Scanner at German airports
 

has the attitude at Europeean airports changed re scanners since I
visited a few yers ago ??? I always travel with at least oni hi-tech
"toy" or radio

a few yers ago, I traveled to Germany to visit relatives and play
tourist. I flew into Frankfurt (FRA/EDDF)and then on to Hamburg
(HAM/EDDH), on the way home, we left out of Stuttgart (STG/EDDS)

I listed both the IATA (Airline) and ICAO codes... USA airport ICAO
codes begin with a K (as in KLAX, KPHX)

Well, at FRankfurt, I had a hand held scanner in my hand and could
listen to anything I wanted, tower, operations, police and nobody seemed
to care... same at Hamburg....

When we left via Stuttgart, the security, Airline people and airport
police asked me what the thing (scanner) was and what I was doing with
it.. I also had a frequency list on a note pad..frequencies for Southern
California and the Phoenix area.... I was asked to put the scanner in my
checked baggage.. comming back from vacation, I had no more room in the
checked baggage...

Finally, I was ushered into a corner of the terminal, had an Airline
supervisor, airport security supervisor, and ref from the airport police
I had to give them the scanner and was able to get it back once hte
plane landed from an airline rep who had the scanner in an envelope with
my name on it. The scanner was caried in the cockpit by the pilots

In addition to the scanner, I also had a SONY-2010 shortwave..the
shortwave was in my briefcase. I remember the security swabbing the
radio to check for explosive residue.. I had not fertilized my lawn
before packing so I did not have to worry...I was however asked how the
thing worked...the SONY-2010 has 32 different buttons on the face...
either function keys ore one-touch memory buttons...

JOHN

jamoran wrote:

has the attitude at Europeean airports changed re scanners since I
visited a few yers ago ???

Nothing has changed. You are allowed to own a scanner, but you only
are allowed to listen to ham radio and broadcast with it.
It is not a good idea to listen to anything else in the public, so use
it hidden, and nothing should happen :-)



regards - Ralph

--

Want to get in touch? http://www.radio-link.net/whereisralph.txt

So you wanted attention, walking around an airport with some type of
handheld radio. Sounds like you need to pack that stuff and live without it
for a few hours, sorta like not smoking in airports.

"jamoran" wrote in message
...
has the attitude at Europeean airports changed re scanners since I
visited a few yers ago ??? I always travel with at least oni hi-tech
"toy" or radio

a few yers ago, I traveled to Germany to visit relatives and play
tourist. I flew into Frankfurt (FRA/EDDF)and then on to Hamburg
(HAM/EDDH), on the way home, we left out of Stuttgart (STG/EDDS)

I listed both the IATA (Airline) and ICAO codes... USA airport ICAO
codes begin with a K (as in KLAX, KPHX)

Well, at FRankfurt, I had a hand held scanner in my hand and could
listen to anything I wanted, tower, operations, police and nobody seemed
to care... same at Hamburg....

When we left via Stuttgart, the security, Airline people and airport
police asked me what the thing (scanner) was and what I was doing with
it.. I also had a frequency list on a note pad..frequencies for Southern
California and the Phoenix area.... I was asked to put the scanner in my
checked baggage.. comming back from vacation, I had no more room in the
checked baggage...

Finally, I was ushered into a corner of the terminal, had an Airline
supervisor, airport security supervisor, and ref from the airport police
I had to give them the scanner and was able to get it back once hte
plane landed from an airline rep who had the scanner in an envelope with
my name on it. The scanner was caried in the cockpit by the pilots

In addition to the scanner, I also had a SONY-2010 shortwave..the
shortwave was in my briefcase. I remember the security swabbing the
radio to check for explosive residue.. I had not fertilized my lawn
before packing so I did not have to worry...I was however asked how the
thing worked...the SONY-2010 has 32 different buttons on the face...
either function keys ore one-touch memory buttons...

JOHN

In article , james.douglas@genesis-
software.com says...
So you wanted attention, walking around an airport with some type of
handheld radio. Sounds like you need to pack that stuff and live without it
for a few hours, sorta like not smoking in airports.

I don't know, personally I wouldn't want to leave anything of any
significant value in my checked baggage. Too much likelihood of theft.

--

-- //Steve//

Steve Silverwood, KB6OJS
Fountain Valley, CA
Email:

azgreed I did not want to putthe radio in checked baggage...since just
one of my radios costs over $600 I prefer to keep that with me if
possible you have to pay a little bit for good ham, scanner, and
shortwave equipemt. I do sometimes have to explain to security what they
are.. often if I let them listen to something they (security) are
satisifed...

Steve Silverwood wrote:
In article , james.douglas@genesis-
software.com says...

So you wanted attention, walking around an airport with some type of
handheld radio. Sounds like you need to pack that stuff and live without it
for a few hours, sorta like not smoking in airports.


I don't know, personally I wouldn't want to leave anything of any
significant value in my checked baggage. Too much likelihood of theft.

