What is the best scanner, base or handheld to monitor air band traffic?
Air Band Scanner
- Thread starter shirsch101
- Start date
Recommendations are posted daily here for the Uniden BC125AT.
Base BCT15X.
I use it's older brother BCT15 among my many scanners for Mil Air.
I use it's older brother BCT15 among my many scanners for Mil Air.
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Base/mobile hands down is the BCT15X. My last career field in the US Air Force was Air Field systems maintenance, and from that experience I am quite impressed with the performance of the BCT15X. With the BCT15X you can set the modulation mode to AM for aircraft in any band, and set the step range to the correct 25Khz frequency step when searching so that searching is not slowed down due to an 8.33khz step form 118-137Mhz or due to a 12.5khz step from 225-400 Mhz. It is still a current new model and currently for sale on Amazon for $181.76 and 159.99 on Bearcat Warehouse. I saw the BCT15X about a month ago on Amazon for $171. Amazon prices fluctuate often. I'm almost talking myself into a second BCT15X. For the price and performance they are very hard to beat.
Be aware that the BC125AT does not receive 380-400 Mhz. Also frequency step settings on the BC125AT I think are 12.5 KHz in the 225-380 range and cannot be changed. You can program correct frequencies, but if limited to a 12.5 Khz step when searching it takes twice as long since the correct aircraft channel spacing is 25 Khz. You may miss military aircraft on frequencies between 380 and 400, but if your primary interest is civilian aircraft in the 118-137 Mhz band, then the BC125AT should work well and it is rather inexpensive. What would you miss in the 380-400 Mhz range with the BC125AT? It depends on what and where. Air Force Command Post frequencies are still in that range. US Air Force F16 Demo Team has recently been confirmed on 384.55 MHz. An Air Force Fighter Squadron could use a discrete frequency in that range at any time. You probably wouldn't miss much, but it is possible to miss something. Maybe more so at an Air Show.
If you want a new handheld for military air that is a Uniden, that covers the entire 225-400 Mhz military band, it would have to be the BCD325P2 Digital Trunk Tracker or maybe the BCD160DN which is intended to also receive DMR and NXDN which you will never need for aircraft, but it does receive continuous 225-400 MHz and the 118-137 Mhz band. Gigaparts.com has the BCD160DN for $219.99. I have no experience with the reception quality of the BCD160DN. I would expect it to be very adequate, but if you are considering it I would ask about it here. There are many used scanner options that include the full 225-400 MHz milair band. Almost any scanner receives the civilian 118-137 MHz band. 108-117.975 MHz does not have voice traffic. That range is used for navigational equipment. VOR beacons and ILS localizer.
Also, military aircraft operate voice in AM mode between 138-143.975 MHz and 148-151.775 Mhz. There is often quite a bit there. The US Air force Thunderbirds have at least 2 frequencies around 140- 141 MHz they use every year. When I monitor Air Force Fighter aircraft in Florida, fighter aircraft are frequently operating between 138 and 143.975. The BCT15X, and most scanners will receive AM this range, but not all of them will receive AM mode between 138 and 151.775.
Be aware that the BC125AT does not receive 380-400 Mhz. Also frequency step settings on the BC125AT I think are 12.5 KHz in the 225-380 range and cannot be changed. You can program correct frequencies, but if limited to a 12.5 Khz step when searching it takes twice as long since the correct aircraft channel spacing is 25 Khz. You may miss military aircraft on frequencies between 380 and 400, but if your primary interest is civilian aircraft in the 118-137 Mhz band, then the BC125AT should work well and it is rather inexpensive. What would you miss in the 380-400 Mhz range with the BC125AT? It depends on what and where. Air Force Command Post frequencies are still in that range. US Air Force F16 Demo Team has recently been confirmed on 384.55 MHz. An Air Force Fighter Squadron could use a discrete frequency in that range at any time. You probably wouldn't miss much, but it is possible to miss something. Maybe more so at an Air Show.
