Airport radio receivers

[bm]

I am not sure where to put this so I guess this is where I ended up putting it  ::)

I would like to have one of those radio's which you can tune in to the airport frequencies. I havent researched them at all so any advice on the capabilities of different ones would be greatly apprechiated! I don't know of the price ranges but a simple one I should amagine would suffice. I would like to be able to listen to Civil and Military bands.

Thanks for any advice!

[Craig.]

Howdy Birdman.
Well if you want to be able to listen to both simple isnt an option sadly. Because they use differant freqs for military you have to pay out big time to get those. For civil though you can get them as cheap as

[loomex]

It is true you will pay out the butt for ones that can get the military. I have two scanners right now. A portable one that is mounted on the wall with an outside antena. I also have a desktop one that I need to get an antena for. As soon as thats set up I can listen to airtraffic, law enforcement, fire and rescue crews, GMRS, FRS, etc....all while tring to hear what the FS2004 ATC is tring to say. Now thats multitasking!

[Jared]

lol...It is so true about the military freq's, but if you are willing to buy just civil then you can get a really good deal just about anywhere...

I've got my radio shack (W/800Mhz trunk scanning) and I can listen to anything in the and since I have an antenna mounted in my attic with a cable ran down to my desk in the basement...:-)

[Politically Incorrect]

You have too remember that most scanners (aka: Police scanners) will pick up airbands, BUT they all work on a "line of sight" basis menaing that your ability to pick up a transmission can be determined by anything that is between you and the transmitting source! (walls,trees,mountains etc.)
So a aerial anntena is necessary for anything not flying close by. Also remember to look at the "airband" specific radios closely!! Many are useless unless you are actuall at the airport or real close by!! I had a guy at Radio Shack try and sell me one and I realized it was written right on the box that it would only work while at the airport! Why would i want that? I can just go inside too listen!
Also another tip, be sure too get one with digital tuning! The old fashion "radio dial(manual?) " style are near too impossible to tune into a frequency correctly. And if you plan on carrying it with you in your car be sure too check local laws! Many states require a permit too carry scanners in a car!! I was told it prevents "ambulance chasers" and the "gawkers" from congesting accident scenes and other emergancies. I once recived a ticket for having one in my car with me without a permit!

[Craig.]

well officially its illegal to own one without a license here in the uk. But its not been followed up on.

[Delta_]

I have a world band radio.  You can listen to the ATC or the aircraft not both, unless you have two world band radios.  

[bm]

Thanks for your replies.

I had a look on the same lines as your link Craig and came across this. Its the top one called the ALINCO DJ-X3:
http://www.stewart-aviation.co.uk/rs/index-page4.html

As I understand it, this one will alow me to pick up Military airfield/air frequencies as well as civil stuff too, is that right? - does the thing look like a good deal to you lot?

well officially its illegal to own one without a license here in the uk

Is it illegal to have one of those??

Thanks for your advice!

PS. What sort of range do these things have for picking up the signals?

[Craig.]

For the range i have picked up on my crappy one planes upwards of 70 miles away, But it all depends on quality and line olf sight like someone mentioned.
as for the legality, dont worry about it. The law was made in 1959 maybe 1949 and hasnt been picked up on recently. so dont worry about it.
And as for the one you picked looks pretty good to me. if you have the money for it that is:)

[bm]

70 miles sounds pretty good!!!!! Are you able to pick up bristol tower?

[quote]if you have the money for it that is

[Craig.]

bristol tower is one i cant seem to get, but i think thats because of obsticals in the way and the crappy nature of my reciever. the tower there uses two freqs one i cant remember the other being 133.850 one thing you may notice is the fact that bristol tower has alot of female controllers.

[bm]

bristol tower has alot of female controllers.

Thats very observant of you

[Craig.]

one in specific sounds really nice. Had her give us the taxi clearance twice during my few lessons.

[Scottler]

I've also got a scanner that picks up almost everything.  But depending on the local laws, be careful using it.  Here in New York it's illegal to have it in the car if it is capable of picking up police freqs, so you've gotta be careful if you're say, transporting it to the airport.

[bm]

Its on its way! Thanks for all your help and advice.