Monitor Ground

labbadabba

labbadabba

Pattern Altitude
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labbadabba
I feel like I should know this but it's always kinda bugged me that I don't know for sure...

But when landing at my preferred towered airport which is a rather sleepy Delta, the same controller will broadcast on Tower and Ground freqs. So after landing, I'll get taxi instructions to parking and often I'm told to monitor ground.

To me, monitoring a freq means to listen on it but not broadcast on it. So I'll put ground on the second radio and broadcast to tower on the first radio.

Is that right?
 
No. It means reply to that clearance for taxi on tower. Switch that radio to ground and don't say anything else unless you need to or they call you. You can get the same instruction when there are different people working the positions and ground would be very confused if you called tower.
 
No. Here is what I do:

Ground is always dialed in to COM2 before I land. When I land, if they ask me to monitor ground, I read back the instructions and just hit the COM2 receive button. But you are still talking to tower on COM1 with the COM1 xmit button pressed on the panel. If they say contact ground, I read back the instruction, hit the COM2 xmit button on the panel and talk to ground.
 
I say "Sport 1234 switching to ground" or "Sport 1234 monitoring ground to parking" then switch coms
 
PlasticCigar said:
Do you also say “identing” when asked to IDENT. ;-)

Monitor ground means exactly that. You already received your taxi clearance on the tower frequency. Just listen to ground to maintain your situational awareness. Don’t make it more complicated than it needs to be.
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My thought was to let tower know I received there instructions and will comply. I don't say anything after switching to ground
 
I think you all are assuming something not said. The OP never said what you all seem to be saying he said. As I understand it, he acknowledges the clearance on tower, as is appropriate and then monitors ground on the second radio.

What am I missing?
 
PlasticCigar said:
Do you also say “identing” when asked to IDENT. ;-)

Monitor ground means exactly that. You already received your taxi clearance on the tower frequency. Just listen to ground to maintain your situational awareness. Don’t make it more complicated than it needs to be.
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Wow. He is acknowledging a clearance. You are SUPPOSED to do that so Tower knows you understand.
 
"Monitor Ground" simply means that is where you need switch to but no need to call up ground like you would with "Contact Ground" as you carry on your merry way to parking cuz it is likely the same controller.

Ground freq is then where controller knows where to find you and where you should broadcast any further communications but simply no need to chime up and tell Ground your are there after switch from Tower. You should not be back broadcasting on Tower.
 
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I've got Ground on standby on Com 1. Once I acknowledge the clearance I push the button to make Ground the active frequency on Com 1 and listen as I taxi to parking. That's it. In 20 years the tower at KOLM has never had a problem with my approach.
 
Ghery said:
I've got Ground on standby on Com 1. Once I acknowledge the clearance I push the button to make Ground the active frequency on Com 1 and listen as I taxi to parking. That's it. In 20 years the tower at KOLM has never had a problem with my approach.
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Just about every airliner that lands at JFK does exactly what you described. :)
 
Two things.

"...monitor Ground" does not mean to monitor both Ground and Tower frequencies. It means to switch to the Ground frequency but only monitor, don't call him (unless something else comes up and you need to call him).

Nothing wrong with reading back "taxi to parking, monitor ground, [Callsign]" but it is not required. You can shorted that to, "Wilco, [Callsign]" or even just "[Callsign]".

The exception, of course, is if the clearance included hold short or runway crossing instructions, i.e. "Left on Alpha, Hold short Runway 15, Monitor Ground point 7". In that case you need to read back the holding or crossing instruction. In practice, and possibly per 7110.65 or local facility procedures, those instructions will likely be split into two separate transmissions and you won't be told to "monitor ground" until you have read back the holding or crossing instruction.
 
