Hello. I'm a new flight student and wanted to train my ear on listening to ATC or tower. I was told that there's a radio reciever only that can help me listen in my local area.. but i can't find any information about it. I need a radio that can operate at 200 to 300 Mhz. Can you guys help me? Any help is appreciated. Thank you.
UHF VHF radio
- Thread starter Jomar12
- Start date
- Status
Are you civilian aviation or military aviation?
There is a civilian aviation receiver on Amazon I've seen a number of times and it some of the ham radio shops across the country. Would the civilian aviation frequencies, you would want to be monitoring normally between 118 - 136.975 MHz.
If it's military that you're talking about, the receiver would want to receive between 225-399.975 MHz for the most part. I don't think there is any specific military aviation only receiver. I could be wrong but if there had been one I would have bought it by now myself
What you probably want to get is a scanner that will pick up both of those bands. And even though the one at this link I'm posting is a great, cheap receiver, don't buy it at this Amazon price. It's gone up $35 since I was looking at it less than a week ago. It's normally going to cost you about $120 - $130 but they put it on sale every so often for about $89 at many of the vendors. And you can find it cheaper shopping around that some of the ham radio stores online. It's the unit in BC125AT scanner, it's small and easy to carry, and it will pick up the frequencies for both of those bands.
Again, the price at that link is ridiculous. But if you take that model and do a search for it you will probably find it from other dealers at a much cheaper price. It's definitely not on sale right now so you would likely spend at least $120. But it is great for aviation monitoring and a lot of people use it solely for that. It will allow you to program 500 frequencies/ channels in also and you can name the channels as well. They call that alpha tagging which is the AT at the end of the model number.
Brian
COMMSCAN
There is a civilian aviation receiver on Amazon I've seen a number of times and it some of the ham radio shops across the country. Would the civilian aviation frequencies, you would want to be monitoring normally between 118 - 136.975 MHz.
If it's military that you're talking about, the receiver would want to receive between 225-399.975 MHz for the most part. I don't think there is any specific military aviation only receiver. I could be wrong but if there had been one I would have bought it by now myself
What you probably want to get is a scanner that will pick up both of those bands. And even though the one at this link I'm posting is a great, cheap receiver, don't buy it at this Amazon price. It's gone up $35 since I was looking at it less than a week ago. It's normally going to cost you about $120 - $130 but they put it on sale every so often for about $89 at many of the vendors. And you can find it cheaper shopping around that some of the ham radio stores online. It's the unit in BC125AT scanner, it's small and easy to carry, and it will pick up the frequencies for both of those bands.
Again, the price at that link is ridiculous. But if you take that model and do a search for it you will probably find it from other dealers at a much cheaper price. It's definitely not on sale right now so you would likely spend at least $120. But it is great for aviation monitoring and a lot of people use it solely for that. It will allow you to program 500 frequencies/ channels in also and you can name the channels as well. They call that alpha tagging which is the AT at the end of the model number.
Brian
COMMSCAN
Since your a new flight student, you should focus on UHF. No need to focus on VHF. Why do you need to listen to VHF? Plenty of options for UHF.
techman210
Member
Unlike. Civilian communications are exclusively on VHF as indicated above.
Listening to ATC/towers are a great way to learn what to expect when learning, because when you interact with these entities, you will mostly get a shortlist of replies, and you can train your brain to expect certain “canned” replies, and they won’t be new to you when trying to “aviate, navigate, and communicating”
Listening to ATC/towers are a great way to learn what to expect when learning, because when you interact with these entities, you will mostly get a shortlist of replies, and you can train your brain to expect certain “canned” replies, and they won’t be new to you when trying to “aviate, navigate, and communicating”
Last edited:
there are two airbands....the civilian airband (VHF) is 118-137MHz while the military band (UHF) is 225-399.95 MHz. both are AM Modulation. you can receive both using a scanner. there are several models that can receive both (not all can) but before you plunk down $ for one where will you be using it? at home? at an airfield? is the airfield close to your home? the scanners come in two basic types...handhelds and table top models. either will be fine to listen to aircraft aloft regardless of where you are (although reception range will vary) but you'll need to be relatively close to the airfield to hear the tower side. if you're relatively close to the field errecting an external antenna on your roof will help.
the Uniden BC125AT handheld is a good radio for both bands. the link below will give you some other models to consider.
Scanner for monitoring air bands
post your questions.
the Uniden BC125AT handheld is a good radio for both bands. the link below will give you some other models to consider.
Scanner for monitoring air bands
post your questions.
Wait.... What??? Aircraft is on VHF A.M.
Also the military aircraft band is now 225-380 MHz, since the upper part was removed for Military LMR. Their maybe a few holdouts left within the upper region of frequencies, but most all the aircraft band from 380 MHz until right before 400 MHz should be gone now.
iMONITOR
Silent Key
The UNIDEN BCT15X is an excellent scanner for both VHF/UHF air bands!
danesgs
Member
Find a working used Uniden 895XLT on Ebay. It will give you both VHF and UHF aviation bands.
I own one of these. this is a good buy for a new one! I can vouch for it's sensitivity. I put a 24 inch telescoping whip and it can hear ATIS which is really hard to hear on the ground from 7 miles away. I use ATIS frequencies to see how hot the radio is.
Uniden Bearcat BC75XLT 300 Channel Handheld Scanner NASCAR/INDY RACING SAVE 70%! 50633650653 | eBay
There are some pilot-focused radios here that might be of interest, but a scanner is going to be cheaper.
Aviation Radios
Handheld Aviation Radios ready for use. High Quality Aircraft Radios Available Here. Find a radio from our selection to suit your aviation needs.
www.sportys.com
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2019
- Messages
- 76
It ain't rocket science. Most scanners will pick up VHF aircraft and that's the band you need to concentrate on. The VHF band has the most transmissions to monitor to "train" your ear. Remember, most all aircraft radios are low power because it almost always line-of-sight. If you're near a decent-sized airport, you'll get all kinds of transmissions. Away from an airport, you're options are greatly reduced.
Wrong! Civilian air band as mentioned above is VHF
iMONITOR
Silent Key
If VHF aircraft monitoring is your primarily goal consider a real aircraft radio.
PJ2 Handheld COM Radio
<h2>Portable airband radio with built-in headset plugs</h2><p>An emergency is no time to be searching for an adapter for your handheld radio. The PJ2 is the only handheld aviation radio that can be connected to standard aviation headset
www.sportys.com
I went through flight school a few years back and I purchased a Yaesu 550 and I still use it as a flight instructor listening and using it as a backup. I highly recommend it to pilots who want a good radio to listen on and to use in case of communication failure while flying.
New flight student and 200-300MHz makes no sense at all.
No response from the OP...what a surprise
As for military airband only being 225-380MHz....I guess the USAF F15s on 398.425 and 398.575 I was listening to yesterday haven't been informed yet
- Status
