How do I get better air band reception? I can only hear the planes in the air.

Tom
Mt. Morris, MI
check out my Genesee County, Michigan scanner page at geocities.com/tomcat4680

(tomcatgbmi) wrote in
:


Try listening to them when you are on the ground.

Seriously folks, how far are you from the Airport? UHF and VHF tend to be
line of sight only, if you are too far away, you won't hear the airports.
The planes are line of sight to your locale, so you can hear them with
less difficulty.

Outdoor antennas will improve your reception. You can get multiband or
single band antennas. If airports are what you seek to hear, a
directional antenna at the desired frequency will add considerably to the
signal level, but only in one direction. You'd have to have another
scanner with an omni-directional antenna to hear the planes.

HF (shortwave) radios offer the ability to listen to certain aircraft
operations, but not very likely in your area. Mostly planes into New York
and other coastal cities.


Have fun.

How do I get better air band reception? I can only hear the planes in
the air.

Tom
Mt. Morris, MI
check out my Genesee County, Michigan scanner page at
geocities.com/tomcat4680

tomcatgbmi wrote:

How do I get better air band reception? I can only hear the planes in the air.

That's pretty normal unless you live near an airport or one of the air trafic
control remote transmitter sites. You are hearing the aircraft from a long ways
away precisely because they are in the air and reception on these frequencies is
generally line of sight.



Tom
Mt. Morris, MI
check out my Genesee County, Michigan scanner page at geocities.com/tomcat4680

Subject: Air band reception
From: (tomcatgbmi)
Date: 10/2/2003 1:56 PM Eastern Standard Time
Message-id:

How do I get better air band reception? I can only hear the planes in the
air.

Tom
Mt. Morris, MI
check out my Genesee County, Michigan scanner page at
geocities.com/tomcat4680


An Airband Antenna mounted on your roof or high point will help.

Also, how far are you from the Airport?

Make sure you have the Tower Frequencies set.