If you want a new handheld for military air that is a Uniden, that covers the entire 225-400 Mhz military band, it would have to be the BCD325P2 Digital Trunk Tracker or maybe the BCD160DN which is intended to also receive DMR and NXDN which you will never need for aircraft, but it does receive continuous 225-400 MHz and the 118-137 Mhz band. Gigaparts.com has the BCD160DN for $219.99. I have no experience with the reception quality of the BCD160DN. I would expect it to be very adequate, but if you are considering it I would ask about it here. There are many used scanner options that include the full 225-400 MHz milair band. Almost any scanner receives the civilian 118-137 MHz band. 108-117.975 MHz does not have voice traffic. That range is used for navigational equipment. VOR beacons and ILS localizer.
Also, military aircraft operate voice in AM mode between 138-143.975 MHz and 148-151.775 Mhz. There is often quite a bit there. The US Air force Thunderbirds have at least 2 frequencies around 140- 141 MHz they use every year. When I monitor Air Force Fighter aircraft in Florida, fighter aircraft are frequently operating between 138 and 143.975. The BCT15X, and most scanners will receive AM this range, but not all of them will receive AM mode between 138 and 151.775.
Air Shows (United States) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference
Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference for Air Shows (United States)
www.radioreference.com
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I think the BCT15 and BCT15X are very under appreciated for civilian air and milair monitoring.
bearcatrp
Member
If you don’t need P25 and just want airband, the 160DN is all you need. DMR and NXDN is a plus that comes with it. Which part of the airband are you interested in?
wtp
Member
you asked like you were only getting one...i suggest getting a couple.
Ubbe
Member
The BCT15 and BCT15X have always been extremely good value for money. It has a robust receiver that handles strong signals well. I haven't heard any interferencies or desense issues while having it in my car and a magnet antenna on the roof. There are more sensitive scanners for VHF air but if you have strong signal issues from FM broadcast or 150MHz pager transmitter then it will probably do better than other scanners in that situation.
I think it is unique having GPS features that not only controls what you scan but also have dangerous roads where it warns you if you go above the speed limit and point of interest that can be speed cameras where it alerts you when you get close to them. I put a 3-pin 12v-5v regulator inside and connected to the unused RI pin of the 9db connector and soldered together an adapter so that the GPS cable connects directly to it without having to fiddle with external power and cigarette lighter plugs.
Its RF performance and feature rich functions makes it a real bargain in its price range. You can have one scanner to scan programmed known frequencies and another to do search to find unknown ones. You can also use a SDR dongle at home doing a 2 sec search of the whole VHF air band but you usually have internal interferencies in a dongle and can be frustrating to use but a BCT15X just chugs along without any issues.
/Ubbe
I think it is unique having GPS features that not only controls what you scan but also have dangerous roads where it warns you if you go above the speed limit and point of interest that can be speed cameras where it alerts you when you get close to them. I put a 3-pin 12v-5v regulator inside and connected to the unused RI pin of the 9db connector and soldered together an adapter so that the GPS cable connects directly to it without having to fiddle with external power and cigarette lighter plugs.
Its RF performance and feature rich functions makes it a real bargain in its price range. You can have one scanner to scan programmed known frequencies and another to do search to find unknown ones. You can also use a SDR dongle at home doing a 2 sec search of the whole VHF air band but you usually have internal interferencies in a dongle and can be frustrating to use but a BCT15X just chugs along without any issues.
/Ubbe
Some military aircraft also use FM in this range. One is the USMC HMX-1 which flies Marine 1 to transport the President and their support aircraft the V22 tilt rotor.
