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w2wml

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Middletown, NY
Hello all,
I have decided to try monitoring some air bands. The only receivers I have are the SDS200 and the uniden 996p2. I had heard that the uniden bc125at was a decent receiver for air bands. I was also considering the sds100, but im not sure how well it works on AM. Any suggestions on the best place to start? I was thinking of taking a few rides to airports and just listening.
Thanks!
Bill
 

aprswatcher

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Your 996P2 will probably be better on the airbands than the SDS200. I own both and 996P2 is more sensitive.
The BCD125AT is a good handheld scanner and very good for the airbands, only drawback with it is it uses batteries rather
quickly, so have extras available.
Start with Airnav.com, enter some nearby airports, scroll down to the “communications” section for frequencies.
Also here on RR check the listings for your ATC sector.
Don’t forget the Mil-Air bands good monitoring there.
73, Rex
 

alphazulu

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67
Hello all,
I have decided to try monitoring some air bands. The only receivers I have are the SDS200 and the uniden 996p2. I had heard that the uniden bc125at was a decent receiver for air bands. I was also considering the sds100, but im not sure how well it works on AM. Any suggestions on the best place to start? I was thinking of taking a few rides to airports and just listening.
Thanks!
Bill
w2wml enjoy listening to and better yet watching directly overhead the Newark (KEWR) aircraft on the SHAFF arrival route. You've probably noticed in the Middletown, NY area the KEWR arrival a/c flying low at a ~4000' ASL altitude. Maybe download the planefinder app (amongst others) to your mobile device to better identify the aircraft in your area (a LOT!) Circleville Park off Rt 302 is a nice location to planespot the Newark arrivals.
 

SA_tx_88116

Rather listen than to stream
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Cibolo, Texas
Also remember you don’t have to be by the airport there’s plenty of other things to listen to like approach and departure, and your local ARTCC which is referred to as center this is where aircraft climb up to cruising altitude and traverse the airspace until they are handed off to their destinations approach control, you can find ARTCC frequencies in the statewide part of the database, I believe you are in a sector controlled by Boston center (ZBW). I would also highly recommend you learn aviation English and the approach and departure procedures of your local airport or else you will have no idea what your hearing on the radio.
 

alphazulu

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New York TRACON N90
Arrival and Departure frequencies for the Metro New York City airports

Stewart International Airport - KSWF - Newburgh, NY

Orange County Airport - KMGJ - Montgomery, NY

Then there are the FAA ARTCC frequencies for; ZNY - ZBW - ZOB - ZDC... (in the Radio Reference database)
 

KD9KSO

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Midwest
If you go to Airnav and type your local airport in the search box you will have all of the procedures and frequencies you need until controller hand-off after departure.

You will learn the names of the procedures, the reporting points, crossing altitudes, and other details that will allow you to place the aircraft on the procedure as you listen to the aircraft and controller communicating.
 

w2wml

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WOW!! I dont know what to say. All this information is amazing! I so appreciate it very much. I guess I will start with airnav and go from there. When I go to my father-in laws, (just around the corner) I constantly see planes flying in the same direction directly overhead. I pulled up flight aware and it seemed as though it was a route for incoming flights to EWR. Most seemed to come from across the atlantic. I havent found my ATC sector in the RR database. Ill keep looking though. SA-TX-88116 believes I am in the Boston sector. I did see Boston listed in the database somewhere. Now I need to figure out what they are. As far as learning the aviation English, I am assuming the more I learn about aviation procedures, the better I will get at understanding it. I purchased the bc125at. It was more budget friendly and I dont need all the bells and whistles of other radios. Thank you all again and hopefully I will be able to research this stuff this weekend. Happy 4th to all!

Bill
 

alphazulu

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WOW!! I dont know what to say. All this information is amazing! I so appreciate it very much. I guess I will start with airnav and go from there. When I go to my father-in laws, (just around the corner) I constantly see planes flying in the same direction directly overhead. I pulled up flight aware and it seemed as though it was a route for incoming flights to EWR. Most seemed to come from across the atlantic. I havent found my ATC sector in the RR database. Ill keep looking though. SA-TX-88116 believes I am in the Boston sector. I did see Boston listed in the database somewhere. Now I need to figure out what they are. As far as learning the aviation English, I am assuming the more I learn about aviation procedures, the better I will get at understanding it. I purchased the bc125at. It was more budget friendly and I dont need all the bells and whistles of other radios. Thank you all again and hopefully I will be able to research this stuff this weekend. Happy 4th to all!

Bill
FAA ARTCC Map
The-20-continental-US-Air-Route-Traffic-Control-Centers-Center-boundaries-and-names.png


Planefinder.net - map tracking aircraft

Not certain but I think that the KEWR arrivals ZNY ATC transmits from the Sparta VOR Sector 36 on 133.15 AM modulation.
However in that area and at 4000' altitude is closer to where NY TRACON would be working traffic, I will defer to someone with more knowledge

New York Tracon N90

Maybe do an Air-band scan between the frequencies 118-137 AM

*********

And If interested you can pick-up aircraft at cruise altitudes that are over 200 miles away
ex. Aircraft at ~35,000' in the areas of Burlington, VT; Boston, Ma; Baltimore, MD; and Buffalo, NY

ARTCC New York ZNY

ARTCC Boston ZBW

ARTCC Washington ZDC

ARTCC Cleveland ZOB

*****

And the BC125AT is an excellent choice for aviation scanning
 

MiCon

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central AZ
I don't know what made you "decide(d) to try" monitoring the air band, but it sounds like you're interested in listening to the aircraft comms as you watch the planes fly overhead. Many of us find that fun and interesting. But there is a LOT to learn.

