Buying a scanner/spares

[Kirk Biddlecombe]

I've been fascinated by scanners for the past year or so, and I think it's about time I bought one.

Before I splash out what I consider to be a fair amount of money - I'd be interested to know if the Yupiteru MVT-7100 is a good piece of kit.
Seems to be up there at the top, with the range it covers.

Another question which I'm slightly unsure about is coverage. Does each and every sector in ATC have its individual frequency or are there some duplicates? (in different geographical areas)
Being in London, if I wanted LL Director, could I pick it up on 119.725 from anywhere, or is the geographical factor important?
I also often go down to see Aircraft coming in at 27L at LL, would I pick up the TWR from just around that location or is the range fairly big?


Just a tad confused at the whole system at the moment...sorry. :hmm:


Kirk

[sniper9652]

Hi Kirk, The Scanner issue boils down basically to what you want to listen to and whether you want it to go mobile, base(home) or both, this will dictate the size of the unit and maybe the cost?
Majority of the Airband is VHF on AM which is more or less 'line of site' reception!
The radio you mention is good but there are more modern and compact units on the market with the 8.33KHz spacing now needed to receive a lot of frequency's clearly! an eg would be the Icom IC-R5 great receiver from a superb communications company! remember 'you pay for what you get'! ;)
Have a look at some of the chit-chat on this forum!

http://www.allaudios.org/group-758.html

Regards, Steve

[Kestrel_909]

I've had an MVT7100 for maybe 5 or 6 years now and has served me well. It's starting to go a bit senile now in its old age though. It was bought for £250 and the telescopie aerial was free with it, last time I checked the price of a new one it had held its price pretty well compared with most other electronics I had bought.

It has a superdooper scan rate, but I think all models had an internal noise or 'birdie' around certain frequencies, including 129Mhz which is particularly annoying.

[Kirk Biddlecombe]

Interesting, thanks. From the many reviews I've read the MVT-7100 does sound like a classic, though as Sniper pointed out, there is the issue regarding 8.33KHz spacing, not enabled on this model.

With that in mind, I'm perhaps thinking more along the lines of a newer piece of kit, perhaps indeed the ICOM as suggested. I'll mainly be using the Scanner outdoors; Do the batteries on these machines last long...?

Kirk

[sniper9652]

Hi Kirk, The batteries (2x 1.5v Pencil AA) last for ages in the Icom IC-R5, the other scanner for bty long life (and I've nearly had them all) was the Yeasu VR-500. The other good thing about Pencil batteries is that you can get them anywhere so you should'nt get cought out!
They low battery indicator system in the R5 is also very good!

Hope this helps, Steve

PS: have a look on eBay as there are some good bargains to be had! you should not be paying over £160 for the R5!

[Kirk Biddlecombe]

Right, thanks. I actually found the R-5 new on Flight Store for about £145.
Maplins Electronics also stock them for about £170.
I'll check eBay though...

Cheers

[CVTDog]

Has anyone a recommendation for a good quality Airband reciever. Nothing too flash required. Just something to help while away any delays at the airport.

[trident3A]

I've got a Maycom ar-108, very compact, 99 channels. I've never had any trouble.
http://www.strongsignals.net/access/reviews/reviews.cgi?type=display&rtype=fi&class=recv&num=017

Costs around 70 quid.

[sniper9652]

Has anyone a recommendation for a good quality Airband reciever. Nothing too flash required. Just something to help while away any delays at the airport.

Have a look on eBay! lots of bargains to be had! ;)
Just remember you get what you pay for!!

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

Wise words from sniper.. Switch on a cheapo radio and it will receive everything in the area as well as the station you want - all at the same time!

[BrianRoth]

For the purposes of emergency backup to the main a/c radio, can anyone recommend any alternatives to the ICOM A6/24?

Whilst earlier ICOM models seem to be OK, the current ICOM models (A6/24 series) appear to be unusable in aircraft (http://forums.flyer.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=23798).

What recommendations for other makes and models?

[curlyblue]

Hi,

I was brought up in Horley (just North of Gatwick) and spent many a summer on the Balcony there (and some other places that we wern't supposed to be according to the airport Police!!).

My Dad bought me a Sharp Airband Radio adn now 30 years later I am back living in Crawley (Been all over the planet since!)

I am looking to acquire some things i had as a kid and this radio is one of them! Heres a picture

http://www.thesimplestideas.com/radio.jpg

Does anyone ...

A) Have any information about this radio (model number - pictures - websites etc)
B) KNow where I might get one in working order!

Any info greatly appreciated!

