OK so I'm fairly new to the radio airwaves. I have little knowledge and have been educating myself. I know the ranges of each device depend upon their antenna the frequencies and the actual device itself. But when I start listening to aircraft and or ATC, can I expect to hear it from home on a BC125at? I'm thinking I can and I only live 10 miles from Philly international. But also will I be able to hear communication with aircraft in the area if not talking to PHL? I'm not sure if there was a more simple way of asking this or if it's got too many variables for a yes no answer.
Range and listening
- Thread starter RMull53
- Start date
- Status
Delta2_Coms
Member
- Joined
- Dec 15, 2020
- Messages
- 6
At 10 miles away, you may have difficulty receiving aircraft on the ground, especially with the rubber duck antenna that comes with the scanner. You might be able to pick up ATC, but you won't know until you try. However, aircraft in the air should be received easily (whether talking to PHL or not).
-All the Best
-All the Best
“Yes” is the answer to all your questions. Anything that is transmitted from an airborne aircraft is going to be heard for tens or even more than 100 miles. Picking up PHL ground transmissions will be iffy though.
For ground traffic communications, airports will use an antenna with a radiation pattern directed downwards (from the tower to the grounds of the airport)--or so I've been told by a pilot who was also an electrical engineer--so those signals aren't as easy to hear as tower-to-flying airplane where the antenna radiation pattern is directed more towards the horizon.
I've been able to confirm this with at least 2-3 airports here in my listening area.
Depends on the things you mentioned. With an antenna on my windowsill I can hear the ground controllers and airfield ops frequencies from an airport 15 miles away.
Conversely, even with an antenna on my roof I struggle to get anything other than the tower frequency from an airfield a similar distance away in the opposite direction. The main difference here being that the one I can't hear is 40 feet lower than the city that stands between me and it, whereas the one I can hear is a few feet higher than me and there are few obstacles.
Line of sight between your antenna and their antenna is key
prcguy
Member
I don't think this is the case, I've never seen or heard of an aircraft band antenna with a downwards pattern. I think they just use an antenna mounted lower in elevation and/or use lower transmit power for close in on the ground traffic control.
certainly possible.
racingfan360
Member
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2005
- Messages
- 1,158
Line of sight really is key here. If you can see it you really should be able to hear it. At VHF you will get some margin on top of this.....depends on topography and range. The perfect illustration by way of example is the international space station. When I can see it overhead its over over 250 miles away, yet can hear it clear as anything. Yet I'll never hear a local airfield tower frequency that's just 15miles away as there's a hill in the way, blocks line of sight.
I live about 15 miles or so from Chicago O’hare. Ground is mostly flat. I need an external antenna up about 15 get to hear tower and ground control using a Uniden 780xlt which is considered one of the best aviation scanners. Otherwise. Dep/appr and tower to aircraft are pretty easy to hear using a Diamond RH-77ca antenna on the 780.
mattwillson
Member
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2019
- Messages
- 68
You can listen online here, it will give you an idea of the communications available.
www.liveatc.net
Airport Detail: PHL | LiveATC.net
spanky15805
Newbie
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2004
- Messages
- 306
MiCon
Mike
I haven't seen anything on here about what kind of antenna you're using. A rubber ducky on a handheld will yield limited results. At ten miles you won't hear any a/c on the ground, you might not be able to hear the tower controller, and a/c below 2,000 feet AGL will be marginal. If you can get even a cheap antenna on the roof of a single story structure - ten to 15 feet in the air - your reception will double, at the very least.
I live 4-1/2 miles from an airport tower. With the rubber ducky I can barely pick up the tower, and a/c in the pattern are marginal. With my HH scanner connected to a roof antenna I can pick up the tower and ground controllers well, a/c on the ground marginal, and a/c in the pattern loud & clear.
As for other a/c in the area, with the rubber ducky antenna you should be able to pick up aircraft talking to the local app/ dep controllers but you might not hear the controllers. Same with the a/c transitioning your area at high altitude. You should be able to hear them but probably not the controller. It depends on where the ATC controller's remote transmitter is located.
Again, even a cheap roof antenna will vastly improve your reception.
I live 4-1/2 miles from an airport tower. With the rubber ducky I can barely pick up the tower, and a/c in the pattern are marginal. With my HH scanner connected to a roof antenna I can pick up the tower and ground controllers well, a/c on the ground marginal, and a/c in the pattern loud & clear.
As for other a/c in the area, with the rubber ducky antenna you should be able to pick up aircraft talking to the local app/ dep controllers but you might not hear the controllers. Same with the a/c transitioning your area at high altitude. You should be able to hear them but probably not the controller. It depends on where the ATC controller's remote transmitter is located.
Again, even a cheap roof antenna will vastly improve your reception.
Thank for your reply. Actually, I use an Icom A25C with a rubber ducky antenna and it is amazing at picking up aircraft at FL 350 flying over Toronto, I live in Cleveland, OH. I recently bought a Taco D5076 antenna, I have not tested it yet due to the polar vortex affecting the region. My Sirio Yagi, 118 - 137 has a lot of gain and my biggest issue has been static in different parts of the house. I will let you know how the Taco antenna performs.
TailGator911
Silent Key/KF4ANC
^^^ This
I also live about 15 miles from my nearby major airport here in Dayton and I hear all the towers and ground control and auxiliary coms using a BC125AT with a Diamond N300 discone up about 25-ft. When mobile, I use a Watson W-889 angled telescopic antenna with great results. I also have an airport bank programmed into my Pro-2035 also using the rooftop discone (via Stridsberg 8-way)
Hi xms3200,
Can I ask how much you paid for the D5076 and did you buy it from the manufacturer or after market?
Thanks (they are a great antenna!)
The new Taco D5076 costs $466 and bought directly from Taco antennas in Brantford, Ontario
majoco
Stirrer
That's a bit expensive for something that looks like a quarter wavelength, only 55mm long, probably with a bit of a loading coil in the base.
prcguy
Member
The TACO D5076 is 55 inches long or 141.5cm and a full size fat 1/2 wave dipole. Its used at many major airports around the world and $466 is surprisingly cheap for what it is.
majoco
Stirrer
My apologies - I read "OVERALL LENGTH in (mm)" too literally!
- Status
Similar threads
BCD325P2/BCD996P2:
Help programming TGID
