Mike Rosewich - of course, I stand corrected re. CAP 413. I didn't bother to go upstairs to double-check the cover before posting! FYI, my point on starting this thread has not been to score points or show off but simply to underline a trend.
CAP493 - I agree with your assessment that there might be three levels of R/T, but non-standard R/T has the capacity, given the right (wrong?) circumstances, to be ambiguous.
ATC Babe - my point was that if there are more than one aircraft of a given type on approach, an incomplete readback may not tell the ATCO whether the aircraft he/she refers to is actually the one identified by the crew holding short - or am I seeing too much into this?
The point of this thread (at least at first) wasn't to discuss the legality of airband scanners or the R/T proficiency of private pilots, but to reflect on whether or not professionnal R/T standards are slipping. Of course I understand those that say "get real", but accepting that the standard is "good enough" maybe just isn't good enough...
Cheers
