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Old March 16th 04, 01:52 AM
S R
 
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Default AIR BAND on Shortwave radios & scanners.

Some of my radios have the AIR band. I had never picked up an aircraft or
tower. How does one monitor the AIR band?

Sometimes I'll heard strange signals that may sound like a fax. But I am
not sure what that is.

Is there an AIR frequency list around?

Now on the Marine band I do pick up boats. Well I live near a river. But
should an aircraft fly over my area and I am on it's frequency and a
transmission came out from it, well, because of the speed of the aircraft, I
am not too sure how long it would last.

Boats are much slower. And better for this I think!

73


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Old March 16th 04, 03:41 AM
Maximus
 
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The frequencies used for aircraft range from 108 mhz to about 130 mhz . You
may be picking up strong pager signals in the area.

"Strength and Honor"

"S R" wrote in message
...
Some of my radios have the AIR band. I had never picked up an aircraft or
tower. How does one monitor the AIR band?

Sometimes I'll heard strange signals that may sound like a fax. But I am
not sure what that is.

Is there an AIR frequency list around?

Now on the Marine band I do pick up boats. Well I live near a river. But
should an aircraft fly over my area and I am on it's frequency and a
transmission came out from it, well, because of the speed of the aircraft,

I
am not too sure how long it would last.

Boats are much slower. And better for this I think!

73




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Old March 16th 04, 03:49 AM
Brian Denley
 
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S R wrote:
Some of my radios have the AIR band. I had never picked up an
aircraft or tower. How does one monitor the AIR band?

Sometimes I'll heard strange signals that may sound like a fax. But
I am not sure what that is.

Is there an AIR frequency list around?

Now on the Marine band I do pick up boats. Well I live near a river.
But should an aircraft fly over my area and I am on it's frequency
and a transmission came out from it, well, because of the speed of
the aircraft, I am not too sure how long it would last.

Boats are much slower. And better for this I think!

73


Are you near any airports? I hear constant air/ tower traffic on that band.
Get the radio Shack scanner frequency guide and lookup the frequencies in
your area.

--
Brian Denley
http://home.comcast.net/~b.denley/index.html


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Old March 16th 04, 07:14 AM
starman
 
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S R wrote:

Some of my radios have the AIR band. I had never picked up an aircraft or
tower. How does one monitor the AIR band?

Sometimes I'll heard strange signals that may sound like a fax. But I am
not sure what that is.

Is there an AIR frequency list around?

Now on the Marine band I do pick up boats. Well I live near a river. But
should an aircraft fly over my area and I am on it's frequency and a
transmission came out from it, well, because of the speed of the aircraft, I
am not too sure how long it would last.

Boats are much slower. And better for this I think!

73


If you are referring to the VHF airband (118-136 Mhz), you can hear
aircraft when they are within about 100-miles of your location,
depending on their altitude. You might not hear any airtraffic
controllers talking to the planes, if the nearest airport or ATC site is
more than about 50-miles from you. This is because the their
transmitters are on the ground. You can hear a lot of air traffic
communications on shortwave if you know what frequencies to check.

Here's some websites with more info':

http://www.geocities.com/dwingrin/home/airband.htm
(general information)

http://www.monitoringtimes.com/html/mtcivair.html
(VHF frequency list. Listen to the "Air traffic control
(towers/centers)" frequencies on this list to hear aircraft in your
area)

http://www.hamuniverse.com/aerofreq.html
(These are the HF or shortwave frequencies for transoceanic aircraft)


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Old March 16th 04, 02:32 PM
William Mutch
 
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In article ,
says...
Some of my radios have the AIR band. I had never picked up an aircraft or
tower. How does one monitor the AIR band?

Sometimes I'll heard strange signals that may sound like a fax. But I am
not sure what that is.

Is there an AIR frequency list around?

The easiest way to find frequencies is to call a fixed base
operator (aviation company) or flight school at your nearest airport and
ask what is locally in use. 122.90 is a nationwide simplex frequency
which may or may not be used at all in your area depending on the size
of the airport. If you are in groundwave range of the airport you can
get the ground control frequency, approuch control frequency and
meteorological broadcasts. If your local airport is small the
controlling airport may be some distance away. Each airline and many
fixed base operators have frequencies they use for their own traffic.
I've seen a website listing many of these but didn't bookmark it so cant
give you the URL.
Aircraft traffic is kept very short and you have to really get the
wax out of your ears to hear and understand it before it gone.
Get your receiving antenna up as high as practical. My local
airport is about 15 miles away over hilly terrain and the difference
between listening to the radio in the downstair kitchen and a bedroom
upstairs is the difference between having to strain for every word and
solid easy copy.


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Old March 17th 04, 04:40 AM
Mark Keith
 
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William Mutch wrote in message nell.edu...
In article ,
says...
Some of my radios have the AIR band. I had never picked up an aircraft or
tower. How does one monitor the AIR band?

Sometimes I'll heard strange signals that may sound like a fax. But I am
not sure what that is.

Is there an AIR frequency list around?

The easiest way to find frequencies is to call a fixed base
operator (aviation company) or flight school at your nearest airport and
ask what is locally in use. 122.90 is a nationwide simplex frequency
which may or may not be used at all in your area depending on the size
of the airport.


