Scanners

[Gerard M]

Im looking to buy a scanner right, but i've got no idea where to start and what to look for? i think it would suit better for a hand held and i dunno $2-300 range i guess, but if anyones got any suggestions that would be great.

And also, if i bought one, i'm usually in the hills district but i'm at uni in bathurst a fair bit. Would i be able to pick up Sydney frequencies out there or not?

Thanks in advance.

Gerard

[Mark Grima]

Hey Gerard,

I remember there was a similar topic on the old forum just before it went belly up. At the time I was looking at purchasing a scanner which I still have not done!

I remember the end result of the discussion being that Uniden was the brand to go for.

Browse their website and see what you think.

Cheers

M

[Gerard M]

Alright, thanks for the help Mark, much appreciated.

G..

[Nick W.]

Gerard,

I have been using a Uniden Bearcat scanner for a number of years now, and I have had no issues with it. Excellent coverage, easy to use and all-in-all a fantastic product.

I bought mine at Dick Smith Electronics, but am unsure if they still stock my specific type. Have also seen them at Tandy, and (of course) Concept Aviation Supplies at Bankstown Airport.

Hopw that helps,

Nick

[Gerard M]

Would something like this be good? or am i better off spending a 100 more for a "better" one?

http://www.dse.com.au/cgi-bin/dse.storefront/47f96f5e05755a802740c0a87f9c0720/Product/View/D2764

also would this pick up Sydney frequencies in Bathurst at all?

Cheers

[Andrew P]

.

I bought mine at Dick Smith Electronics, Have also seen them at Tandy,


Dick Smith & Tandy are the same people these days, both part of Woolworthws

Banjo

[Mark Grima]

That looks like it would be OK to me Gerard. It has the frequancies which you will need which is the main thing.

I would doubt you would get Sydney frequencies in Dubbo but there are probably more qualified member son this board to answer that.

Cheers

M

[Gerard M]

not dubbo but bathurst...

[Gerard M]

So can anyone help me out?

Will Sydney frequencies be able to be picked up in Bathurst? In the one streamed off the web i can hear planes in Bathurst but yea any help would be much appreciated?

Gerard

[Mick F]

No. You might hear the odd departure or arrival while they're still quite high, but that's it. VHF range is only 'line of sight'. So even aircraft on the ground at Bathurst, you might not be able to hear them, unless you have a 'line of sight' view of the airport. The reason why you hear aircraft at Bathurst off the net broadcast from Sydney, is the broadcast is probably also scanning the Melbourne Centre frequencies. If it is, then that 'sector' that you're listening to, might be covering several frequencies at once, so you're simply hearing a re-broadcast of that aircraft.

Speaking of range however, I was up at FL270 the other night between Cunnamulla and St George, still had 126.70 tuned on one of the radio's by mistake, and heard one of South East Section's B200's going into Wilcania! Wilcania was about 300nm away at the time. Not bad.

Floody

[Daniel G]

I doubt you would be able to hear Sydney from Bathurst... I assume you're referring to tower - VHF is a skywave hence requires line of sight to function. With the mountains in the way, your chances of hearing anything are very slim. HOWEVER, you may be able to listen to aircraft talking to the Sydney frequencies.

You should be able to pick up ML CN 135.25 without too many problems... Also, get the Bathurst CTAF on 127.35 and AWIS on 133.25.

I'm sure Bob Bell is the man to talk to about this!:)

[Gerard M]

Ah ok thanks for the help guys, so it would seem that it wouldnt be much point getting one if im not going to be picking up much out there.

thanks gerard

[Daniel G]

I'm sure you will pick up some frequencies, just not necessarily Sydney's...

[Mick F]

Gerard,
You should be able to receive Melbourne Centre quite clearly from your location (ERSA is listing 135.25 as being able to be received on the ground at Bathurst). You'll hear enough to keep you interested on that, especially when the controller is doing multiple sectors and you can hear the rebroadcast for a million miles around you.

Floody

[Andy C]

Where is Bob Bell? has he signed back up?

[Gerard M]

Thanks guys appreciate the help.
One last thing, may sound stupid i mean it sounds stupid to me but are they legal? like no problems buying them? like i know it says used for air rail police etc but if say someone sees them theres no issues?

