to the air band. just be sure that the scanner is capable of tuning that band...many but not all are.
 
I am less than 5 miles, suspect I am really not even allowed to fly my DJI drone without letting them know.
 
You can get an airband-covering scanner off ebay for $20 or less. That's all you need. If you're not close enough to the ground facility with the built in antenna, it's pretty easy to build a better one.

While I have two handheld transceivers (Vertex 710 and the old Sporty's one), sometimes scanners work better. I was standing on the top of the Parking Garage at Dulles yesterday waiting for the Snowbirds. My ancient PRO43 scanner allowed me to rapidly scan all three tower frequencies and the two Final approach frequencies.
 
I have a Uniden Bearcat that I found at the airport while cleaning out some storage closets. Works great. Think it can be had for about $80-$100.
 
4RNB said:
If I want to listen to airport communications does anyone have a suggestion what radio to get. THeir are some $50 airband radios with bad reviews and some $400 ones on Amazon. For now I only need receive, not sure if I will need transmit down the road.

Thank you.
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Unless cost prevents it, I'd get a transceiver. For now if you only need to receive, fine, don't push the button. Down the road if you need to transmit it will save you another shopping trip. I have a Yaesu FTA-230 and am happy with it. It's smaller than most of the other handhelds which is why I chose it. Adjusting the squelch and some other features need a few more button pushes then I like but once you get used to it it's not to tedious
 
I recently bought a used ICOM A14 on Ebay for $110. Two way com, all the channels you need, 5 watt output. I've been quite impressed with it.
 
Someone just gave me an Icom A21 for free!!!!! Works great. Battery even still holds a charge although I may need to pick up another one and they are about $50.
 
edo2000 said:
I recently bought a used ICOM A14 on Ebay for $110. Two way com, all the channels you need, 5 watt output. I've been quite impressed with it.
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That's not a bad deal at all. I can't immediately find a deal quite that good... I was going to wait for OSH to buy an HT at Spruce.
 
Keep in mind that VHF is basically line of sight. I'm not all that far (in terms of miles) from KOLM, but there is terrain in the way. I can hear airborne traffic, but I cannot hear the tower. The only answer, if this were critical to me, would be to use an external antenna mounted as high as possible, rather than the whip attached to the scanner. And even then, I might still have obstructions between my location and the airport. No biggie, the ham rig in my Jeep has air band receive, so I can listen to the ATIS and then KOLM tower and ground while driving to the airport to get a feel for what is going on at that minute.
 
Ghery said:
Keep in mind that VHF is basically line of sight. I'm not all that far (in terms of miles) from KOLM, but there is terrain in the way. I can hear airborne traffic, but I cannot hear the tower. The only answer, if this were critical to me, would be to use an external antenna mounted as high as possible, rather than the whip attached to the scanner. And even then, I might still have obstructions between my location and the airport. No biggie, the ham rig in my Jeep has air band receive, so I can listen to the ATIS and then KOLM tower and ground while driving to the airport to get a feel for what is going on at that minute.
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Line of sight works both ways... If you can receive, odds are you can transmit. They just have more power! Worst case, get somebody to relay for you. A whip up a few feet higher isn't likely to help with LOS very much... but it gets it out of whatever metal cage you otherwise might have the rubber duck in.
 
Honestly aviation radios don't work that well for monitoring communications if you are on the ground. You will get the plane side but likely won't get the ATC side unless you are very close (i.e. Within a few miles, less if there are buildings or terrain) to the antenna. VHF is great line of sight but really bad going through or around any objects. Doesn't hurt to try but just have reasonable expectations as to what you're going to be able to receive.

LiveATC is your friend here.
 
Link above for LiveATC.Com does not work
Search on your own or use .net
 
I use an older handheld scanner I've had a few years ($50 used) and a magnetic RadioShaft antenna on my chimney which I tuned (length) to the airband. Works well, I can hear all traffic at my local airport that's 10 miles away. I can even pick up the ASOS. The key is the antenna. Because the little rubber stub on the handheld would not pick up anything farther than maybe a mile.
 
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