airtraffic

Author Topic: Good portable receiver for travelling  (Read 5218 times)

Offline w0kKiD

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Good portable receiver for travelling
« on: June 13, 2007, 08:52:07 AM »
I'm pretty new to this hobby, but I'm already hooked on the live feeds! I live in Holland and I travel quite a lot so I thought it would be great to have a portable airband receiver to listen to the ATC traffic when I fly so I know actual information about my flight (and not those dodgy flight status screens). I've had a search through the forum and didn't seem to quite come up with what I'm looking for. I've also looked on Google and found quite a few radios, but I have no idea how good they are :| so I was hoping for some suggestions :-D
My price range is basically anything below $100, size-wise i would prefer pocketsize. The main purpose is to catch airband radio, but AM/FM would be nice. My ideal radio would have SW/AM/FM and air, but that's a bit much of course....
Thanks in advance!
« Last Edit: June 19, 2007, 12:52:48 PM by w0kKiD »



Offline cactushp

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Re: Good portable receiver for travelling?
« Reply #1 on: June 13, 2007, 01:28:35 PM »
You have to be careful when listening to atc while in the airplane, and in many cases it is illegal.

Offline w0kKiD

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Re: Good portable receiver for travelling?
« Reply #2 on: June 13, 2007, 03:50:37 PM »
I didn't actually mean in the airplane (although I have read of others doing similar things), but while waiting at the airport for my flight, or waiting for a friend to arrive or even just if I go planespotting (which I don't get much time for)
I've been conducting some research, and I find this contrast where the cheapest handhelds at universalradio are $150 and ones on other sites are like $50. That's why I'd like to ask around here :-D

Offline w0kKiD

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Re: Good portable receiver for travelling
« Reply #3 on: June 19, 2007, 12:55:37 PM »
Right then, after having done my own research I've narrowed the selection down to 2 receivers: The Yaesu VR-120D and the Icom IC-R5.
I realise these are a little pricier than my original price range (they're both $200 at Universal Radio), but they both cover all the frequencies I want :-) I'm now hoping there's people here who could suggest why I might choose one or the other. Advice, anyone?....