Thx

Ray

[oldlag53]

No idea about the model number etc., but Ebay (www.ebay.co.uk) is the perfect site to acquire old items from your yesterdays...

Good hunting!

[Midland 331]

It is possibile to set up a "saved search" facility which will deliver you a list of "matches" to your requirements as an e-mail.

r

[MAN777]

My first airband was a large plastic box affair with two dials a tuning scale and whip aerial, made in hong kong I believe, that was in 1972, I moved up to one of the sharp models a few years later, both gave you blisters if you did to much manual scanning !! I have seen people still using the sharps and I have seen them at several aviation enthusiasts fairs for sale for a few quid.
Gatwick and Manchester have good fairs.

I am amazed at how much the hobby has moved on with the coming of SBS virtual radar, scanners, digital cameras and worldwide trips to exotic places.

With this expense its no wonder the hobby is not attracting the younger end as it did and the average age of spotters is getting older every year.

[EGCC4284]

Obviously not read much of the forum!

[gingernut]

Like the picture Curlyblue- a blast from the past!

[clicker]

Ye gods, I used to have one of the Sharps. Also sold them when I was behind the counter at VHF Supplies many many years ago.

Had many radios since. Now have a Uniden UCB3500XLT and a Fairhaven VB500.

Enjoyed my years at VHF although moved out when I got a job offer at Gatwick back in 1979 (ish).

[737-500]

I am thinking of buying a new radio scanner. I would like to know what portable handheld scanner people would recommend for listening to both VHF and HF transmisions within a 'reasnoable(€300-400)' price range? Thanks everyone.

[curlyblue]

Hi All - still looking for one of those sharp airband radios (as per previous post) - anyone got any ideas on modael number from the picture I posted.

Thanks in advance

Curly Blue

[EGAC]

Since there is some reminiscing here, I have many happy memories of my first airband radio - a Sanyo VH-26S Jetset costing about £20 in the early 70s. It was expensive for a teenager but it opened up a whole new world.

Strangely enough there's not a single mention of this model on the entire WWW. Are there any users out there? Any links out there?

[Buster the Bear]

The best airband scanner ever was the Signal R-535 (532 was almost as good). Not very portable, but with an external fixed antenna on my bear pit, Biggin Hill and Birmingham radar ground based transmissions are pulled in with ease! Okay I live on top of a hill in Bedfordshire, but the performance of the 535 compared to the MVT-7100 is astonishing!

Still change hands for £200-250 on eBay and are worth every penny!

[Midland 331]

My former employer, SAS, used 532s to monitor ground frequencies to check on their inbounds at their stations.

I had one rigged up to a roof aerial in Teesside, and could hear Concordes reporting over MARTIN (Bristol Channel, opposite Swansea), aircraft over Clacton and inbound to Perth VOR from Aberdeen.

Not bad...

r

[Richard Taylor]

Still have my R535 as my main scanner, after over 13yrs service, sadly starting to internally "buzz" which it didn't do before! :uhoh:

Still wouldn't part with it though!

I actually traded in my R532 for a 535 all those years ago!

What a pity Signal aren't around these days, agree they were - ARE - the best.

Guess I'll have to keep my eye on E-Bay...

[MattH]

Curly Blue

Check your PM's I can help you :)

MattH

[suddste]

Hi,

I was wondering what scanner is the best for under £60, sorry it's so simple but thats all I could say.

oh, btw, I have to use Internet explorer to post this thread, Mozila Firefox (which is what I use all the time) just has the message section blanked out, and I can't type in this box.

anyway, my first post here, nice forums.

suddste

[clifftop]

Have a look on the Maplin website mate. £60 won't get you much, and I'll try to post a link...

For what it's worth mate, I have learned almost everything about ATC and its relation to flying by listening to ATC at Liverpool.

I have been VERY lucky to have visited ATC a few times.

Good luck with your hobby mate.

[suddste]

Thanks very much, my friend :)

What will be the range on one of these things? Sorry if it's to hard to tell. :)

[MrJoshua]

Buy one with a replaceable antenna (BNC or SMA connector) so that you can upgrade the antenna or attach an external antenna (at home or a small magnetic mount antenna on the car).

This will give MUCH improved reception.

I'm not really into scanners, but I am a licensed HAM so have a bit of experience with these things :)

[clifftop]

The range depends upon:

The position and the power of the transmitter.

If the 'person' transmitting is the pilot in a 'plane at, say, 10,000 feet, you might well pick his transmission up many miles away.

