Aviation communications are generally Simplex, i.e., you listen and talk
on the same frequency. You should hear both sides of the conversation
on the same frequency.

You can hear inflight aircraft for quite a distance. An aircraft at an
altitude of 3000' above ground level has a line-of-sight distance of ~80
miles. An aircraft at an altitude of 30,000' has a line-of-sight
distance of ~250 miles.

The on-the-ground range of the ground based stations is quite small,
typically a few miles. And, other than tower, stations talking to
inflight aircraft may not be located on the airport.

Walt

David Casey wrote:

Do aircraft and folks on the ground talk to each other on 2 different
frequencies? I seem to hear the ground controllers and the actual pilot on
2 separate frequencies talking to each other.

Also, there seem to be a large number of frequencies to listen to regarding
aircraft around here, but which should I concentrate on? I'm just
interested in listening to the planes and the ground controllers and such.

Dave
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