RadioBanter - View Single Post

October 27th 04, 01:02 AM

In article ,
says...
Is 121.500 used for voice as well as other traffic? I know it is for
aircraft distress, and sometimes I have heard very faint voice on it,
but this may be an image or some sort of intermod. As the sound is so
faint, I cannot understand the transmission even with the volume on my
scanner turned up full and using headphones. I live in Calgary,
Alberta, Canada.
Fred Burgess

121.5 is the "VHF GUARD" frequency. It is used for emergency aircraft
communications. If you hear any voice comms on this frequency, it is
because someone is in deep doo-doo somewhere in the skies. RARELY will
you hear anything else other than emergency traffic.

The aircraft band is VHF, so it is pretty much line-of-sight except for
occasional odd propagation conditions. That's why you'll only hear the
aircraft side of the conversation unless you're either using a well-
elevated antenna or you're within ground-wave distance of the airfield.
The higher you can get your antenna, the more signals you'll receive.

If the signal is very faint, it's probably an aircraft at quite a
significant distance from your station.

--

-- //Steve//

Steve Silverwood, KB6OJS
Fountain Valley, CA
Email: