Fred Burgess wrote:

Is 121.500 used for voice as well as other traffic? I know it is for
aircraft distress, and sometimes I have heard very faint voice on it,
but this may be an image or some sort of intermod. As the sound is so
faint, I cannot understand the transmission even with the volume on my
scanner turned up full and using headphones. I live in Calgary,
Alberta, Canada.
Fred Burgess


121.5 is still the Civil emergency frequency.
243.0 is the Military emergency frequency.
Both are monitored by all ATC facilities and many pilots leave a
receiver on 121.5. Military aircraft radios are equipped to monitor
243.0 in addition to whatever other frequency they have selected.

EPIRBs (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons) operate on (or
close t0, I forget the exact frequency and am too lazy to look it up)
406 MHz. But there are still some emergency beacons operating in 121.5
and 243.0

Dave