Not all airports are the same.
The major airports use many frequencies: Clearance Delivery (where the pilot gets his routing to his destination); Ground (taxiing to & from the runway); Tower (take off and landing): and 'company' freqs used by the individual airlines.
Smaller controlled airports have the same freq usage, except for the airline freqs.
The small uncontrolled AP's use only one freq for everything, called a Unicom or advisory freq.
Every AP is serviced by at least one approach & departure freq. The really remote AP's use the ARTCC for app & dep. When an a/c gets high enough it will be switched to an ARTCC freq.

As mentioned by others, the best way to get started is to visit airnav.com for your local airport(s) info. That should also give you the local app & dep freqs, which will be used by the low flying airliners going into Newark. Listening to these freqs, you'll get used to the terminology used by the pilots. Also note that even if you can hear the a/c but not the ground controller, the pilot usually repeats the freq he was just given. By noting this info, you'll build a list of hearable frequencies quickly.

There are certain sections of the air band used ALMOST exclusively for certain uses.
122.4 ~ 122.9 is where you'll find many ground controllers.
123.0 ~ 123.575 can be very interesting, as these are mostly plane-to-plane chat frequencies.
128.825 ~ 132.0 is used mainly by the airlines for company info (maintenance issues, flight schedules, unruly or sick passengers).

Once you've become familiar with you local frequencies, start doing searches of either the entire air band, or smaller sections of it. You'll be amazed at how many frequencies you'll find that aren't listed on many of the Internet sites.

One of the fun things to do is look at flightaware, or adsbexchange, or whatever flight following you prefer, as you're listening to the a/c. Locate the a/c on the flight following site, and note it's location and altitude. This will help you become familiar with what frequencies are used for what areas and altitudes.

Have fun.
 

Colin9690

Delaware County, OH
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@MiCon explains it very well. Just one correction, ground controllers are usually in the 121.4-121.9 range (1 MHz lower :))

Then you have uncontrolled airfields (without an operating control tower), using a Common Traffic Advisory Frequency (CTAF) being 122.700, 122.725, 122.800, 122.900, 122.975 and 123.000. With CTAF, pilots communicate their position and intentions to each other, facilitating a safe flow of traffic.

If you live in a large metro area with many helicopters operating (usually medical flights or the police), try monitoring 123.025. That's the Helicopter CTAF, announcing their positions and staying clear of each other. Here, they call it "Columbus Downtown Traffic".

122.75 and (unofficially) 123.45 are "air-to-air", or chit chat frequencies. Example, the flight school here at Ohio State uses 122.75 in the "practice area", to stay clear of other flight school traffic operating in the same block of airspace.

You can think of 123.45 as the "CB Trucker Channel". As a pilot, I've heard lots of interesting stuff on that frequency over the years. We have 3 VHF radios. I'll use the second radio to monitor 121.50 emergency "GUARD" and the third set to 123.45 for some entertainment.

Happy listening
 

xms3200

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Interesting about setting #3 VHF to 123.45Mhz for entertainment. Don't you lose your Acars data link?
 

andy51edge

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Colin9690

Delaware County, OH
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Interesting about setting #3 VHF to 123.45Mhz for entertainment. Don't you lose your Acars data link?
In my case, some of our aircraft lose the link and some don't, even ones of the same make/model. I don't listen to 123.45 as often as it might come across as, by the way. :ROFLMAO:
 

MiCon

Mike
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@MiCon explains it very well. Just one correction, ground controllers are usually in the 121.4-121.9 range (1 MHz lower :))

Then you have uncontrolled airfields (without an operating control tower), using a Common Traffic Advisory Frequency (CTAF) being 122.700, 122.725, 122.800, 122.900, 122.975 and 123.000. With CTAF, pilots communicate their position and intentions to each other, facilitating a safe flow of traffic.
Colin9690 is correct. Typo error on my part.
 

w2wml

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Middletown, NY
Thank you all for your help and advice. So much to process. (at least for me) Not sure where to start. I received my BC125at. I programmed a few frequencies. I also set up a search for the air bands. I had my sds200 doing a search while scanning on the 125at. I installed plane finder and finally discovered which planes I hear in the morning. UPS inbound to Stewart. (SWF) When I was scanning, the scanner showed Sector 42, east Texas. I looked up the frequency, It showed something like rcag in a town in NJ. Was that a plane talking to Texas through a receiver in Jersey?
Bill
 

alphazulu

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w2wml New York ZNY ARTCC (Air Route Traffic Control Center) transmits/receives from the Matawan, NJ RCAG site (near Morganville, NJ) and East Texas is a VOR (ETX) navigation aid (an air route "fix") just west of Allentown, Pa.

Use this skyvector link
SkyVector: Flight Planning / Aeronautical Charts
look top-right
tap "World VFR" chart
at the small top left search box, type in ETX
tap "Go" or the enter key
this will center the East Texas VOR

New York Center ZNY is in Ronkonkomo, NY near the Islip KISP Airport
 

AirScan

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New York ZNY ARTCC (Air Route Traffic Control Center) transmits/receives from the Matawan, NJ RCAG site (near Morganville, NJ)
Latest FAA data indicates the Sector 42 (127.175) RCAG is now co-located with the Stillwater VOR. Which makes more sense given the location of that sector. There's nothing listed for Matawan anymore. I've not been able to verify if that's accurate though.

w2wml, you list your location as MIddletown NY, the closest New York Center RCAG site is located at the Huguenot VOR (you can see it on Google Earth at N41 24 35 W074 35 30) about 8nm SW of Middletown. I'm just wondering if you are able to hear the controller transmitting on 132.600 or UHF 285.500 ? Or the VOR itself on 116.100 (listen for the morse code identifier).
 
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