Airband Radios - A Message From Peter

Peter has posted the following:

Hi, apologies if this is posted in the wrong place, I've been following this blog for a month or so now and love it, there isn't much information out there now adays.I was wondering if you could advise me on hardware?Currently, I am just outside of the centre of manchester and about 1 or 2 miles off the flight path for aircraft landing at manchester - (need to find out what wind conditions and runway it is for). However I currently use a rather old and trusted Win-108 VHF scanner, i scan through 10 frequencies (Tower x 2 // Approach // Ground x 2 - poor reception :( // 5 FL frequencies).Next year I will be moving about half a mile into a house (I currently live in University Halls) and would really love to get my hands on a new scanner, I was looking at buying a yupiteru mvt-7100 or 7300 scanner, would I see an increase with this if I use a better antenna rather than the "Rubber Duck" that I have with the 108? Also any recommendations on a type of indoor aerial that would be good? or would the standar telescopic antenna be fine?Thank you and sorry for the mass of questions :)

Thanks for the comments on the site Peter, I'm always grateful for some feedback. I remember owning a WIN 108 many years ago, they are a great receiver but definitely a little dated now and I would certainly find 10 memory channels very restrictive.

I was in fact thinking of perhaps selling some scanners myself at some point but I'm not ready for that yet. The Yupiteru is still my scanner of choice at the moment even though I have a Signal R535. The telescopic antenna that is supplied as standard with the Yupi will greatly improve your reception over the WIN 108's rubber duck. The rubber duck antenna's are really only of any use 'on site' at airshows etc. where reception range isn't an issue.

In terms of antenna I am restricted by what my other half will put up with in the bedroom! I currently simply have a length of coax connected to the Yupi's original antenna strategically positioned near the bedroom window where the reception is at it's best. Tip: (always experiment with antenna location if it has to be indoors as you will find a dramatic difference in reception conditions in different locations).

Obviously the 'best' arrangement is to get an antenna outdoors on the roof (something like a 'discone' antenna which provides good gain over a wide range of frequencies). In my old house I had just this arrangement but interestingly my reception is better now with the simple indoor setup simply because of the house location/elevation which is also another factor in the performance you will achieve.

I hope these comments help Peter, I am off to Yorkshire for a week now over the holiday period so I will not be posting till the new year, all my very best for a prosperous new year to all who read and contribute to this site. Mark.

Gatwick Traffic

Caz has posted the following:

Thank you again for your help! It was beginning to bug me as i kept hearing it and couldn't figure out what it meant! I have a GRE PSR 282 scanner and my father in law has just put an aerial (skyscan Airmaster i think!?) up on the side of our house for me and i now get to hear 2 way conversations which has greatly improved my listening enjoyment! I can now get Gatwick ground and Tower which i couldn't before! I also tuned in to the London FIS on 124.6 which you recommended in an earlier message and that does make quite interesting listening. I just wish i had more time to spend on it though! One more thing before i sign off, i have a couple of charts (Aerad En Route UK(L)2 and CAA England South Topographical 1:250 000) and i am desperately trying to see what flight routes go over my area as we have planes going over our house most of the day but especially early morning and i am desperate to know what frequency they could be on. I know you mentioned WILLO and frequency 133.175 in an earlier message so is it likely to be that one. Am i looking at the right sort of charts?? Sorry to keep asking but you are my only font of knowledge at the moment and i am very keen to keep learning!! Thank you again!

My reply is as follows:

I would say most of the traffic near you will be working WILLO sector, in fact the WILLO reporting point should be very close to your location and when it's busy that controller (133.175) is responsible for 'stacking' aircraft in a holding pattern around WILLO. A lot of the traffic inbound from the south will be entering the area from the LUCCO reporting point on the east side of the Isle Of Wight and from there taken eastward toward WILLO before being handed off to Gatwick director on 126.825. If not holding, the 'standing agreement' handoff altitude is FL90.