In article , says...
azgreed I did not want to putthe radio in checked baggage...since just
one of my radios costs over $600 I prefer to keep that with me if
possible you have to pay a little bit for good ham, scanner, and
shortwave equipemt. I do sometimes have to explain to security what they
are.. often if I let them listen to something they (security) are
satisifed...

That's usually the case here in the US, as with any radio: if you can
show them that it is a real, working radio, they're okay with it, but
they will usually admonish you not to operate it while on board the
aircraft. They've been doing the operational-test thing ever since the
Lockerbie bombing.

Side note: what you may want to do is check to find out what the ATIS
frequency is for the airport(s) you'll be visiting, and put those into
memory. That way, you have something for them to listen to when you
turn on the scanner, rather than waiting for someone to talk to the air-
traffic controllers.

--

-- //Steve//

Steve Silverwood, KB6OJS
Fountain Valley, CA
Email:

Steve Silverwood wrote:

That's usually the case here in the US, as with any radio: if
you can show them that it is a real, working radio, they're
okay with it, but they will usually admonish you not to operate
it while on board the aircraft. They've been doing the
operational-test thing ever since the Lockerbie bombing.

I usually travel with a small digital radio (about half the size of a
deck of cards). I will listen to FM stations if I'm sufficiently
bored (no AM reception even when you press the radio against a
window). I will also usually fly with my GPS turned on (Gecko). It's
about the same size as the radio. I like to record the track of
approaches and landings, as well as to record the exact positions of
runway take-offs and landings.

The whole issue of not allowing the use of radio's on planes is
bogus. Sure, once upon a time radio's emitted a measurable amount of
IF RF, but anything made in the last few years, especially if it
operates on a couple of AAA's isin't going to screw up the plane's
comm or NAV systems.

The real reason is to ban any form of real-time communication that
passengers have with the outside world while in flight. It's a "human
factors" reason. I guess the argument goes that if passengers learn
while in flight that, say, World-War-3 has started, or if there is a
coordinated hijacking combined with suicidal crashing into buildings,
that it may unnerve the passengers enough to cause caos on board that
the FA's couldn't handle. They'd rather have a cabin full of sheep
insulated from the happenings of the outside world for the duration of
the flight.

It's the age-old balance between what's good for the individual vs
what's good for the group (or society). Similar to the wide-spread
use of antibiotics from a public health point of view (it may, or
will, benefit the individual, but if enough do it it will harm society
in general).

Have you ever wondered why the airlines don't pipe in real-time video
or audio into their entertainment systems? I garantee you it's not
for technical or cost reasons.

Fly Guy wrote:

The real reason is to ban any form of real-time communication that
passengers have with the outside world while in flight. It's a "human
factors" reason. I guess the argument goes that if passengers learn
while in flight that, say, World-War-3 has started, or if there is a
coordinated hijacking combined with suicidal crashing into buildings,
that it may unnerve the passengers enough to cause caos on board that
the FA's couldn't handle. They'd rather have a cabin full of sheep
insulated from the happenings of the outside world for the duration of
the flight.

This is pure nonsens. More and more airlines allow direct internet
access, on this way it is even possible to place VoIP-phonecalls.



regards - Ralph

--

Want to get in touch? http://www.radio-link.net/whereisralph.txt

Steve Silverwood wrote in message ...
In article , says...
azgreed I did not want to putthe radio in checked baggage...since just
one of my radios costs over $600 I prefer to keep that with me if
possible you have to pay a little bit for good ham, scanner, and
shortwave equipemt. I do sometimes have to explain to security what they
are.. often if I let them listen to something they (security) are
satisifed...

That's usually the case here in the US, as with any radio: if you can
show them that it is a real, working radio, they're okay with it, but
they will usually admonish you not to operate it while on board the
aircraft. They've been doing the operational-test thing ever since the
Lockerbie bombing.

Side note: what you may want to do is check to find out what the ATIS
frequency is for the airport(s) you'll be visiting, and put those into
memory. That way, you have something for them to listen to when you
turn on the scanner, rather than waiting for someone to talk to the air-
traffic controllers.

www.airnav.com has all the frequencies of all the US airports. Its very
handy

I just got done traveling across the USA in several airliners making about
six hops with a carry on suitcase full of radios and antennas and none of
the security folks seemed to care about them. What they did get very
excited about was my sealed lead acid battery. Its heavy, black, filled
with lead and has wires coming out of it. The airport security folks broke
into my checked luggage to inspect the battery when I flew out to my
destination and then every security stop wanted to see it when I carried it
home in my carry on bags. They took the battery and re ran it through the x
ray machine all by itself a couple of times and wiped it with the little
cloth that that detects explosive residue and then they told me it was ok.

Even though no one asked me to turn my radios on I agree with Steve that you
should be ready to demonstrate that it works to the security folks.

"Ted" wrote:

www.airnav.com has all the frequencies of all the US airports. Its very
handy

https://164.214.2.62/products/digitalaero/index.cfm is also a good
source. The enroute supplements hold the frequencies.



regards - Ralph

--

Want to get in touch? http://www.radio-link.net/whereisralph.txt