Yea, thats a "unicom" freq. Same for 122.7 and 122.8 I think. In
cities, many times you will have a helicopter unicom in about
123.025,050,075 range.
It will vary, but as a rule most of the VOR's, ILS, etc are pretty low
in the band. From about 108 to 117 mhz.
Most towers run from 118 to the lower 130's mhz range.
Same for most approach and departure freq's.
Most center freq's run in the upper part of the voice band. "lower and
mid 130's range" "132,133,134.??? are all busy "center" areas in the
band. Do a band edge search...The aircraft that are talking to center
will be your highest aircraft, as they are at cruise. They will be
heard the farthest distances. I'm in Houston, and I can hear aircraft
at cruise 250-300 miles away. Same for ACARS transmissions.
Most ground control is 121.7,8,9. Maybe lower in a crowded city... If
you hear a controller tell a plane upon landing to go to "ground point
niner" that means 121.9. "ground point eight" means 121.8, etc....
Most ATIS are in the lower and mid 120's range.
ACARS is mainly in the 129,130,131 mhz range..One exception that I
listen to is 136.8 mhz.. One way to find more freq's is simply to copy
the freq's given to pilots at ATC handoffs. IE: A pilot will take off,
and once airborne the tower will tell him to go to departure at say
119.7 as an example. Follow him there, and when he is handed off to
center, grab that freq also...You may have to get used to the rapid
fire lingo... IE: a quick handoff from departure to center might go
something like "Southwest 8, contact center, thirty two point seven
seven,.... That means 132.77. They often skip the 1st number as it's a
no brainer...:/ Antenna height is important if you want to hear
towers. MK
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Old March 17th 04, 07:03 AM
starman
 
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Mark Keith wrote:

You may have to get used to the rapid
fire lingo... IE: a quick handoff from departure to center might go
something like "Southwest 8, contact center, thirty two point seven
seven,.... That means 132.77. They often skip the 1st number as it's a
no brainer...:/


The altitude readouts can also be confusing. If someone says "one five
thousand", it means fifteen thousand feet. The speeds are given in knots
rather than miles per hour.


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Old March 17th 04, 04:47 PM
King Pineapple
 
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"S R" wrote in message
...
Some of my radios have the AIR band. I had never picked up an aircraft or
tower. How does one monitor the AIR band?


Basically, you have to find the best air freqs for your area, punch them
into your radio, then sit and wait.

One of the best air monitoring sessions I ever had was using the air band on
my Sony 2010. I picked up a search and rescue during a snowstorm one night
many years ago; supposedly a helicopter had crashed here in central New
Hampshire. There was a Navy Orion plane that diverted from its original
flight path to Maine, and he kept circling right over my head while
searching, and I heard the whole thing.

Later it turned out that some dipstick faked the distress call, and was
sitting in his condo at Weirs Beach the whole time putting out fake calls
for help. He WAS caught, and he WAS punished...



Craig, WPE1HNS
Meredith, NH USA

Drake R8B/Alpha Delta DX Sloper
Sony SW-77
Sony ICF-2010
2 x Phillips/Magnavox D2935
Uniden CR-2021
Knight Kit Star Roamer (permanently tuned to Turkey on 9460)
GE Superadio II/Select-A-Tenna
Delphi Ski-Fi XM/3" Antennae

Tuning since 1963


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Old March 17th 04, 06:38 PM
Mark Keith
 
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starman wrote in message ...
Mark Keith wrote:

You may have to get used to the rapid
fire lingo... IE: a quick handoff from departure to center might go
something like "Southwest 8, contact center, thirty two point seven
seven,.... That means 132.77. They often skip the 1st number as it's a
no brainer...:/


The altitude readouts can also be confusing. If someone says "one five
thousand", it means fifteen thousand feet. The speeds are given in knots
rather than miles per hour.


Also, they can throw in wind direction and speed, which can almost
sound like mix of the other numbers...IE "310 at 8" Also, the speed
given in knots will be indicated airspeed. Once they pass 18,000 ft,
they define altitude as "flight level" rather than feet. At that
point, they also set the altimeter to 29.92.
So if they climb to say 37,000 ft, they will call it flight level
three seven -zero. Usually just three seven -zero on the radio. Also,
at cruise, they can define speed as knots, or mach speed. Usually mach
if the altitude is much over 30,000. The air up high gets thinner, and
the indicated airspeed will continue to fall as they climb higher,
while the mach speed will remain the same.
IE: the average climb might be at 250 till 10,000, then maybe
290-300-310-320 knots up to appx FL29 or so depending on the aircraft,
where the IAS and the mach speeds "merge". Once at that altitude, they
would usually switch to mach speeds which will vary to aircraft. A
learjet 31a at FL41 or higher is reading a pretty low IAS "under 250 "
,with the "average" mach 77 speed for a lear. A 747 will do a mach
speed in the low to mid 80's usually. The cessna citation X is the
fastest commercial plane flying these days. Will do mach 90-92 range
tops. Thats a fast puppy...Takes a little listening to weed out all
the different, but sometimes same sounding numbers...
I'm fairly up on it, cuz I'm a flight sim nut, and fly jets on the sim
all the time. When listening to them, it kind of helps to understand
what all they are doing, to make what you hear, make sense. MK
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Old March 17th 04, 10:37 PM
Jim Shaffer, Jr.
 
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On Mon, 15 Mar 2004 19:52:27 -0500, "S R" wrote:

Some of my radios have the AIR band. I had never picked up an aircraft or
tower. How does one monitor the AIR band?


With a non-scanning receiver, your best bet is to find out what the tower
frequency is in your area.

Sometimes I'll heard strange signals that may sound like a fax. But I am
not sure what that is.


If they're quick bursts, it's a telemetry system called ACARS. 131.55 is a
common frequency for it.


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