121.5 is the "VHF GUARD" frequency. It is used for emergency aircraft
communications. If you hear any voice comms on this frequency, it is
because someone is in deep doo-doo somewhere in the skies. RARELY will
you hear anything else other than emergency traffic.

The aircraft band is VHF, so it is pretty much line-of-sight except for
occasional odd propagation conditions. That's why you'll only hear the
aircraft side of the conversation unless you're either using a well-
elevated antenna or you're within ground-wave distance of the airfield.
The higher you can get your antenna, the more signals you'll receive.

If the signal is very faint, it's probably an aircraft at quite a
significant distance from your station.


Thanks Steve for you input on this. I knwe it was a VHF GUARD, but
was unsure of what, if any, voice traffic there was on it. As I said
in my previous post, that voice on it is very faint, and I only use a
rubber antenna or a telescopic whip, so I would probably hear only the
aircraft side of things, or the local ATC here in Calgary. As I
monitor the airport comms here and sometimes I recieve the ground as
well as the pilot.
Fred Burgess

In article ,
says...
Thanks Steve for you input on this. I knwe it was a VHF GUARD, but
was unsure of what, if any, voice traffic there was on it. As I said
in my previous post, that voice on it is very faint, and I only use a
rubber antenna or a telescopic whip, so I would probably hear only the
aircraft side of things, or the local ATC here in Calgary. As I
monitor the airport comms here and sometimes I recieve the ground as
well as the pilot.

One thing you might want to try is to put the antenna on a short coax
length, with a BNC-BNC feedthrough connector, and get the antenna up as
high as you can in the room. That, or perhaps get a mag-mount antenna
and put it up on top of the fridge or filing cabinet or something. That
will improve reception considerably. I've done that with my 2m HT at
work, with good results. With the mag-mount route, though, be sure to
keep the base well away from any magnetic media such as video or audio
tapes or computer disks (optical media like CD-ROMs and DVDs are safe).

Best plan is to put 121.5 in as your Priority channel. That way the
scanner will blip over to it every second or so to listen for traffic,
and it will pre-empt your scanner's operation if anything there breaks
the squelch.

--

-- //Steve//

Steve Silverwood, KB6OJS
Fountain Valley, CA
Email:

Steve Silverwood wrote in message et...
One thing you might want to try is to put the antenna on a short coax
length, with a BNC-BNC feedthrough connector, and get the antenna up as
high as you can in the room. That, or perhaps get a mag-mount antenna
and put it up on top of the fridge or filing cabinet or something. That
will improve reception considerably. I've done that with my 2m HT at
work, with good results. With the mag-mount route, though, be sure to
keep the base well away from any magnetic media such as video or audio
tapes or computer disks (optical media like CD-ROMs and DVDs are safe).

Best plan is to put 121.5 in as your Priority channel. That way the
scanner will blip over to it every second or so to listen for traffic,
and it will pre-empt your scanner's operation if anything there breaks
the squelch.

What I'm going to try, now that have moved to a new residence, it
connect my whip antenna, to a coax, then mount it until it touchs the
ceiling, via coax and BNC. As for making 121.500 my priority, I
prefer our local fire dispatch. If there ever was a plane in
distress, in or near Calgary, I would hear it, as well as scanning
121.500. When an aircraft is in trouble, here in Calgary and area,
CFD is notified an is called to the scene, their code for it is AC
(one, two) etc.
Fred Burgess

In article ,
says...
What I'm going to try, now that have moved to a new residence, it
connect my whip antenna, to a coax, then mount it until it touchs the
ceiling, via coax and BNC. As for making 121.500 my priority, I
prefer our local fire dispatch. If there ever was a plane in
distress, in or near Calgary, I would hear it, as well as scanning
121.500. When an aircraft is in trouble, here in Calgary and area,
CFD is notified an is called to the scene, their code for it is AC
(one, two) etc.

Sounds like a good plan, Fred. Drop me a note when you get everything
in place and let me know how things work out for you.

--

-- //Steve//

Steve Silverwood, KB6OJS
Fountain Valley, CA
Email: