Current airband scanners recommended?

[Oilhead]

Hello

I know here is another thread about scanners but it does not seem to be dealing with what's on the market new today. I used to be a spotter years ago and am interested in a good quality portable air band scanner. It it were multi-band, such as Marine and aircraft UHF, so much the better.

Can someone tell me a good current radio, or late model but perhaps not in production to hunt for, I would be very grateful. Higher end quality and definitely robust case is a plus.

I live in the USA but fly to London frequently so if there is a store there I should visit, great, otherwise I will purchase by mail order, but want opinions for and against so I get the right one.

Many thanks. OH

[Ant]

The Icom IC-R5 is small, has coverage between 0.150–1310 MHz, has huge storage capacity and can be programmed to upload/download to a PC. I'm listening to one right now (Heathrow arrivals)! Available secondhand quite cheaply on the net.

[magpienja]

Call into any Maplin store...they will sort you out.

Nick.

[LTNman]

I have 3 scanners.

Signal R-532, hard to beat for a fixed base dedicated airband scanner. Mine is 15 years but around every 6 or 7 years the internal memory battery needs changing which is a simple remove the lid DIY job.

Yupiteru MVT-7100 with a telescopic aerial. Great sensitivity although a little big for the pocket. This one is maybe around 10 years old but is still around today.

Uniden Bearcat UBC125XLT. Just bought it. Small size means its great for the pocket but not nearly as sensitive as my MVT-7100. This isn't a problem for using at an airport but using it a mile away at a bottom of a hill causes issues with one way transmissions. I tried swapping the rubber aerial for the telescopic areal of the MVT-7100 which makes little difference. With my external roof aerial it is fantastic.

[Airbanda]

Yupiteru models now seem to be second hand only - fail to comply with current European regs for re-emitted interference (?)

My VT225 still goes on but no longer in it's prime.

[Skipness One Echo]

The VT225 was the ultimate, mine got nicked and I still mourn. Nothing on the market today comes close.

[jensdad]

Was there not a programme on BBC Radio 4 a few months ago saying that airband is disappearing very soon to be replaced by texts? I could be talking rubbish here (I must admit, I did think it sounded unlikely), as I didn't hear the programme, just saw the preview in the Radio Times.

[DaveReidUK]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controller%E2%80%93pilot_data_link_communications

But don't throw away your airband receiver just yet ...