Listening on on aircraft movements on a scanner around your area on VHF can be addictive and I for one have been doing it for over 20 years. There are some groups who take photo's of aircraft as well. They often join forums to exchange their finds as have discussions just like this one on radio communications.
On my local news TV today there was a segment about how two hobbyists were arrested in an airport hotel for doing just this in India. The TV showed them being manhandled through a crowd of angry Indians to a police station. They have been charged with....wait for it....espionage!!!
The segment also showed another group of hobbyists who at some previous time, left Britain and went to Greece to listen in on their flights and were arrested and put in jail for 6 weeks.
Now it appears that we have PIPs (people in power) who perceive that this hobby is dangerous and have made scanning illegal.
Obviously the Greeks and the Indians think so.
I would like to have some feedback on this topic. Are there other places on this planet that have similar legislation against such activities?
BTW it would be unwise to India or Greece with a scanner in your case!!
On my local news TV today there was a segment about how two hobbyists were arrested in an airport hotel for doing just this in India. The TV showed them being manhandled through a crowd of angry Indians to a police station. They have been charged with....wait for it....espionage!!!
The segment also showed another group of hobbyists who at some previous time, left Britain and went to Greece to listen in on their flights and were arrested and put in jail for 6 weeks.
Now it appears that we have PIPs (people in power) who perceive that this hobby is dangerous and have made scanning illegal.
Obviously the Greeks and the Indians think so.
I would like to have some feedback on this topic. Are there other places on this planet that have similar legislation against such activities?
BTW it would be unwise to India or Greece with a scanner in your case!!