Airband Scanners
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 103
Likes: 0
From: Norwich, UK
I agree about the Maycom - not the easiest one to set-up, but a fgreat price and the 'Dual Watch' facility is really useful.
As a photographer I certainly find it useful to keep a check on what's happening - just use lithium batteries with it (NOT alkaline!) and they'll last ages
As a photographer I certainly find it useful to keep a check on what's happening - just use lithium batteries with it (NOT alkaline!) and they'll last ages
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
From: Scotland
Hi all,
Sorry to bump an old thread but Maplin currently have the Maycom AR108 at 39.99 till the 22nd of this month, thought it was a good deal
http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?...anner#overview
Cheers
Garrie
Sorry to bump an old thread but Maplin currently have the Maycom AR108 at 39.99 till the 22nd of this month, thought it was a good deal
http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?...anner#overview
Cheers
Garrie
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 599
Likes: 0
From: big gay blackpool
hi guys , just quick question, live in blackpool and up into a couple of weeks ago not had trouble picking up overflying aircraft, have/has their been a changed of frequiences, been scouring ebay looking for new scanner a few for sayign frequencies gone digiital . ??? any ideas?
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 213
Likes: 0
From: Leicester
I have a maycom ar108
and brought this aerial
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...29616&doy=20m1
and have never had a problem the original aerial that comes with the maycom is too small but this one is great and works very well
David
and brought this aerial
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...29616&doy=20m1
and have never had a problem the original aerial that comes with the maycom is too small but this one is great and works very well
David
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 6,626
Likes: 12
From: UK
Unfortunately by listening to RT and then copying it, you are more likely to pick up all the bad habits that prevail. It can be of use listening to what people actually say, and learning to interpret it, but you need to know what they should be saying in the first place.
Everyone copies poor RT, very few copy correct RT!
Everyone copies poor RT, very few copy correct RT!
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 4,598
Likes: 0
From: Amsterdam
I have a scanner which isn't handhelp. In my room can hear Dublin Airport + airplanes no problem. Can only hear some of Westo planes. But in My attic Theres a skylight, where you can see weston... Is there a way of putting the aerial up there and runing it through a cable or something for the 20m to my room/??
You can also make them yourself quite easily. Find some RG-58 coaxial cable with a BNC connector at one end. Ask around: RG-58 coaxial cable used to be used for "thin ethernet", the main LAN standard half a dozen years ago, so computer shops or companies with a half-decent IT staff might have miles of the stuff lying about, if they didn't throw it out.
One end goes into your scanner. The other end you need to create a "dipole" antenna with. A dipole is simply a bit of metal sticking straight up, and another bit sticking straight down. Household electricity wire will do, or a clothes hangar, or something. One bit is connected to the outer mantle, the other to the inner core. I don't think it matters which is connected to which as long as you don't short circuit the core with the mantle. If you fancy fiddling, you can even pry the core wire out of the mantle at the appropriate spot and stick it up, while letting the mantle hang down.
What does matter a lot is the length of the bits of wire. For best reception, each wire needs to be a 1/4 of the wavelength of the frequency in the middle of the frequency band you want to listen to. For VHF COM, that means approximately 60 cm each.
From some experimentation I have found that the exact location of the antenna doesn't matter so much, as long as it is not surrounded by reinforced concrete. But if you have a proper dipole, tuned more or less to the frequencies you want to listen to, it makes a lot of difference compared to the tiny whip antenna that most handhelds come with. But at the end of the day, VHF signals are more or less line-of-sight so if you can see an airport from the skylight, chances are that reception in your room 20 meters away will be just as good.
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 83
Likes: 0
From: Germany
There are also free live ATC streams on the internet: live ATC net
aceatco, retired
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 1,431
Likes: 1
From: one airshow or another
There are also free live ATC streams on the internet: live ATC net
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 13,787
Likes: 0
From: EuroGA.org
I wouldn't waste money on a receiver to learn radio for the PPL.
The great majority of people you hear on the radio don't know how to use a radio and some of the stuff one hears makes one wonder who the hell taught these people.
The way radio is taught in the PPL (mostly during flying, which for a novice is hard enough) is hard due to pilot workload, but after a while it clicks.
The great majority of people you hear on the radio don't know how to use a radio and some of the stuff one hears makes one wonder who the hell taught these people.
The way radio is taught in the PPL (mostly during flying, which for a novice is hard enough) is hard due to pilot workload, but after a while it clicks.
Moderator
Joined: Jul 1997
Aviation Qualifications: PPL
Posts: 3,231
Likes: 21
From: Europe
no idea. They dont transmit anything ive used mine a few times and followed the flight right along..
Joined: May 1999
Aviation Qualifications: ATP+Mil
Posts: 27,400
Likes: 857
From: Quite near 'An aerodrome somewhere in England'
Any superhet radio receiver will have a local oscillator running a few MHz way from the tuned frequency. This will most assuredly cause interference to navigation receivers operating on similar frequencies to the local oscillator.
You must NOT use ANY radio receiver on board an aircraft unless it is part of the aircraft's equipment schedule.
You must NOT use ANY radio receiver on board an aircraft unless it is part of the aircraft's equipment schedule.