Cheap radio to eavesdrop ATC

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radioguy01

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radioguy01
Hi all,

I live about a mile from my airport. Is there any cheap radio I can buy to tune in and listen to ATC frequencies? Like a CB or police scanner?
 
The oldest, cheapest police scanner on craigslist works just fine for picking up aviation radio frequencies.
 
Brad Z said:
The oldest, cheapest police scanner on craigslist works just fine for picking up aviation radio frequencies.
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This is not true, most of the really cheap ones are FM only.

There's a number that also have abysmal receiver sensitivity specs on the Aircraft band.
 
Radioguy is seeking radio advice. Interesting.
 
If you know how to solder and build electronic kits, Ramsey Electronics sells several air band radio receivers:

http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/

The cheapest appears to be their AR1C model. I have no idea how good it is. I bought and built their AR2C model a while back as a project to try out a new soldering iron. But there isn't much traffic to listen to where I live, so it is gathering dust.
 
Any scanner that will receive 118–137 MHz in AM.

However, the antennas that come with even the higher end scanners are designed to receive a wide range of frequencies but don't do great at picking up specific ones(also they're cheap and compact).

You will get drastically better results with an antenna tuned to that part of the radio spectrum. I've had good luck using 2 meter ham radio antennas which are pretty close to the same band. For me it's the difference between static and actually hearing the tower 5 miles away.
 
radioguy01 said:
Hi all,

I live about a mile from my airport. Is there any cheap radio I can buy to tune in and listen to ATC frequencies? Like a CB or police scanner?
Click to expand...
If you fly, why not get a backup hand-held transceiver? I wouldn't fly without one. Mine is a Vertex VX-300 and I can listen for days on one charge.
 
Brad Z said:
The oldest, cheapest police scanner on craigslist works just fine for picking up aviation radio frequencies.
Click to expand...
It has to be capable of receiving AM signals in the 118-136 Mhz range.

Many "police scanners" only do FM and skip those frequencies. Also be sure to avoid any of the really old stuff that required individual crystals for each frequency. Chances are none of those are around but you never know what's going to show up on ebay or craigslist.

You may want to put an antenna on your roof as well. Without that there's a good chance you won't be able to hear airplanes on the ground if that's of any interest. A decent antenna can be had for $50-60.
 
gismo said:
It has to be capable of receiving AM signals in the 118-136 Mhz range.

Many "police scanners" only do FM and skip those frequencies. Also be sure to avoid any of the really old stuff that required individual crystals for each frequency. Chances are none of those are around but you never know what's going to show up on ebay or craigslist.

You may want to put an antenna on your roof as well. Without that there's a good chance you won't be able to hear airplanes on the ground if that's of any interest. A decent antenna can be had for $50-60.
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I think you meant to say "must be capable of receiving FM...."

Radio Shack has a cheapie with air band for $15. I have one.
 
Sac Arrow said:
I think you meant to say "must be capable of receiving FM...."

Radio Shack has a cheapie with air band for $15. I have one.
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No, aviation frequencies are AM.

Regarding my initial post, I don't recall seeing too many scanners going back to the late 80s that didn't include airband; but yes, that is a requirement.
 
Brad Z said:
No, aviation frequencies are AM.



Regarding my initial post, I don't recall seeing too many scanners going back to the late 80s that didn't include airband; but yes, that is a requirement.
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The NASCAR monitoring craze drove ten years of FM only scanners. There's piles of them.
 
Brad Z said:
No, aviation frequencies are AM.

Regarding my initial post, I don't recall seeing too many scanners going back to the late 80s that didn't include airband; but yes, that is a requirement.
Click to expand...

Well, you're right, I don't know why but I've always assumed they were FM.
 
denverpilot said:
The NASCAR monitoring craze drove ten years of FM only scanners. There's piles of them.
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Ok, I haven't really kept up with scanners since i left my Radio Shack PT job in 1991. At that time air band was pretty much standard. My, how time flies.
 
I bought a Radio Shack scanner for $79 that worked pretty well until it died after a year or so.

I now have a Bearcat handheld that's a bit more, but covers military UHF also.

If you want to listen to air band on a scanner it's best to replace the rubber antenna with a telescoping metal antenna. If you are listening in a home then you want an outside '2 meter' ham antenna. These are very cheap as airplane parts go.
 
JimNtexas said:
?... If you are listening in a home then you want an outside '2 meter' ham antenna. These are very cheap as airplane parts go.
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Could I hook up to my old tv UHF/VHF antenna in the attic? I'm sure I'd have to get a coax to bnc adaptor.
 
Also: I'm 5 miles from airport and in a low area, do I need line of sight for the scanner to pick up ground, approach, etc.?
 
Badger said:
Could I hook up to my old tv UHF/VHF antenna in the attic? I'm sure I'd have to get a coax to bnc adaptor.
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TV antennas usually cover aviation frequencies, but they're usually mounted with the elements horizontal. Aviation COM is vertically polarized. The difference could be significant.

You'd be better off getting on of the inexpensive discone antennas for the scanner, and mounting it in the clear outside.
 
fiveoboy01 said:
If you're posting, you have a computer. liveatc.net
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That only works if someone else near his airport has set up a receiver and is feeding liveatc. Liveatc covers a tiny sliver of all airports anyway.
 
Badger said:
Also: I'm 5 miles from airport and in a low area, do I need line of sight for the scanner to pick up ground, approach, etc.?
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You'll hear airborne stuff, ground transmissions will be hit or miss with an indoor antenna. Outdoor antenna you'll hear most everything depending on the amount of terrain blockage.
 
I hate to post this because I buy them when I see good deals on them used, but one of the best aviation receivers in a scanner is the Bearcat BC780XLT.

In some areas, a band pass filter will help with broadcast FM front-end overload on any aviation scanner. Scanners by design are poorly filtered.
 
Jim Logajan said:
That only works if someone else near his airport has set up a receiver and is feeding liveatc. Liveatc covers a tiny sliver of all airports anyway.
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Good point... Didn't even think of that.... I only listen to the larger/busier airports.
 
mjburian said:
Do you have any detailed info on how someone might get started using one of these? Looks like it could be interesting (and inexpensive).
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Google "Software Defined Radio" or "SDR" and "Monitoring Aviation Band" and I bet some hits come up of folks playing with 'em.
 
Get creative with google search combinations like "Nav/Com" or "aviation radio" or "aviation transceiver" using term "site:craigslist.org."

Is this cheap enough for you?

http://reno.craigslist.org/for/4376895492.html

NAVICOM VHF AIRBAND TRANSCEIVER IC-A21 for $100
01515_aYH6o0IBS7K_600x450.jpg





Oh, and the same guy lists one of these to go with it, in case you get ambitious:

L-39 Albatros Czechoslovakia jet trainer aircraft $229,900
00I0I_9hOSHGjBXVD_600x450.jpg
 
For a basic scanner that will receive air band frequencies in AM I would look at the BC355n. Around $100 new and Uniden has them refurbished for $69.99. http://www.uniden.com/scanners/bc35...r-with-narrowband-compatibility-/invt/bc355ng
You could use an antenna like this http://www.gigaparts.com/Product-Li...FJ-1866.html?gclid=CPPns9bumb0CFeZDMgodQWkAXw
or you could use something just for VHF frequencies if you only wanted to listen to aviation frequencies. Use the shortest length of coax you can and place the antenna outdoors and up as high as you can.
 
denverpilot said:
Google "Software Defined Radio" or "SDR" and "Monitoring Aviation Band" and I bet some hits come up of folks playing with 'em.
Click to expand...

TedR3 said:
I just ordered one, just to see if I could pick up any ADS-B traffic from my roof deck:

http://www.flightradar24.com/dvbt-stick

As a radio:

http://www.rtl-sdr.com/rtl-sdr-quick-start-guide/

Haven't arrived yet, so I'll have to see how it works.
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Thanks guys! I also found this (https://corq.co/?p=1865) which should be a fun little project to spin up on one of my Raspberry Pi devices.
 
Radio shack used to sell a little pocket receiver that handled air band fairly well. I had one in my gear when I was into Search And Rescue. I would use it to find ELT's that were broadcasting. Fairly crude method, but very effective. I believe the radio was called airstream. It was around 14 bucks or so.
 
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