calvert@ut-sally.UUCP (Ken Calvert) (02/05/86)
Being somewhat rusty on radio technique (having learned at an
uncontrolled field with no Unicom), I'd like be able to monitor the
approach, tower, etc. frequencies of the local airport.
Can anyone suggest a decent, relatively cheap receiver or
scanner that gets aviation frequencies (~108-~130?MHz)?
Cost objective is under $100 (more than that, and you might
as well spring for a 720-channel hand-held for $300, right?).
Main criterion other than that is ease and accuracy of tuning.
Tnx,
Ken Calvert
University of Texas (Austin) Computer Science
calvert@sally.UTEXAS.EDU
{ihnp4,topaz,seismo}!ut-sally!calvertdoug@terak.UUCP (Doug Pardee) (02/12/86)
> Can anyone suggest a decent, relatively cheap receiver or > scanner that gets aviation frequencies (~108-~130?MHz)? > Cost objective is under $100 You might check out Radio Shack. They have a few multi-band portable radios that include aircraft band. The list price is usually about $100, but they are sometimes on sale for $60 or so. [Note: you do *not* want their "Jetstream" or whatever-it's-called pocket size radio]. I have an ancient Radio Shack "Realistic Patrolman 6" (that particular model is no longer produced) that I paid $60 for back in '77. It has better sensitivity and selectivity than any other tunable air-band radio I've come across (no, I haven't seen the Sony unit). Sensitivity is good enough that the tower never hears anything that I don't. The selectivity is approximately plus-or-minus 200 KHz; when tuned to 120.5 you can hear from 120.3 to 120.7. The squelch was useless. It died after the radio took a long drop onto the ramp, and I didn't care. > Main criterion other than that is ease and accuracy of tuning. Well, accuracy (in the sense of being tuned to 120.0 when the indicator is over the "120" mark) is a weak point of the Shack's radios. But the tuning is repeatable, so I use the "logging" scale to keep track of where I've found the various frequencies. P.S. I usually take the radio with me when I'm flying. If I plug my headphones into it, it makes a nice back-up receiver (the speaker isn't loud enough to hear in my plane as long as the engine's running). -- Doug Pardee -- CalComp -- {hardy,savax,seismo,decvax,ihnp4}!terak!doug
daver@felix.UUCP (Dave Richards) (02/14/86)
In article <4125@ut-sally.UUCP> calvert@ut-sally.UUCP (Ken Calvert) writes: >Being somewhat rusty on radio technique (having learned at an >uncontrolled field with no Unicom), I'd like be able to monitor the >approach, tower, etc. frequencies of the local airport. >Can anyone suggest a decent, relatively cheap receiver or >scanner that gets aviation frequencies (~108-~130?MHz)? > >Cost objective is under $100 (more than that, and you might >as well spring for a 720-channel hand-held for $300, right?). >Main criterion other than that is ease and accuracy of tuning. > >Tnx, > >Ken Calvert The best deal I can think of is the little portable that you receive FREE when you join the AOPA and get the AOPA Pilot. I don't know if they still have this deal but they used to. Cost is probably around $30 a year and you get the magazine, etc. (I'm not a member, don't quote me) Dave "lighter than hot air" Richards