Airband scanner

N64

Hi all, my dad's birthday is coming up soon and he's into aviation so I'd figure I'd get him a airband scanner. Anybody have good recommendations on models I should get? I was having a look at this one on amazon.co.uk.

Are external antennas recommended? He lives quite close to Dublin airport so I wouldn't think it would be so much of an issue, but I just want to be sure.

martinsvi

that will do nicely. As for the antennas, I would throw in something like this - http://www.nevadaradio.co.uk/radio-scanners/scanner-antennas/scanner-base-antennas/scanmaster-desktop

those default antennas are quite bad and they only work well if you have clear line of sight with the source of the signal. They have no gain - in fact - they even attenuate signal, so an external antenna is pretty much a must. This way your dad can mount it a bit higher to get a better coverage

N64

Thanks for your help. Decided to go with the scanner and the antenna in the end. Wonder if you can use one of these on a plane while in flight?

martinsvi

N64 wrote: »

Thanks for your help. Decided to go with the scanner and the antenna in the end. Wonder if you can use one of these on a plane while in flight?

some people have tried that, reported over modulated signal (too strong) coming from flight deck whilst not hearing anything from ATC.

Also difficult to keep up with the frequency changes

kub

N64 wrote: »

Thanks for your help. Decided to go with the scanner and the antenna in the end. Wonder if you can use one of these on a plane while in flight?

I did years ago with an AOR 1000 scanner, the best one I ever had.
It was brilliant every aviation frequency that I had stored on it was crystal clear whether ATC or aircraft.

arubex

kub wrote: »

I did years ago with an AOR 1000 scanner, the best one I ever had.

Those 1000s still go for substantial money second-hand. Impressive.

I snapped-up a couple of old Yupiteru VT-225s a decade ago and they are still running strong, though can overload near ATC towers.

Modern receivers seem to be designed primarily for scanning & searching; just selecting a static frequency to listen requires several button-pushes and menu selections. And persuading the sodding thing that I do not want to start a search from that frequency..

kub

I think the AORs were the Mercs of the scanner world, I remember it costed a fortune but in the days of 088 phones and the none existence of that 'Tetra' the cost of it was easily justified.

PukkaStukka

kub wrote: »

in the days of 088 phones and the none existence of that 'Tetra' the cost of it was easily justified.

Tut Tut!! :pac:

N64

My dad is delighted with the unit. Very easy to use compared to a old one we had. Tried it without the aerial and yeah, the reception is mediocre with out it!

rebel girl 15

Sorry to bump an old thread. I've been looking at getting a scanner given that I live under the flight path at Heathrow and will be located near Twickenham stadium for the World Cup. I'm looking for some advice on this one. Any good??

martinsvi

rebel girl 15 wrote: »

Sorry to bump an old thread. I've been looking at getting a scanner given that I live under the flight path at Heathrow and will be located near Twickenham stadium for the World Cup. I'm looking for some advice on this one. Any good??

1) your link is broken, I take it from description that it is 30XLT you're talking about
2) scanning ATC in UK is illegal, let's just from now on assume we're talking about someplace else that's not so !@#%^&*()
3) I own that model, it's really good, but as previously mentioned, it all comes down to the antenna. Assuming you use it somewhere close to the airport, for example such as Dublin Airport and Howth or Heathrow and Twichiewhatsitsname stadium, you should do just fine. If not, a single piece of wire stretched up high will open the lines

rebel girl 15

martinsvi wrote: »

1) your link is broken, I take it from description that it is 30XLT you're talking about
2) scanning ATC in UK is illegal, let's just from now on assume we're talking about someplace else that's not so !@#%^&*()
3) I own that model, it's really good, but as previously mentioned, it all comes down to the antenna. Assuming you use it somewhere close to the airport, for example such as Dublin Airport and Howth or Heathrow and Twichiewhatsitsname stadium, you should do just fine. If not, a single piece of wire stretched up high will open the lines

That part I didn't know

I would be using it to pick up anything in the area really - thanks for the advice!

_dof_

rebel girl 15 wrote: »

That part I didn't know

I would be using it to pick up anything in the area really - thanks for the advice!

I think it's illegal to receive any transmission which isn't intended for you in the UK, which includes, but isn't limited to, air band. Probably doesn't stop too many people though.