Cheers

[Maikha Ly]

Hi all

I'd like to add in my query on what scanner to get.

I live in Wagga though, so apart from the local airport and rail line, is there anything else I'd be able to pick up there?


Thanks!

[Daniel G]

Maikha, you will be able to pick up Melbourne Center.

As Floody said in his last post, you will hear plenty - Just not Sydney.

[Gerard M]

I bought this one right:
http://www.dse.com.au/cgi-bin/dse.st...uct/View/D2764

but i am so lost and dont know how to use it to find the Syd frequencies ( i am in syd atm).
Anyone got any hints on how to program it and all that...the instructions make no sense to me :confused:

[Bradley Porter]

Gerald,

Go Here for YSSY Frequencies:-

http://www.airservicesaustralia.com/publications/current/ersa/FAC_YSSY_13-Mar-2008.pdf

Page 3

Cheers
Brad

[Mark D]

I bought this one right:
http://www.dse.com.au/cgi-bin/dse.st...uct/View/D2764


Hey Gerard, that link doesn't....

link....

model name/number might help?

[Pat Stevens]

Hi Gerard,

Here's my two cents worth :)

I own one of the newer Uniden digital models UBCD996. They're quite pricey (anywhere from $800-$1000) however they really cover an extensive range of services that operate from 25MHz to 1.3GHz. I bought mine mainly for airband and have it set up with two mobile magmount antennas on my roof. One is a wide receiver antenna (Mobile One Scat-X) and the other is a dedicated airband antenna. I'm in Sydney (quite close to Sydney Airport) and can pick up quite a bit of Melbourne Centre Ops (NSW) and a little bit of Brisbane Centre (Pacific Ocean stuff and Northern NSW).

The good thing about these Uniden scanners (996 and 396) is that the frequency files stored in the scanner can be transferred between scanners. As a result, i've been able to send my files to other Uniden users and have also downloaded many as well. In fact, i was able to download all the airband frequencies for Sydney as well as many others (Sydney airport corp stuff such as security etc) which made it really easy.

Remember also that Sydney frequencies are streamed over the web as well as a lot of Melbourne Centre stuff courtesy of Mark S from Richmond who restreams airband stuff from Satellite.

Pat

[Maikha Ly]

Maikha, you will be able to pick up Melbourne Center.

As Floody said in his last post, you will hear plenty - Just not Sydney.
Thanks Daniel, will keep that in mind!

[Nigel C]

In fact, i was able to download all the airband frequencies for Sydney as well as many others (Sydney airport corp stuff such as security etc) which made it really easy.

Pat


I believe the Sydney Airport ones may be changing soon, but I don't know what the new ones will be.

[Nick W.]

When i bought my scanner from DSE it came with a free book called "The Home and Holiday Scanner Frequency Guide". This was the 2001 edition. It has every frequency I need, and new frequencies usually pop up on this board or other boards, so updating is simple. It might be worth asking if they still stock this brand of books.

Nick

[Michael Mak]

OT: Would someone be able to tell me some ATC frequencies around Nowra? (Nowra and Melbourne Centres).
Thanks :)

[Michael Br]

Remember also that Sydney frequencies are streamed over the web as well as a lot of Melbourne Centre stuff courtesy of Mark S from Richmond who restreams airband stuff from Satellite.
Pat

Does anyone know the address?

[Paul McFarlane]

http://www.liveatc.net

or if you want to go direct to the Aussie feeds:

http://www.liveatc.net/feedindex.php?type=international-oc

Cheers

Paul M

[Philip Argy]

http://alt.liveatc.net/yssy has been 'down' for some time.

[Rhys Xanthis]

http://alt.liveatc.net/yssy has been 'down' for some time.

It has...i keep meaning to listen, and when i go on liveatc its been down:(

its been a few months at least i think?

[Mark Fahey]

Philip mentioned.. http://alt.liveatc.net/yssy has been 'down' for some time.


And I add..

Yep Darren M who was feeding that stream is now using his gear to serve ACARS from Sydney for the PlanePlotter users.

My feed of two of the ATC satellite frequencies is usually up 24/7.
You can read more about the setup here:

http://www.satdirectory.com/--atcviasat.html


Cheers,
Mark