Can I intercept radio transmissions from my house???

[UnAnswerd]

I haven't yet had any experience with using the radio. I was wondering if it would be possible to listen to radio transmission between the tower and surrounding aircraft, with the use of something similar to a scanner. I live about 5 miles from the airport. Can I use the typical scanner, or will I need some sort of specialized radio??? Also, how can I obtain the frequencies used by tower??? Would these be the same numbers that appear on the radio within the aircraft?

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Uncle Sparky]

Due to the altitude of aircraft, usually you will hear a one sided conversation. I have an ICOM transceiver that I run next to my computer sometimes and I will hear the aircraft clearly(for obvious reasons) and the tower intermittently(I live 3 miles from KBHM). If you want to obtain frequencies pertinent to your location log on to www.fltplan.com (it's free) and reference the approach charts feature.

 

[satpak77]

if you want to hear the "ground side" of the local airport ATC comms, you need an antenna with line of site or near-line-of-site to the airport.

you need a VHF antenna "cut" (which means the actual antenna length is designed for XXX frequencies) for 108 MHZ to 136 MHZ but any freaking thing from 108 to 174 MHZ will work, for reception purposes. You want "omni directional" which means it will receive with equal performance everything all around, or if you are targeting a certain area, you need a Yagi and you will point it towards that area.

Do NOT buy your radio equipment from Sporty's. For antennas, go to Radio Shack or run a google search for "2 meter amateur antennas" which work great for reception only of aviation band.

I recommend rooftop mount, with a tripod, and at least two 5-foot masts (that means 10 feet) stuck together holding the antenna up.

That will get 99% of 25-mile circle of airplane-side comms, most center comms within 100 miles, and most ground-side comms of airports within about 10 miles.

 

[FN FAL]

I haven't yet had any experience with using the radio. I was wondering if it would be possible to listen to radio transmission between the tower and surrounding aircraft, with the use of something similar to a scanner. I live about 5 miles from the airport. Can I use the typical scanner, or will I need some sort of specialized radio??? Also, how can I obtain the frequencies used by tower??? Would these be the same numbers that appear on the radio within the aircraft?

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

If Fleet Ballistic Missile submarines can recieve launch orders by radio thousands of miles out to sea, I'm sure we can rig something up for you to hear the same radio frequencies that appear as numbers on the radios within an aircraft. Anything is possible.

 

[phil]

turn a little bit more to the north please...

Can you intercept radio transmissions in your house? Well maybe, but if you're Gilligan you can intercept radio transmissions in your mouth. That is of course, if you've had the right kind of dentalwork, and have recently been struck on the head with a coconut.

 

[Trout]

I haven't yet had any experience with using the radio. I was wondering if it would be possible to listen to radio transmission between the tower and surrounding aircraft, with the use of something similar to a scanner. I live about 5 miles from the airport. Can I use the typical scanner, or will I need some sort of specialized radio??? Also, how can I obtain the frequencies used by tower??? Would these be the same numbers that appear on the radio within the aircraft?

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

You just need an airport chart to get the freqs. But I would suggest getting the freqs for approach control That is where the action is. Great idea to get used to the fast pace of transmissions. Those are always tough early on.

 

[Trout]

if you want to hear the "ground side" of the local airport ATC comms, you need an antenna with line of site or near-line-of-site to the airport.

you need a VHF antenna "cut" (which means the actual antenna length is designed for XXX frequencies) for 108 MHZ to 136 MHZ but any freaking thing from 108 to 174 MHZ will work, for reception purposes. You want "omni directional" which means it will receive with equal performance everything all around, or if you are targeting a certain area, you need a Yagi and you will point it towards that area.

Do NOT buy your radio equipment from Sporty's. For antennas, go to Radio Shack or run a google search for "2 meter amateur antennas" which work great for reception only of aviation band.

I recommend rooftop mount, with a tripod, and at least two 5-foot masts (that means 10 feet) stuck together holding the antenna up.

That will get 99% of 25-mile circle of airplane-side comms, most center comms within 100 miles, and most ground-side comms of airports within about 10 miles.

Good stuff....

 

[340drvr]

Ditto on the Radio Shack routine. I've used on of their simple scanner antennas mounted on the roof with good results, way cheaper than Sporty's.

 

[bobbysamd]

Listening to ATC

Radio Shack used to sell a hand-held, tuneable radio for aircraft frequencies. It was inexpensive.

Some scanners can be programmed to receive aviation frequencies. We had such a scanner in our radio station newsroom. You probably will need a formal antenna installation mounted on your home's roof or something to receive both sides of transmissions instead of the collapsable whip in the scanner. You can obtain frequencies from your local sectional or the A/FD.

Hope that helps some more.

 

[JimNtexas]

...? Also, how can I obtain the frequencies used by tower??? Would these be the same numbers that appear on the radio within the aircraft?

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

The communications radio in the airplane is set to the desired frequency, they don't use channel numbers. So if the book says the Tower is on 121.0mhz, that's what the pilots set in the radio to talk to Tower.

A good source for frequency information is http://airnav.com .

If you want to hear ATC from all around the world this is a good site: http://liveatc.net/

 

[Axel]

My ex-wife had a scanner that she used to estimate my return time.

Q: why is divorce so expensive?

A: because it's worth it.

 

[JediNein]

I have one of those inexpensive air band scanners from Radio Shack. It's been recalled because it can receive cellular, police, fire, and all sorts of other bands that a $19.95 consumer electronics device should not be able to receive. My house is next to a large trauma center hospital so sometimes even my cell phone picks up their frequencies.

Like I really care about the latest motorcycle accident/drive-by shooting victim's current meds as ordered by the doc on the ground?

UAL1477 overhead, now we're talking.

One Radio Shack $29.95 2M antenna added to the mix and I've got radio communications frequencies throughout the world with the appropriate FCC licenses. One piece of wire strung through the attic and I've got shortwave. Without doing anything else, just the 2M and shortwave antennas, our FM/AM reception has improved considerably.

Fly SAFE!
Jedi Nein

 

[Green Banana]

By far the cheap way to go is a Realistic Jetstream radio. I could not find one with Radio Shack (Where I got mine), but they are around. It is a small AM/VHF radio with that cheep old wheel tuning window. It has a retractable antana and uses a 9V bat. They are like $18. Air Band is covered from 108 - 136 MHz. That will get you all you need. I can just rool the tuning wheel and find ATIS right away. Tower has to be Transmiting, but that only takes like 30sec to find.


Cheep!

 

[ArcticFlier]

My ex-wife had a scanner that she used to estimate my return time.

Why? So she could figure out when to kick out the boyfriend? JK


AF

 

[UnAnswerd]

Just to follow up, here's what I've done so far. I purchased a scanner from Radio-Shack that does indeed cover the "aviation" frequency range. I can actually hear ATIS pretty clearly which is at 118.700, but nothing more. I tried the frequencies for the tower and ground, but so far haven't even gotten a blip. The ATIS transmission is educational, in that I can practice getting all the information in one transmission. The problem is that it isn't exactly much fun listening to "Information Whiskey" more than 2 times. I want to hear other stuff!!!

I don't understand why I can receive ATIS so clear, yet hear absolutely nothing from tower and ground. Can anyone explain this? The airport is about 5 miles away from my house. This isn't a very mountainous area, but there are quite a few buildings, although none are very tall. Will an external antenna really do me much good???

 

[SiuDude]

You should have no problem picking up the transmisisons, but only the airplane side of it. Since you're picking up ATIS, you might even be able to get transmissions originating on the ground. The reason you are not, is probably because you haven't listnened long enough. Also invest in a good EMP gun.