PRO-2052 Mil Air? Please help!

[rinkerk]

HEY ALL!
I've been playing with the 2052 for a few month now. From what I've read on different post, this receiver cant receive Am mod. at those Freq,s.
And from what I hear, I'm kinda thinkig it can't.
Comm. Air comes in great around this area, but the Mil Air is'nt too active.
Any thought on this subject?
Also, If anyone is runnig a 2052, tell me what you think about this radio.
THX

 

[abqscan]

HEY ALL!
I've been playing with the 2052 for a few month now. From what I've read on different post, this receiver cant receive Am mod. at those Freq,s.
And from what I hear, I'm kinda thinkig it can't.
Comm. Air comes in great around this area, but the Mil Air is'nt too active.
Any thought on this subject?
Also, If anyone is runnig a 2052, tell me what you think about this radio.
THX

Im guesing that you mean when you say the radio will not get AM, its in the 136-142Mhz range. You are correct. Although most of the Mil Air chatter is up in the 225-400Mhz range. For that the radio works great. I have two of them. Just make sure you have an outdoor ANT to increase your reception.

Erik

 

[TeRayCodA]

And,There is a lot there (136 - 150 Mhz) that is missing!
Especially if you are near a ANG base,or MOA.
If I look to buy another scanner,this is one thing that is a must for me!(AM mode)

 

[ka3jjz]

The other side of MilAir monitoring is that you need to know where to tune. The range is so broad that random poking around the band simply won't work. You should go over to your states' forum and see what's common in your area. The milcom group on qth.net, and any of the scanning forums on Yahoo for your state are also very good sources of info.

73s Mike

 

[rinkerk]

Thanks for the info guys.
Another question I have that I'm sure you know you can help is setting up WACARS. From what I've researched the freq,s published, in the 130Mhz range. Are these signals transmitted in AM or FM mode and are they digital or analog?
I read back a few editions of MT and other old mags dating back to early 02, when digital signals were harder to decode than they are now.
So If the 2052 cant recieve AM mode in the 130MHZ range will this impact the ability to decode WACARS? Will the 2052 work for this task?
By the way Erick, your right about the MIL AIR in the225-400MHZ range.
They do come in clear. I just have to be patient as there was'nt much activity near KAFB when I stared monitoring those freqs.
Thank you both for all you do..........
Regards...........

 

[ka3jjz]

Your 2052 should have no trouble with sending a clean signal to your PC. The default mode of AM is fine. One tip that they don't tell you - keep the squelch all the way open. You want to hear the noise coming through the speakers. This is because ACARS sends a sync tone (I think it's 100us in length) before sending data; many scanners squelch cannot open up that fast. No sync tone, no data decoding.
WACARS is finicky insofar as the soundcard you are using. Some work, others don't. If you find that yours won't work, ACARSD (a very comprehensive package written in the tck language) is a real winner. I use it from time to time. Installation was really easy, despite the odd language source. Works very well.

73s Mike

 

[rinkerk]

Thanks, MIke
I'll check it out. Regards..........

 

[jimlawrence]

I monitor ACARS too and I routinely monitor two ACARS freqs., 131.55 and 130.025. I scan between the two. I've found my scanner, a Pro-2042, can hop so quickly between two freqs that I don't miss many "decode-able" ACARS transmissions. Trying to scan three ACARS freqs simultaneously, however, is too many and I find I start missing a lot of transmissions.

I've also used my Pro-97 with my laptop while mobile to monitor two ACARS freqs at a time and that's worked out fine too.

If only I had the resources for a set up for each ACARS freq. Now we're talking! (or listening, as the case may be.....) I know...I know....it's only a hobby. It's only a hobby....

-Jim