If the 'person' transmitting is an air traffic controller at an airport, it will depend on numerous things... location and size/importance of the airfield, geographical features: hills/buildings etc.


And it goes without saying...

You are not allowed to listen in to ANY radio transmissions unless authorised to do so. I'm sure someone will be along to point you in the direction of that rule...................

[suddste]

yea, thanks for the info.

So I basically could get into trouble if I listen trough these devices?

[suddste]

Thanks! :)

I am sooo very new to this radio stuff.. so forgive me for sounding 'noobish'

Would I be able to somehow connect this air band radio to a external indoor TV aerial?

[MrJoshua]

You need a specific antenna for the frequencies you want to listen to, so no, a TV antenna will not work.

The antenna that Clifftop linked to is one of a range of scanner antennas that are purpose made for the job.

Yes, it's illegal to listen to transmissions that you are not licensed to hear, however unless you listen in public without an earpiece, or you publish what you've heard... :)

[suddste]

ahh ok, thanks! :)

[clifftop]

Quote:
"You need a specific antenna for the frequencies you want to listen to, so no, a TV antenna will not work.

The antenna that Clifftop linked to is one of a range of scanner antennas that are purpose made for the job.

Yes, it's illegal to listen to transmissions that you are not licensed to hear, however unless you listen in public without an earpiece, or you publish what you've heard... :) "

I have a friend ;) who has 3 scanners, comprising 2 base sets in his house and a hand-held job in his car, the base sets operate from external aerials, the hand held has its own rubber ducky type but can be connected to a mag-mount which improves reception immensely.

[suddste]

Thanks for that :)

[DX Wombat]

I am sooo very new to this radio stuff.. so forgive me for sounding 'noobish'Why don't you have a look here (http://www.rsgb.org/) and take the opportunity to learn a lot more about radio and how it works? :ok: 2E0WOM

[MrJoshua]

As DXWombat has rightly pointed out... There is a lot more to radio than listening ;)

M0JMO

[m5dnd]

I second (or 3rd) that...

er.. M5DND

[MacRobart]

Good afternoon Curlyblue. I do not whether you have received any info ref the above radio, if you have not, I hope that this will be of interest to you.
Model No FX 213 AU.
Freq. Range MW 520-1620 kHz
AIR 108-136 MHz
Regards MacRobart

[MacRobart]

Hi Curlyblue, did you receive info ref Sharp Air Band ?
Regards MacRobart

[smudger26]

Hiya,
Like you, I really rate the MVT7100, especially for the audio it produces on the AM mode for military aircraft.
I hadn't had one for a while and was pleased to come across one in very good nick on an auction site, the only drawback is that the print has started to rub off on the keyboard individual keys.
I would very much like info from the members of the site as to any dealers who are likely to be able to provide me with one.
I would be very happy to get contact with anyone who may have a dead/damaged set that I could rob a keyboard from.
Thanks
Mike in Chesterfield:ok:

[goldox]

Hi Mike in Chesterfield..

I have a Yupiteru MVT7100 in good condition (functions OK, body good and clean) apart from loose battery cover, and intermittent loss of reception due to dodgy aerial internal connection I believe. I have modified Key Lock button to operate backlight on/off.

I am prepared to offer it to you at a reasonable price if you are interested, its better than 'spares or repair' if not 100% perfect. If so please PM me or reply here and we can discuss.

Thanx, Goldox.

[Geezers of Nazareth]

'goldox',

if Mike decides not to take you up on your offer then I may be interested. Thanks.

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

One word of warning. Unless goldox can be certain that it is an antenna problem causing intermittent loss of reception I would urge caution. An antenna problem should be easy to fix but if it is a dry joint on the main circuit board then that could be far more difficult to repair. Whichever, to fix it one should be skilled enough to undertake the job - soldering, etc.

[goldox]

Following on from HDs comments:
I do not have the expertise to diagnose the exact reason for intermittent loss of reception, however I do know that when it happens, slight pressure on the base of the aerial fixes it. I tend to use a BNC connected to external aerial so there is no movement of the set thus it behaves perfectly. It seems to happen when the long straight aerial is connected and it puts a bit of sideways pressure on the connector. Better brains than I will probably diagnose this...


I did manage to open up the set to modify the circuitry to use the lock button as a backlight on/off, which involved a little soldering and adding wires etc, amazingly it worked even though I am ham fisted. I did run some solder onto aerial internal connector which seemed to fix the reception for a while, but it probably worked loose again.


As for the set it is very clean and no wear on keyboard which is what Mike was asking for originally. Apart from the intermittent reception problem it is excellent. Hope this is helpful.