LHR Tower - distorted?

[TCTC]

118.5 sounds over-modulated right now?

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

And what authority do you have to listen to it?

[grizzled]

My Lord...

HD, he made a simple statement / question about a possible issue with the frequency. For so many reasons your reply sounds ridiculous (and petty). Not the least of which is the idiocy of that particular law in these days.

BTW... Did you know it's illegal to carry a piece of wood along any pavement in London?

[ATCO Fred]

Many. . .doh!

He might have been flying there; or listening out whilst flying in the vicinity . . .take a LARGE chill pill man :-)

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

Incredible. The last two responses do not justify a reply.

[grizzled]

Oh go ahead HD, give it a try...

[Union Jack]

Curiously enough, on taxiing in on return from Miami last Monday I thought that the tower did indeed look distorted... Oh, you mean the sound!:uhoh:

Jack

[jmmoric]

Miami sounds fun :)

[FragRad]

118.5 sounds over-modulated right now?

I can remember a certain Heathrow controller/tower supervisor using a hand held ham radio transmitter in the tower!

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

Blimey, that was 100 years ago!

[cottam approach]

my lord...

Hd, he made a simple statement / question about a possible issue with the frequency. For so many reasons your reply sounds ridiculous (and petty). Not the least of which is the idiocy of that particular law in these days.

Btw... Did you know it's illegal to carry a piece of wood along any pavement in london?

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[ATCO91]

And what authority do you have to listen to it?
I love it when people question the reason someone is listening to a frequency, yet anyone can go online and see the exact postion, altitude, speed, squawk, etc etc off almost any commercial (and non commercial) aircraft online and for free. The WT act of yesteryear is very very out of date.

[DaveReidUK]

I love it when people question the reason someone is listening to a frequency, yet anyone can go online and see the exact postion, altitude, speed, squawk, etc etc off almost any commercial (and non commercial) aircraft online and for free. The WT act of yesteryear is very very out of date.

The two aren't strictly comparable.

The "B" is ADS-B stands for Broadcast - the WT Act doesn't place any restrictions on listening to broadcast transmissions. Otherwise it would be illegal to listen to Radio One (although arguably it should be anyway :O)

Transmissions between aircraft and ATC aren't broadcasts and therefore are subject to the WTA.

That's why there are no LiveATC.net feeds from the UK, but any number of flight tracking sites.

[ATCO91]

But that is my point. Why are we still constrained by the WTA when it comes to listening to / rebroadcasting ATC (unless you're the BBC and somehow get away with it), when we can identify nearly every aircraft anyway?

[Gonzo]

Perhaps it's got to the stage where it's not about the identity of the aircraft, but the ATCO?

it also stops TV news 'experts' speculating based on RT.

[DaveReidUK]

It might be a good time to remind all that there is in fact a sticky on the subject:

http://www.pprune.org/atc-issues/206063-listening-uk-atc-communications-law.html

[Out Of Trim]

When I was a young lad of about 13 I used to watch the Heathrow traffic from my bedroom window with binoculars and listening to ATC on my Sharp airband radio. I also sometimes took a 5p bus ride to LHR and stayed all day spotting from the Queens Building.

It was an innocent hobby and we openly listened in to ATC. We were unknowingly breaking the law apparently but nobody cared. This innocent hobby led to my Aviation career. Twelve years in the RAF as an AATC and then to work at LGW since then.

I do quite often listen in to JFK Tower / Ground transmissions on ATC Live. It can be interesting at times. Such a great shame that it is still deemed illegal in the UK. The world should be allowed to listen to our dedicated and highly professional UK controllers, as they are some of the best in the world.

The WTA is way out of date and needs to be amended. I think it should be legal to listen to, but not to act on what you hear.

The current law makes the UK seem backward and old fashioned these days!

[tech log]

Bizarre and outdated legislation. Me being cleared to close the Localiser from the right isn't and shouldn't be a protected state secret.

Although I do appreciate Gonzo's points. Soon after most aviation incidents in America the news channels broadcast the ATC transcripts and often make rather silly assumptions and poor interpretations.

[LEGAL TENDER]

The current law makes the UK seem backward and old fashioned these days!

That would be OK for 52% of the population then...

[eastern wiseguy]

HD You really are an old curmudgeon.

And what authority do you have to listen to it?


A place where pilots may enter the 'lions den' that is Air Traffic Control in complete safety and find out the answers to all those obscure topics which you always wanted to know the answer to but were afraid to ask.

[Brian 48nav]

Any chance of keeping this thread " Brexit " free? It is not related to ATC issues!

[kcockayne]

Any chance of keeping this thread " Brexit " free? It is not related to ATC issues!

Yes, but LEGAL TENDER'S comment was very humorous ! Even if I'm one of the 52%!

[Brian 48nav]

I'm breaking my own request, - Me too!

[chevvron]

HD You really are an old curmudgeon.
Make allowances; he's typing one handed - broke his arm the other day poor guy; plays hell with his photography.