This went PoA in a hurry but I have my answer, thank you fellow aviators. Monitoring to me didn't register that it would now be my active freq. I have my ground freq as my standby in Radio 1 if they say contact ground and I had it loaded in radio 2 if they said monitor ground. But now I'll just switch to ground on radio 1 and not over-think it...
 
labbadabba said:
To me, monitoring a freq means to listen on it but not broadcast on it. So I'll put ground on the second radio and broadcast to tower on the first radio.
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Broadcast what?
 
labbadabba is over thinking.
 
Shawn said:
You should not be back broadcasting on Tower.
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Greg Bockelman said:
What does this mean? You are supposed to acknowledge the clearance.
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What thais means in the context of my comment that when Tower gives you taxi instructions including "monitor ground" you read back on Tower, THEN switch to ground with no need to contact ground. Any further broadcast to or from controller should be ON ground freq, NOT tower.

The OP's questions was does "Monitor Ground" mean listen only to Ground and then still broadcast on tower? The answer is no, broadcast anything further (if needed) on ground once instruction is acknowledged with Tower.


jordane93 said:
Yes. Now enjoy your >3 page thread:)
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Negative. Go back and read his actual question very carefully.

A pilot would not be expected to be up on two frequencies simultaneously.


labbadabba said:
To me, monitoring a freq means to listen on it but not broadcast on it. So I'll put ground on the second radio and broadcast to tower on the first radio.

Is that right?
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Shawn said:
What thais means in the context of my comment that when Tower gives you taxi instructions including "monitor ground" you read back on Tower, THEN switch to ground with no need to contact ground. Any further broadcast to or from controller should be ON ground freq, NOT tower.
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I agree with this.

The OP's questions was does "Monitor Ground" mean listen only to Ground and then still broadcast on tower? The answer is no, broadcast anything further (if needed) on ground once instruction is acknowledged with Tower.
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Well, that isn’t how I interpreted the question. I interpreted it as meaning he would get and acknowledge the clearance on the tower, and not talk on it again but monitor both frequencies. That complies with the the clearance but if he subsequently needed to broadcast, he would need to make sure the ground radio was selected.

Anyway, whatever.

Negative. Go back and read his actual question very carefully.

A pilot would not be expected to be up on two frequencies simultaneously.
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Doesn’t mean he couldn’t or shouldn’t be.
 
The interesting thing in this thread is how it illustrates some radio management differences.

One guy says he has tower on comm1 and ground on comm2 and he switches the audio panel as needed
Another guy had tower on comm1 Active and ground on comm1 Standby

Not sure what's best, but there are people who like to go Comm1 Act/stby Comm2 Act/Stby, and the back to Comm1... Keeps the frequencies without writing them down, but uses a lot more touches of the audio panel than I've ever done.
 
chartbundle said:
No. It means reply to that clearance for taxi on tower. Switch that radio to ground and don't say anything else unless you need to or they call you. You can get the same instruction when there are different people working the positions and ground would be very confused if you called tower.
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this guy gets it, it’s quiet and they don’t need to year from you unless something comes up.
 
labbadabba said:
I feel like I should know this but it's always kinda bugged me that I don't know for sure...

But when landing at my preferred towered airport which is a rather sleepy Delta, the same controller will broadcast on Tower and Ground freqs. So after landing, I'll get taxi instructions to parking and often I'm told to monitor ground.

To me, monitoring a freq means to listen on it but not broadcast on it. So I'll put ground on the second radio and broadcast to tower on the first radio.

Is that right?
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No. If you got something needs saying after your off the runway, say it on Ground. That’s the intent. They sent you over to Ground frequency. There just saying you don’t have make the usual routine transmissions that you make when told to ‘contact’ ground. No, it ain’t written in any rules.
 
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What is this "Com 2" you all speak of?.....sigh.... one of these days...
 
I appreciate the responses in here. I heard this for the first time the other day..."taxi to park and monitor ground." Luckily I had my multimeter in the back. While sitting on the taxiway I connected one end to the negative battery terminal and the other end to the airframe, and then watched the screen as I taxied back to the ramp. I thought it was a rather odd request, but I wasn't about to argue with ATC.


