Author Topic: Scanner Question  (Read 6474 times)

Offline Aardvark

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Scanner Question
« on: December 27, 2006, 01:29:15 AM »
I haven’t seen many scanner questions lately so now is my time to shine.  :wink:

I just bought an ICOM A6 Transceiver and was having second thoughts.

I would love to have UHF for milband, but this one is strictly for civil aviation so I only get the Civil air band. It was clearly designed for pilots. While I am in training for my PPL, I would like to have a handheld with milband on it. I don't care much for the transceiver part (although knowing you could turn on airport lights is cool, but illegal  :evil:).

I was wondering the difference in receiving capability between mine and say a RS Pro-97 (what I am looking at now). Is their a difference in distance you can receive?

As you can tell I am new to all of this, and it is really late at night =)

Thanks for the help in advanced.

-E



Offline LORm

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Re: Scanner Question
« Reply #1 on: December 27, 2006, 02:04:40 AM »
The PRO-97 is a very good scanner, but compared to your common Uniden mil-air capable scanner on it is not quite as sensitive as the Uniden. It may affect the distance and clarity of signals you pick up.

Personally, I think Radioshack scanners are much more intuitive, quicker to program, and easier utilizing all of the functions. I prefer the direct tune "VFO" on RS scanners a lot more than having to program in a search - You simply punch in a frequency and you can tune up or down. Programming scanned channels is fast.

If you're up in the sky or at the airport that you're tuning in, I highly doubt you'll notice any difference between any RS or Uniden model. Hook up an external and the gap closes.

Don't forget to factor in the cost. I believe the only currrent model Uniden handheld that recieves mil-airband is the BCD396T = $529.95 at universal-radio.com.

Offline Unbeliever

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Re: Scanner Question
« Reply #2 on: December 28, 2006, 02:42:00 AM »
If you're going for your PPL, having a tranceiver is useful.  You could call for fuel while at the aircraft without having to power up the master switch, or if your electrical dies, you'll have a backup radio with you (if you remembered to charge up).

Although the rubber whip antenna is useless outside the pattern, a lot of aircraft have a way to patch into the aircraft antenna for better range.  And a headset adapter is useful if you don't want to hold the tranceiver to your ear while flying.

--Carlos V.