Air Traffic Control question.

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lucky43113

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I am in Pickaway county and I have a few airports programmed in my BCD996p2 Pickaway county airport,
Rickenbacker Columbus regional Columbus terminal radar and Don Scott field most of these are in Franklin county. I can hear the planes fine even after they land but I never hear the control tower. I can even hear the private jets ask questions but I never hear the response am I missing a frequency?
 

Colin9690

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Simply a matter of simplex line-of-sight distance. You can hear the planes because they are a few thousand feet in the air. As they get closer to the ground, the signal gets weaker and weaker until you don't receive them at all (assuming your position is fixed). Since the control tower is on the ground, don't expect to hear OSU tower in Pickaway County. There are lots of live feeds on liveatc.net though, including those you mentioned. Happy listening!
 

lucky43113

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Simply a matter of simplex line-of-sight distance. You can hear the planes because they are a few thousand feet in the air. As they get closer to the ground, the signal gets weaker and weaker until you don't receive them at all (assuming your position is fixed). Since the control tower is on the ground, don't expect to hear OSU tower in Pickaway County. There are lots of live feeds on liveatc.net though, including those you mentioned. Happy listening!

no i hear the planes after they land at OSU and Rickenbacker planes on the ground sound loud and clear
 

mass-man

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The tower is a very low powered transmitter....designed just to cover the area around the airport. You hear the planes because they have a more powerful transmitter or for whatever reason. The antenna for the tower might be on top of the tower cab or somewhere lower at the edge of the airport. I would put the scanner in your car and take a drive over there...I often hear planes on the north end of the airport near me, but not the south end. too far away....

if you have the tower or ground control or TRACON entered correctly, it really is a matter of the luck of the draw.....
 

lucky43113

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The tower is a very low powered transmitter....designed just to cover the area around the airport. You hear the planes because they have a more powerful transmitter or for whatever reason. The antenna for the tower might be on top of the tower cab or somewhere lower at the edge of the airport. I would put the scanner in your car and take a drive over there...I often hear planes on the north end of the airport near me, but not the south end. too far away....

if you have the tower or ground control or TRACON entered correctly, it really is a matter of the luck of the draw.....

ok thanks. I put in what was in the RR database by the way I am 20 miles south of Rickenbacker that's where I hear most jets like net jet millionair etc...
 

mass-man

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I would double check the proper frequency with airnav.com

Are you hearing the planes on the tower frequency, the ground control frequency or the approach/departure frequency. Makes a difference!!!!
 

mass-man

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You are monitoring the fuel and private jet operations at the airport! No wonder you are not hearing the ground side of the comms. These guys run even lower power to basic antennas and just a few feet in the air...primarily to tell a plane where to park on their space! Sorry thought you were monitoring air traffic control?!?!?
 

lucky43113

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You are monitoring the fuel and private jet operations at the airport! No wonder you are not hearing the ground side of the comms. These guys run even lower power to basic antennas and just a few feet in the air...primarily to tell a plane where to park on their space! Sorry thought you were monitoring air traffic control?!?!?

im trying to i have all the air freqs put in just rarely hear them
Don scott Don Scott Field (OSU) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference aero enroute i can hear

Columbus Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) http://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?aid=1506 rare to hear anything

Columbus Regional Airport Authority Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference once in a while i will hear 122.95000 BM UNICOM Unicom

by the way i put in everything I could from the RR database using freescan
 

rwier

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I am in Pickaway county and I have a few airports programmed in my BCD996p2 Pickaway county airport,
Rickenbacker Columbus regional Columbus terminal radar and Don Scott field most of these are in Franklin county. I can hear the planes fine even after they land but I never hear the control tower. I can even hear the private jets ask questions but I never hear the response am I missing a frequency?

As many have suggested, many factors involved. I'm 6 miles from a small towered airport. I believe they operate some amount less than 24 hrs. I start picking up the tower around 3 miles. Really good full reception when I can "see" the tower. The planes? Probably copy them if they were in moon orbit (half the time, of course).
 

mass-man

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Be tough to hear the tower or ground control 20 miles away...
Planes no problem!!!
If nothing else I would put in 121.5, the emergency frequency! You never know what you might hear!!!
 

radioscan

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The best thing to do is put your 996P2 into searching the aero band for several days. That will give you an idea what the most active frequencies are and what you are in range of.
 
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