Scanner for air shows covering UHF aircraft bands

[Avnut]

I currently have a scanner that I use at air shows and sometimes while spotting. I am thinking of getting a newer scanner, one that would cover the 225 - 380 UHF Aircraft bands. I want one with the UHF band so as to listen to the T-Birds, Blues and some demo teams at air shows. My questions are: is there enough action at air shows in the UHF band making it worth getting a scanner covering those frequencies, and am I missing out of much with the scanner stopping at 380 instead of going to the end of the band at 399? The scanner I am considering is the Uniden BC125AT.

[CH2Tdriver]

I have the Radio Shack Pro-97 and its follow on Pro-164 (same except for digital trunking for local LE). For UHF mostly 200-350 for the Blues and T-Birds and that's it. Of course there's a lot of chatter to hear with them, so that's probably worth the the upgrade alone. Plus you can obtain all the freqs from Monitoring Times site. Other than them no I've never got much else on UHF. At an airshow you have to sharpen your scanning skills and try to find the airboss freq. That is where all the action is including the military acts when they check in for the box. Scan in the regular aviation band.

Once you find it program it in, as by experience if you attend the same show the following year it is the same.

HTH,

Pete

[RandolphB]

Why spend your time trying to tune all day when you can get a Passive Air Band Moniter from Aircraft Spruce that picks up the entire band at the same time?

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/pages/av/radios_yscanners/bandMonitor.php

[Avnut]

I have been going to Thunder Over Michigan for a couple of years now. I found the air boss frequency, and I know what is going on at the show, because you usually cannot what is being said on the loud speakers.

The Passive Air Band Aircraft Monitor is a neat item, and would be great to travel with. But it is way overpriced. Aircraft Spruce lists it for $160. Amazon has it for $90. That is about the cheapest I have seen it. There is no way it is even worth that much. It probably has less than $20 in components. The scanner I am considering is between $120 - $130.

This scanner/radio is a bit more reasonably priced.
Gleim KA11AIR Portable Aviation Receiver
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/pages/av/ ... A11Air.php

[Xray]

Yes, there are quite a few freqs between 380 and 400.
I wouldn't waste $$ on a non digital scanner, unless you are on an extreme budget.
#1, it will be all but useless for any police/fire/EMS monitoring, as most areas have gone digital, or shortly will, and #2, many airfield freqs, like base security, POL trucks, emergency response vehicles, have gone digital as well.
I'd pony up another $200 or so and get a digital model.

[Bones]

Why spend your time trying to tune all day when you can get a Passive Air Band Moniter from Aircraft Spruce that picks up the entire band at the same time?

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/pages/av/radios_yscanners/bandMonitor.php

That scanner is for the more common VHF band, he's looking for the higher UHF.

Looks cool though, might get one for my hangar.

[Xray]

I've toyed with one of those passive air monitors, from my limited observations, the only way I'd ever own one is if it was given to me - And even then, it would collect more dust than anything.
No speaker, so you got to use ear buds, or bulky external speakers. No gain control, so distant comms can barely be heard, and nearby ones come booming out and rattle your brain. Multiple comms can and do step on each other, with the stronger one[s] dominating and the weaker one interfering. "Antenna" is actually the earphone wire, obviously not optimal to receive air band freqs. Sensitivity appears acceptable, but can be both a blessing and a curse.

I think these things might be useful in a limited comm traffic area, but very frustrating in an airshow environment. For one thing, most airfields broadcast a continuous WX update on a certain freq ,,, With no way to lock it out, you may be stuck listening to weather reports and wind speed updates all day, unless and until something stronger is transmitted. Same with data freqs. This is basically an over priced novelty item aimed at noobs, who can't be bothered to search for and enter active freqs.

[GARY HILTON]

Don't take a handheld Navcom....I really P.O.ed the air boss at Midland a couple a years ago ...they were getting ready to shut down the airshow...

[Xray]

True, taking a transceiver to an airshow is not the best idea.

[ChrisK48]

I have this one and it works great. You can find it a little cheaper than Uniden's price.

It's not useful for police and fire for most areas because it's not digital or trunking, but it's great for aircraft, civil and military.

Don't believe the bad review on this site. It is not difficult to program. I've been a scanner nut for years and have a lot of them. I bought this one just for aircraft use and am very happy with it.

http://www.uniden.com/scanners/500-alph ... /bc125atg/

[Avnut]

ChrisK48, the Uniden you have is the I am considering. Like you, all I want to do is listen to the aircraft bands.

[Xray]

Both the Blues & the Tbirds have some very active freqs between 380 and 400 mhz, though you'd get the majority, you'd be missing some with this scanner. I don't know what the logic is in cutting off this area of UHF aviation, I would consider such a scanner hobbled.

[K5DH]

I listen to an older Realistic Pro-95 handheld scanner. It covers the entire military aviation band (225 - 400 MHz), but this range cannot be programmed through the keyboard, it must be programmed using software and an RS-232 cable via my computer. I have all of the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds frquencies programmed in. It doesn't take long to figure out which one(s) they're using at any given show. This scanner is also the digital trunking type, so I can listen to local police and fire traffic in my home area. This scanner runs on four AA batteries. If they run down, I just pop some new ones in.

I'm an amateur radio operator (my WIX handle is my call sign). My VHF/UHF dual band handheld transceiver (a Yaesu FT-60R) also receives the civil and mil air bands, and it does so quite well. Like my Realistic scanner, the mil air freqs must be programmed via software and a cable (different ones than the Pro-95 scanner uses). This radio's receive sensitivity on the air bands is really good. The rechargeable battery pack lasts a surprisingly long time when no transmitting is involved.

As for finding out the airboss' frequency at an air show, just ask. In all of the decades I've been listening at air shows, I've never had anyone refuse to tell me what it was.

Not sure why carrying an air band handheld is such a bad idea, as long as you're careful not to transmit on it, or allow anyone else to do so. I see plenty of them being listened to at air shows all the time.

[Xray]

Myself, I am a long time scanning and SW utility guy, so I use the scanner for more than just airshows.
I have a BCD396XT digital bearcat handheld, and also an Alinco DJ-X200 that is not digital, but receives everything in the spectrum including shortwave, and has a number of useful airshow features including a built in freq counter, and it will auto tune and even record any frequency within range, any band, any mode.
Problem with these are they are beasts to program in the field, I'd be lost if I have to make a quick entry on the fly. Almost everything is set up via computer. If I were to get a dedicated scanner just for air shows, it would be something easy to program and something not hobbled by clipped frequency spectrum, such as an older radio shack pro 43, or an AOR 1000, which was the 1st handheld ever to tune the UHF mil band. Used to have one and sold it some years back for $100, always regretted it. They occasionally turn up on ebay.

[Avnut]

Thanks for the info. There are not many scanners currently available that cover the military aviation band. The Icom RX-7 is nice, but reviews give the speaker poor output, and I do not want to use headphones/ear buds at a show. The GRE PSR-310 has been discontinued. The Icom R6 is interesting, but I am unsure about not having a keypad. Does anyone have experience with one? I do not need a $400 plus scanner at this time. The Yaesu FT-60R is nice, and a good price, but I do not have a license. I am not familiar with licensing. I assume as long as you do not transmit, you are fine? I would be concerned I would hit transmit unintentionally. The Uniden BC125AT is about what I need, nothing fancy. It is weird that the military aviation band was cut off at 380 instead of going all the way. I would rather have a large part of it, instead of none of it. Right now, it is between the Uniden and Icom.