Airband recievers: are they worth it?

[Coke611]

Hi guys. As I am studying for my PPL; I was looking in the Transair mag at Airband recievers/transcievers.

Is it worth me getting one, to improve on my R/T skills (or if the radio in the aircraft fails?)

Cheers

COke611

[Lost_luggage34]

Well worth it, but then I have the joy of living within the LTCA !

Seriously though, I found it a great assistance with picking up on R/T when doing my PPL. Suspect I was ripped off with the price, but still does the job.

[Evo7]

They are a fun toy (IMHO) and are useful at times (e.g. you can listen to ATIS before you are in the aeroplane). However, mine (the cheap Maycom receiver) would have been very little use for learning RT - you will only get half of most conversations (remember VHF is line-of-sight) so you'll only hear the ground station if you're close to the airfield. Besides, most pilots are no better at RT than you are... :)

Best way to learn is just practice. Read CAP413, buy some tapes for the car, practice on friends, family, the dog and, best of all, in the cockpit. Nothing works quite as well as trying to persuade an overworked LARS unit to let you through their overhead.

[FWA NATCA]

Coke,

My policy is to always try to plan for the unexpected.

If you can afford it I would carry the following in my flight bag in addition to sectionals and other items:

Hand held Transciever
Hand held GPS
Flash light
Cell Phone, I've seen cell phones save the day.

It is better to be prepaired then caught being un-prepaired.

Mike
FWA

[Keef]

An airband receiver at home will let you listen to the "big boys" who hopefully are getting it right most of the time. That isn't bad as a way of getting used to what's said. Evo's advice on CAP413 (available online nowadays) is sound.

Technically, it's not legal to listen on airband from home, but I've not heard of anyone being prosecuted for doing so.

You may have to search around a bit to find a situation where you can hear both the aircraft and the ground station (the tendency is that you hear more aircraft than ground stations).

BUT ... if you are seriously going after a PPL, and expect to complete it, I'd be more inclined to go for a handheld transceiver, which you can use as "backup" in the event of a radio faliure.

If you want an airband receiver, then expect to pay about £80 and up. To be any use, it needs to be digital display and synthesised tuning (refer earlier threads that have covered this in excruciating detail).

[Julian]

If you are serious about carrying on then it may be worth investing in a decent transceiver rather than buying one you are going to ditch once you pass as you find it doesnt do what you want it to. I know quite a few people who not carry them in their flight bag as a backup and they now even have VOR tracking facilities on them! These, however, retail for about £400!

[G SXTY]

I’d definitely recommend a transceiver. Having one means I can listen to Southend Approach while doing the washing up (sad or what?), and keep it in my bag while flying in case the radio packs up.

It’ll cost you more, but well worth it in the long run.

[Pronto]

With regard to FWA NATCA's post (above) while a mobile telephone (cellphone to our US cousins) is very useful to have along for use before (or after) flight, aiming to use it in the air is not a viable idea, even if your aircraft doesn't have any systems which are likely to be affected by mobile 'phone emissions. The UK mobile system is - I understand - set up differently to that in the US.

Over here, if you "hit" more than two or three mobile phone Cells, the system senses this and prevents you from connecting. I'm told that if you're at 1,000 feet or more, you will certainly hit enough Cells to stop your phone working (at least until you descend). I understand that the US system doesn't do this.

[Hersham Boy]

I bought a transceiver for two reasons:

a) I like toys
b) I had a (temporary) radio failure while on one of my solo nav sessions and, whilst not life-threatening, I was sweating quite a bit about joining a busy circuit completely unannounced (no transponder fitted either!)

To be honest, I've never had to push the PTT button but I did use it to listen to R/T traffic before doing my exams. I don't think it made me any better but it did make me aware of quite a afew calls that I'd never heard or made before...

Hersh