Uniden UBC125XLT and the battery save feature

I've mentioned before that the only slight annoyance with my Uniden UBC125XLT is the battery save feature which automatically kicks in after a couple of minutes when I am monitoring a single frequency and frequently means I miss the first second or so of a transmission which can be vital if the pilot is reading back a frequency change for example.

This feature is only apparent when connected to my small extension speaker as it generates a 'thump thump' noise as the circuitry is continually switching on and off!

The only 'workaround' I have found so far is to have one of the priority modes activated while monitoring a single frequency. My preferred option is the Priority DND option which checks any priority channels that are activated every 2 seconds as long as there is no transmission on the main frequency being monitored. With priority activated the battery save function does not 'kick in' at all.

Of course, you might say you don't want to be monitoring anything else, well if that's the case, if the frequency is in a memory channel, say for arguments sake, in bank 1 then make that channel the one and only priority channel allowed in that bank and only activate bank 1 for scanning, then put the scanner in hold mode on the frequency you want to monitor along with the priority mode and the scanner will be only listening to that channel and the battery save feature will not activate at any time!

The other option is the same as above ie. activate only the bank your channel is stored in during scan mode, hold on your desired channel, make that the priority channel and then activate 'Priority Plus' which will only scan priority channels in activated banks, so in this case, it will only monitor the one frequency in the one and only active memory bank.

Anyway it's not ideal, but it does work if you find the battery save feature an annoyance like me.

Yupiteru VT225 vs Uniden UBC125XLT

So, I've had an interesting few days with my Yupiteru VT225!

As soon as I got the VT225 'out of the box' I had forgotten how relatively small the LCD display is. I guess I've become very used to the nice big, bright display on my 125XLT!

After a relatively short period of time putting these radios side by side connected to my attic DIY dipole antenna (which incidentally, still performs better than any commercial product I've tried) what has become evident is that the VT225 was not pulling in any signals any better or stronger than my 125XLT! this was bit of a surprise, I really expected it to do better somehow.

With the radio connected to the attic antenna, it was pulling in all sorts of 'hash' and in fact, when trying to monitor Lakenheath approach which I regularly listen to on 309.200MHz, there was 3 signal bars of 'white noise' making it impractical to monitor. I also noticed on other frequencies where the background noise could easily be 'squelched out' I was getting the muffled breakthrough of strong local airways transmissions in places, something that I simply do not experience with the 125XLT. Don't get me wrong, the 125 is not perfect, there are a few odd frequencies that are susceptible to strong data transmission breakthrough in my location, but they are VERY FEW AND FAR BETWEEN. 

It's not all bad, I think the Yupiteru VT225 is a sensitive radio, but it is probably best used with a telescopic antenna attached directly to the radio itself and in the right position, is a very good receiver. Worth noting is that the audio quality on the VT225 is excellent and it has a very 'bass' quality sound to it. To get a similar quality of audio I have to attach a small usb charged speaker to the 125XLT. 

Interestingly, the scan rate quoted for the VT225 is 30 channels a second as opposed to 80 channels a second quoted for the 125XLT. When it comes to scanning airband and not wanting to miss the often, very short transmissions (particularly military) in my experience, SPEED IS EVERYTHING especially if you have several hundred frequencies stored in memory. 

All in all, I'm glad I took a trip down 'nostalgia lane' and it's made me appreciate what I have in the 125XLT - it is an excellent scanner for airband (and for the money) and the host of features and it's ability to reject unwanted signals have come along way since the Yupiteru scanner era of the 1990's. Do I sound like I'm on Unidens payroll? wish I was!

So what now for the Yupi? well it's already moved on to a new home! And my Uniden UBC125XLT is staying right here with me! 

What can I try next? fancy one of this little Icoms....

Yupiteru VT225 Civil and Military Airband Radio

I'm feeling a bit nostalgic and have decided to buy a Yupiteru VT225 airband receiver I found on Ebay at a reasonable price. I remember buying one of these brand new probably 20+ years ago now!

I remember being impressed with it's performance and ease of use so I thought it would be good to obtain one again and put it against my Uniden UBC125XLT just to see if it is a better performer. It will be a rather 'unscientific' test and I will simply see if the signal strength of ground stations I can currently receive is any better than the 125. In particular, I'll be interested in it's UHF performance which on any radio never seems quite as good as VHF primarily because the 'line of sight' physics become more critical as you increase frequency from VHF through to UHF.

If i decide to stick with it I will have to reduce my current frequency list down to those that I listen to most of all compared with those I have stored on my 125XLT as the VT225 has just 100 memory channels in 10 banks whereas the 125XLT has 500 memory channels in 10 banks. Also, I have come to love the 16 character 'alpha tagging' on the 125 so I can instantly see what I'm listening too! AND, for the first time in my many decades of listening, I'm able to easily program the 125XLT on my computer! 

I guess the performance of the VT225 will need to be measurably better for me to stick with it. The VT225 has been regarded as equal in performance to the venerable Signal R535 and are still quite sought after amongst 'us airbanders' so it will be interesting to see the results of my 'testing' once the radio arrives, watch this space for my findings....

There be Dragons!

Just thought I'd mention an excellent blog for monitoring movements in and out of Fairford: ffdmovements.blogspot.com. As of today's date, there are two U2's on the ground that arrived yesterday (Wednesday 2nd November) and I also picked up 'Dragon 86' on its way into Fairford this morning on the London Military frequency of 133.900Mhz (Thursday 3rd November). Their callsigns always tend to be 'dragon' and quite frequently stop over at Fairford as they rotate their overseas deployments.

Incidentally, the author of the above blog also has a movements blog dedicated to Brize Norton activity here: bzzspotters.blogspot.co.uk. 

