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Talk to me about handheld scanners.
I live near an airfield. I'd be interested in hearing what's going on.
I'd also like to be able to listen to ship station transmissions on Marine VHF CHannel 80 (157.025MHz) & Marine VHF Channel 0 (156.000).
The BBMF/Red Arrows are about a fair bit, do they use military frequencies?
So I'm looking for a Scanner that handles the following in priority order with only a) being essential:
a) Civilian Aviation.
b) Maritime VHF.
c) Maritime VHF 80 ship station Tx, Channel 0.
d) Military Aviation
Is there one (cheap!) handheld scanner that will do all this?
Is there a decent (cheap!) handheld scanner that will do some of it?
Perhaps I should have googled first.
Is this what I want?
http://www.icomuk.co.uk/categoryRender.asp?categoryID=3930&productID=734&tID=938
Or this: Maycom FR-100:
http://shop.pilotwarehouse.co.uk/product30260023catno2170023.html
Just to be clear I am absolutely 100pc not a plane spotter.
Get a Uniden Bearcat 125. Great little scanner.
Don't be tempted by an eBay special. They rarely work and when they do you'll want to self harm trying to work out how to use the damned thing.
(Note I'm a ham radioist and a scanner-ist).
Why VHF Ch 80?
You also have to be pretty close to the transmitter to pick anything up on Maritime VHF, pretty much line of sight.
Why VHF Ch 80?
So I can hear the transmissions from other boats, rather than just the responses from the lock keeper. Why do I want to do that? Not sure, I just do. The only practical advantages I can think of are 1) A bit more awareness of what's going on. 2) I won't overspeak other stations. Neither of those factors are anywhere near as important as the vital 'I just want to' factor.
The irony is I hate the radio and only turn it on at the specific times I need to use it. I never monitor C16 as I'm supposed to. So why am I so keen to hear Ch80 ship-shore transmissions? It's a bit mad. 😀
You also have to be pretty close to the transmitter to pick anything up on Maritime VHF, pretty much line of sight.
I'll be in the Marina, so shouldn't be any worse than my handheld VHF which works fine. I'm more concerned that I won't hear the control Tower of the nearest Airfield which really is a stretch. Hopefully I will be able to hear approaching exotic aircraft though, which might give me time to get my Camera out or at least step into the Garden. Of course that depends on them having some contact with the Tower before they go over my house and I have no idea if they will.
Despite dannybgoode's views on ebay specials, have a look at Baofeng UV5F. Not really a scanner, but should be programmable with 'channel' steps to cover marine VHF etc. You could programme in the local air tower's VHF freq. too.
I have a baofeng. They are very versatile, cheap but are a pain to work with.
Chirp makes things easier :).
For rx purposes only I'd still pay the extra and get a proper scanner though.
Thanks for the excellent advice.
I agonized over the Uniden Bearcat 125 which really looks perfect but I couldn't justify the cost.
In the end I went with the INTEK AR-109. Hopefully I won't regret that.
Pretty sure you're not supposed to be on Channel 0
Pretty sure you're not supposed to be on Channel 0
Buying this scanner has made me question quite a lot of pre-conceived ideas I had, one of which was that it was illegal to listen on CH0.
Same with the rest of the Marine stuff. For instance, I've always thought it was legal to listen on a Marine VHF without a license, but not to Transmit. I'm less sure now.
I'd like to read the specific bits of legislation in context. (But CBA to google!)
[url= https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0027/89037/Guidance-on-Receive-Only-Radio-Scanners.pdf ]Ofcom are pretty clear on the matter[/url]
Ofcom are pretty clear on the matter
They quote the law:
"uses wireless telegraphy apparatus with intent to obtain information as to the contents,
sender or addressee of any message whether sent by means of wireless telegraphy or not,
of which neither the person using the apparatus nor a person on whose behalf
he is acting is
an intended recipient."
But then say it's ok if you are "a licensed user of the frequencies in question". But their quote of the law doesn't mention that.
On the basis of what they've quoted it looks to me like listening to a private conversationon Ch0 is no different to listening to someones private conversation on (say) CH8. (Which does appear to be illegal if that quote is correct.)
If their interpretation is correct then having a license *does* let you off the hook, in which case does a Marine VHF license really exclude the bottom end of the frequency range where CH0 sits?