BC15X and the handheld version if you can find one, the 346XT. They're the analog cousins of the 996XT/396XT and are the best I have for airband. Don't forget a good aviation band antenna, and if you live near any FM station transmitters a good FM block filter will definitely help reception. I have a couple of these RTL-SDR FM block filters and they made a noticeable difference in reception on air band, plus are reasonably priced-
Broadcast FM Block Filter (88-108 MHz Block) by RTL-SDR Blog https://a.co/d/atVgrVo
Broadcast FM Block Filter (88-108 MHz Block) by RTL-SDR Blog https://a.co/d/atVgrVo
Thanks for the info
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From the frequency response curve for that particular FM block filter I would be concerned about reception from 118 - 137 Mhz. The 3 dB skirt is at 76 and 122 Mhz .The upper end of the notch is 150 Mhz with 122.185 Mhz at marker 4 about -3dB, and below 122.185 then down to 108 Mhz at -50 dB. Its good for frequencies at 150 Mhz and up, but looks to kill a third of the civilian aircraft band voice frequencies. I was curious about it because inexpensive filters will not have a narrow notch, and unlike other FM block filters on Amazon this one shows the frequency response. Others listed don't provide the response but they are probably similar. As an FM block filter it appears to be good, but the civilian aircraft band is too close to FM broadcast for cheap filters.
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Ubbe
Member
Another point worth considering, regardless of actual scanner model, is frequency management from a PC and also if you want to actually control your scanner from a PC or like a base station.
From the post replies so far there are a number of scanners mentioned that cover the Civil and MIL frequencies and if starting as new person to the Civil/MIL arena you would be fairly hard pressed to criticise any of them yourself upon first usage. So given they are potentially all the same regarding reception etc. then give a little thought about how, where, when and ease of programming, saving, loading your scanner etc.
From the post replies so far there are a number of scanners mentioned that cover the Civil and MIL frequencies and if starting as new person to the Civil/MIL arena you would be fairly hard pressed to criticise any of them yourself upon first usage. So given they are potentially all the same regarding reception etc. then give a little thought about how, where, when and ease of programming, saving, loading your scanner etc.
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Nice! Thanks. The HPN-30118 and ZBSF-95+ should be very usable with airband. Much more narrow notch.
Fortunately I have not had an issue needing to notch out FM broadcast. I had my BCT15X in a condo on the 26th floor of Peck Plaza in Daytona Beach Shores Florida with an external antenna on the balcony, and never once had an intermod or image issue of any kind. I have similar performance with the BCD996P2. Both are stellar conventional performers, and of course except for simulcast distortion the BCD996P2 is great with P25. I dont have NXDN or DMR in the 996. Don't need it.
All scientific testing aside, my real world use for it says it works fine. I use it primarily for 118-136 and noticed a huge improvement using it versus going without it. YMMV.
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It is likely the SDR dongle was interfered with so badly that it benefitted from the filter, but the sensitivity will still be way down at 118 to 122 compared to a non SDR scanner. I dont use any SDR dongle for analog because they get so messed up from images and intermod. They work ok for digital. They are hugely frustrating with analog. I wouldnt recommend that filter for use with a non SDR scanner. It might help the SDS100/200, but I sort of doubt it.
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What SDR dongle? I'm using it them on my 15X and 346XT. They've worked fine for me, even around the lower end 118-122. I was just listening to it earlier this evening. Cleans up all of the static I get without it.
Ubbe
Member
But long before that is happening, that you easily can hear, are that a receiver looses sensitivity gradually with a signal gradually getting stronger anywhere in the frequency band that the filters will pass to its electronic circuits in the receiver, a desense. When I check desense in a small super sensitive 0,15uV Icom R2 scanner it desense heavily from just a moderate signal strength but a 0,6uV sensitive Regency Pro-2006 doesn't desense at all even when exposed to a huge signal level, making it receive much better than the Icom unless there are no other interfering signals in the frequency band.
In some circumstances a receiver that handles strong signals better, but have a specification that show a bad sensitivity, will receive better than a more sensitive receiver. It depends of what antenna that are used and what the local RF interference levels are.
/Ubbe