Update on my Uniden UBC125XLT

I've had this scanner for quite a few months now and I have to say, I'm still very pleased with it.

There is not much I can find fault with at the moment but perhaps the only thing that niggles is the battery save feature (which can't be toggled on and off by the user) which works well, but does sometime mean that you miss the first second of a transmission which may not sound much but when an aircraft is passed a new frequency you can miss part of that frequency being read back by the pilot and so you can't be always be sure what frequency he has changed to. It's a little thing, I know, but that's it really.

I find 500 memories arranged in 10 banks of 50 more than enough and I now have my memory banks arranged as follows:

Bank 1 Swanwick & Scottish civil
Bank 2 Local airports (for me that's B'ham, East Mids & Coventry)
Bank 3 minor airfields inc. gliders, safetycom etc.
Bank 4 Swanwick military
Bank 5 Waddington & Coningsby
Bank 6 Mildenhall & Lakenheath
Bank 7 Brize Norton
Bank 8 Marham
Bank 9 RAF & USAF air to air refuelling
Bank 0 (probably tactical freqs when I get around to it)

The fact that I can upload all these frequencies along with the alpha tag names very quickly via the computer is a great bonus and something I've never done before. 

My latest DIY antenna in the loft is performing very well and I can hear ATC transmissions from both East Mids and Coventry loud and clear from my Leicester location and I can also hear aircraft reading back their clearance to land at Brize Norton some 62 miles away. Aircraft at altitude can be heard 150-200 miles away so I'm happy with my set up at this time. Obviously, the very best option would be an antenna mounted on the chimney but that's not an option for me right now.

It's just worth noting too, that when listening at home I have a small USB charged speaker plugged into my scanner which really does provide an audio quality on a par with a much bigger base station radio and can transform your listening pleasure.

I'd be interested to hear from any of you also using the 125XLT and what you think of it. Personally I find it a bit simpler to use than my 3500XLT for just airband listening.

Airband Antenna

Until recently I've simply been using a telescopic antenna positioned in bay window of my bedroom where I receive the best reception.

I have now moved this into the loft and after experimenting on the best position (which is not always simply the highest I can get it) my reception has dramatically improved! I am still just using a telescopic antenna with a BNC connection to rg8 coax cable and what has always improved reception for me is having a similar length of wire hanging straight down 'trapped' in the earth side of the connector which is effectively creating a dipole type antenna.

My telescopic is extended to just under 23 inches (about 58cm) so it is tuned to 259Mhz which is precisely the middle of both the VHF and UHF airbands (118-400Mhz) and it is proving very effective.

For the first time in years, I paid the princely sum of £9.95 to try a Nagoya 771 dual amateur band antenna (2m/70cm bands) as I thought this might perform well as it is tuned for both amateur bands just above the civil and military airbands but in my very unscientific testing alongside the telescopic it was definitely poorer reception so I'm sticking with my makeshift antenna for now, oh well, for only £9.95 it was worth a try.

What I have learned over the years, is that depending on your location and what specific ATC units/airfields you want to hear the most, antenna height is not always as important as the location of your antenna, happy listening!

Airband Reception and Fog!

I woke up this morning to find that it is quite foggy outside. It's worth noting that reception on VHF and UHF frequencies which includes the airband frequency range, is often much better when there are fog conditions.

I don't want to start getting into technicalities here, but when there's high pressure and fog, it can have an effect on radio wave propagation in the troposhere (the lower level of our atmoshere) which affects airband reception. 

This morning is no exception, as I am receiving East Midlands ATC (about 15 miles from me) much louder and clearer than usual and there's a distinct improvement in reception of aircraft and maintenance vehicles on the ground at East Midlands Airport.

So, it's always worth scanning around in fog conditions to see what signals you can 'pull in'. I remember on one occasion, I was clearly receiving Gatwick approach ATC on 126.825Mhz from my location near Leicester! but that was exceptional and doesn't represent the norm.  

New Uniden UBC125XLT Scanner Has Arrived!

After a number of years using a Uniden UBC3500XLT I decided to purchase the new Uniden UBC125XLT. Why? well I was attracted to the large clear and well lit LCD display to be honest. 

Some might feel this is a step backward from the 3500 because that has theoretically 2500 memory channels which can be arranged into systems and banks containing as many channels as you want all with alpha tag naming and when you get used to it, it really is a powerful, fast and effective scanner. 

The thing is, my main interest is just airband listening, and even with all the civil and military frequencies I could possibly want programmed, I'm not using anything like all of those features and memories.

So, having justified my purchase of the UBC125XLT to myself, the other half, and all of my readers, I have to say I'm very pleased with it!

Ok, so it 'only' has 500 memories arranged in 10 fixed banks of 50 channels but I can work with that, it really is fine for me and somewhat simpler really! Very importantly I still have 16 character channel naming available. I think at most, I probably have about 200 frequencies I want to monitor regularly within reasonable range of my location so it's more than enough for me.

With regard to it's performance compared with the Uniden UBC3500XLT I really can't tell any difference when put side by side connected to the same antenna.

In fact, in my opinion, these Uniden scanners have excellent receiver sensitivity and in my unscientific testing compare very well with my old Yupiteru MVT7100 (still highly regarded) and even the much older 'Rolls Royce' of airband receivers, the Signal R535 which I've owned in the past.

For the first time in my 38 years of airband listening, I have managed to programme the scanner via computer! As the 125 came supplied with pc cable, I have managed to download Nick Bailey's excellent bit of software for programming the 125 and have successfully entered all my channels with alpha tagging quite quickly and easily. If you have any comments or opinions, please do get in touch!