Aircraft outbound from Heathrow and Gatwick heading south out of the UK will be handed straight to WILLO on departure and should be climbed to FL170 and routed to the BOGNA reporting point which is actually about 8 miles out in the channel to the south of Shoreham and from there, handed to the next sector.

As regards charts, when I was regularly flying, the most popular chart for VFR (visual flight rules -ie. navigation by means of landmarks) was the 1:500000 scale. Commercial pilots will use the Aerad type charts and there are usually high and low altitude versions of these for a given area which detail the commercial routes and reporting points etc.

A question from Caz......

Caz has posted the following question:

Hello its Caz again! A quick question, what does it mean when pilots say 'We are a Boeing 777 (understand that bit!) with information Lima? or Romeo? or Papa?' It always seems to be a different letter but i just don't understand what that bit means & i can't find it anywhere in my books!

This relates to the continuous weather broadcast given out on a dedicated frequency at airports. Remember my post regarding Gatwick frequencies mentions the 'ATIS' frequency of 136.525? ATIS stand for 'automatic terminal information service' - it is a continuous broadcast of the current weather conditions at that airport and it is typically updated every 20 to 30 minutes. This is just an example, but say the weather broadcast at 8am in the morning is known as 'information alpha' when it is next updated at say, 8.30am it becomes 'information bravo' and so it goes on throughout the day until the update becomes 'information zulu' and it then starts all over again at 'information alpha'. When an aircraft calls approach control and advises his aircraft type along with 'information alpha' for example, the controller immediately knows which weather broadcast the pilot has listened in to on the ATIS frequency. If there has been a further update with any changes in weather conditions this will be reported to the pilot.

I hope I have explained this clearly enough? If there are still any queries please let me know.

Reply to my Sussex Air Traffic Control post

Here is the reply received from Caz:

"Many thanks to your response to my question! My name is Caz, the person who lives south of Gatwick and just a few miles from the South Downs. I have quite a few questions but am a bit pushed for time right now as i have a young daughter who is getting a little bored! but many thanks for answering my initial question, it is extremely helpful and i think this site is a great idea. I will make contact again soon".

Just thought I'd put the responce on the main page, it's nice to get some feedback, please stop by regularly and ask away with those questions when you've got time!

London FIS (Flight Information Service)

In case you weren't aware, there is a 'flight information service' for all aircraft operating outside of controlled airspace (in other words no mans land!). Depending on the aircrafts location, there are two frequencies used which are: 124.6 & 124.75 but most of the time these are 'bandboxed' together under one controller. It is important to understand this is not a radar service of any kind but is useful for pilots (I used it quite regularly when I was flying) to provide information on their flight and receive information on other possible conflicting flights and in addition, to obtain weather reports and regional pressure settings etc.

It can make very interesting listening at times. Also because the service is transmitted through various repeaters in order to cover the UK it is possible to listen to aircraft at low level even if they are 200 miles or more away!

Sussex ATC Frequencies

I must apologise for not posting recently as I have been very busy with work etc. I have received a question on frequencies by a reader living 15 miles south of Gatwick.

Just in case you don't have the Gatwick frequencies here they are:

Approach Primary 126.825
Approach 118.95
129.02
135.575
ATIS 136.525
Clearances 121.95
Ground 121.8
Tower 124.225 Primary
134.225

As regards airways frequencies, you are right underneath the 'WILLO' sector which extends from surface to FL175 frequency: 133.175.

Above this are sectors S18 FL175 to FL255 (extending to FL335 over the channel).
Then S25 FL255 to FL305 and finally S1 FL305 to FL660.

I think there was also a question regarding oceanic clearance frequencies. There are two frequencies, one for aircraft registered west of 30W ie. US aircraft etc. which is 123.95 and for aircraft registered East of 30W ie. european aircraft the frequency is 127.65.

Well I hope thats useful, thats all I have time for right now. Please keep posting and let me know what you think about the site and what else you might like to see here. Thanks all, Mark.