Airband Radio?

[Demonsiege]

I live aprox 2 miles away from heathrow control tower and wanted to know would this product be able to connect and listen to live air traffic control, I want to be able to listen to landing/takeoff ?

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?TabID=1&ModuleNo=46459&doy=8m5...

Thanks

 

[dwag40]

Hello Demonsiege,
Welcome to the hobby ! !
The short answer is yes! The only drawback is that tuning can be a bit tricky with manual tuning and a small scale like that. Have you thought of a cheap scanner like the Maycom 108 (not 100% sure of the model number, but I'm sure google can find it!) that retails at about £50 to 60 in the uk.
Heathrow tower is 118.50 and 118.70, one for take off, and one for landings, as they use two different runways, and approach is 120.40 and 119.725. As you can see, the ffreqs are all very close together, hence my statement about tuning. If you're 2 miles from that new (read taller!) tower you should get strong signals at least !
Have a look at Nevada radio, and Waters and Stanton in the UK, for cheap scanners etc.
I know that W & S do second hand models if cash is a problem, or ebay !
Anyway, enjoy ! And don't hesitate to ask questions.
Dave.

 

[Demonsiege]

Thanks for the help. Yeah im new to this but really interested in the ATC as im progressing studies to become a ATC. Ive found another one on ebay and money is kind of a problem. Heres the link

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BRAND-NEW-OME...ryZ40979QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Yeah the new tall tower isnt that far away i can see it from my window and also see aircraft takin off from 09R and 27L.

Thanks again

 

[mciupa]

To be honest , Demonsiege , it would be worthwhile to buy the Maycom or possibly a Uniden UBC 30 XLT (in the same price range) . This AirControl product has rotary tuning which is hard to tune precisely , plus you would have to fiddle around for monitoring the whole scene at Heathrow , which I must say must offer wonderful listening given how busy that center is.
It would serve you much better to have direct entry capability (with a keypad to enter the freq.'s you desire )and to have a receiver with channel memories. You could monitor a single channel or the whole gamut with the push of a scan button.
Save your money and buy a worthwhile receiver, I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

Cheers.

 

[Demonsiege]

Hey thanks for that. I would take your advice and get one of those. Just one more question is it illegal to listen to ATC Heathrow if youve tuned onto their channel ? Thanks alot for the help guys

 

[morfis]

Hey thanks for that. I would take your advice and get one of those. Just one more question is it illegal to listen to ATC Heathrow if youve tuned onto their channel ? Thanks alot for the help guys

Yes it IS illegal.....

...but in your own home who would know?

Monitoring of airband at airfields is generally tolerated in th UK (still illegal unless you have a licence).