If you want to listen in to a military air display team such as the Red Arrows then you will need a scanner that receives the UHF aircraft band. If you see a stall at the airshow selling airband scanners and accessories then they may display a list of frequencies being used or will help you. They may also use the usual Tower frequency for that particular airfield. The airshow frequency (Tower) can usually be received on the civilian VHF aircraft band and will most likely be a 'Common Air Display Frequency' which is temporarily used for the duration of the airshow. You will hear the pilot talking to the tower and know exactly when a display aircraft is to take-off, ideal if you want to be in the right place at the right time to get that photograph. At the moment, commercial aircraft use the new 8.33KHz spacing but the military still use the older 25KHz steps.Ī scanner can be invaluable at an air show for listening to the tower and hearing what is going on. Newer scanners may be equipped to deal with 8.33KHz spacing but it is a good idea to check before buying. This has been done to increase the number of frequencies available. Recently the spacing between airband frequencies has been reduced from 25KHz spacing to 8.33KHz spacing. More information on your scanner can usually be found on the Internet following a Google search. Some more expensive scanner models have many additional functions which makes them quite complicated to use especially as the included instructions are sometimes a bit vague. There is also an AM and FM 'Mode' and for aircraft reception you should use AM only. The frequencies that are entered into the scanner's memory are usually organised into 'Banks' and 'Channels'.Ī scanner includes a 'Squelch' control which is used to eliminate background noise. The scanner may have a keypad for manually entering frequencies or you may be able to connect it to a computer for programming in the frequencies. It is powered by normal or rechargeable batteries and includes a speaker, earphone jack, and detachable antenna. There are also multi-band scanners which cover much more than just the aircraft bands.Ī handheld scanner usually includes a belt-clip and wrist-strap for convenience. The HF band is not restricted to line-of-sight radio transmissions and can be used to monitor Shanwick and the trans-Atlantic routes etc. Some scanners can receive the HF (short wave) aircraft band in addition to the VHF and UHF aircraft bands. In order to listen to the Red Arrows leader at an air show you would require the UHF band.īoth VHF and UHF are short range, line-of-sight radio transmissions which are restricted to a maximum range of about 200 miles due to the curvature of the earth and usually considerably less depending on the surroundings (hills etc). These scanners can receive military aircraft transmissions as well as civilian. More expensive models allow you to receive the UHF aircraft band (225-400MHz) in addition to the VHF aircraft band. The cheaper scanners can receive just the VHF aircraft band (108-137MHz) which is ideal if you want to listen to civilian aircraft transmissions. You can get either a hand-held scanner, ideal for air shows etc, or a larger desk top/base station model. There isn't any frequency overlap that you get on the cheaper Air-band radio. Click here to view Airband Scanners and accessories at Amazon.Ī scanner, while more costly (about £70 and more), usually consists of a keypad to enter a particular frequency, LCD display, a memory which will remember stored frequencies, and the ability to scan through a certain set of frequencies. The cheaper air-band radio is usually able to pick up transmissions from civilian aircraft but are limited by the absence of accurate tuning so you have little idea of what frequency you are listening to and you are often tuned into more than one frequency at the same time. Many handheld Air-band radios/scanners are available today costing from just a few pounds to several hundred pounds.
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