;)
 
aterry1067 said:
I appreciate the responses in here. I heard this for the first time the other day..."taxi to park and monitor ground." Luckily I had my multimeter in the back. While sitting on the taxiway I connected one end to the negative battery terminal and the other end to the airframe, and then watched the screen as I taxied back to the ramp. I thought it was a rather odd request, but I wasn't about to argue with ATC.


;)
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PlasticCigar said:
you are supposed to read back the taxi clearance. You are NOT instructed to “switch” to ground, you are told to monitor the frequency
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You’re assuming that everyone has the luxury of a second COM radio they can use to monitor a frequency with, which isn’t always the case.
 
Ravioli said:
One guy says he has tower on comm1 and ground on comm2 and he switches the audio panel as needed
Another guy had tower on comm1 Active and ground on comm1 Standby

Not sure what's best, but there are people who like to go Comm1 Act/stby Comm2 Act/Stby, and the back to Comm1... Keeps the frequencies without writing them down, but uses a lot more touches of the audio panel than I've ever done.
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COM1=tower & COM2=ground works well when the COM1 antenna is on the bottom of the fuselage and the COM2 antenna is on the top of the fuselage.
 
asicer said:
COM1=tower & COM2=ground works well when the COM1 antenna is on the bottom of the fuselage and the COM2 antenna is on the top of the fuselage.
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I’m assuming this is tongue in cheek as odds are the transmitting antennas are in the same place.
 
Com 1 and Com 2 got nuthin to do with this other than if you have 2 radios you pick one. If you only have one radio it changes nothing. Tower said taxi to parking, monitor ground. So you change the frequency in that radio to Ground frequency. It’s that simple. If you have two radios and you want to continue listening to the Tower frequency, fine. It’s a nice thing to do if you can so if you have something to say you might avoid transmitting to Ground while the controller is talking to or listening to a plane on the Tower Freq.
 
Salty said:
I’m assuming this is tongue in cheek as odds are the transmitting antennas are in the same place.
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No, I've flown a couple of planes that had the top/bottom arrangement. The antenna placement was not my decision, so it was what it was.
 
asicer said:
No, I've flown a couple of planes that had the top/bottom arrangement. The antenna placement was not my decision, so it was what it was.
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The tower and the ground personnel are sending and receiving from antennae’s at the same location. So it’s not going to matter which antenna on your plane you use for ground vs tower.
 
Salty said:
The tower and the ground personnel are sending and receiving from antennae’s at the same location. So it’s not going to matter which antenna on your plane you use for ground vs tower.
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I think he is referring to the fact that the antenna mounted on the top has less obstruction than the one mounted on the bottom. Thus giving a stronger/clearer signal during ground operations
 
AKBill said:
I think he is referring to the fact that the antenna mounted on the top has less obstruction than the one mounted on the bottom. Thus giving a stronger/clearer signal during ground operations
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But if you're using both radios how is that relevant? One of them will be worse than the other. Maybe I'm misunderstanding.
 
Salty said:
But if you're using both radios how is that relevant? One of them will be worse than the other. Maybe I'm misunderstanding.
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Understood. In my plane com 1 is used 99% of the time to communicate. Com 2 is used for ATIS and monitoring 121.5.
 
Salty said:
But if you're using both radios how is that relevant? One of them will be worse than the other. Maybe I'm misunderstanding.
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When the aircraft is on the ground, the antenna on the top of the fuselage gets better reception than the one connected to the antenna on the belly due to the fuselage being an obstruction. Also, when the aircraft is on the ground it is communicating with ground more often than tower. Therefore ground frequencies usually go to the radio that gets better ground reception when on the ground. (how often do you contact ground while in the air?)

When the aircraft is in the air, the antenna on the bottom of the fuselage gets better reception than the one on the top due to the fuselage being an obstruction. Also, when the aircraft is in the air the aircraft is communicating with tower more often than ground. Therefore tower frequencies usually go to the radio that gets better tower reception when in the air.
 
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