Possible to Buy Radio Just to Listen???

Windpane

Windpane

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Windpane
It's a little goofy, I'm just going to climb through the training as apt and fast as possible. I want to get cheap 'ol radio to go to the mini airport right by me, and check out the lingo. That way I'm learning what to pay most attention to in all of the training etc.

Not talking about talking to anyone on the frequencies whatsoever. Hehe. Just buy a cheap VHF I assume?
 
You can do it from the comfort of your home by streaming LiveATC

https://www.liveatc.net/

There are also low cost scanner radio receivers that will pick up ATC frequencies.
 
You can listen online as well. The LiveATC app is good.
 
Live ATC is the cheapest way.

But...

If you are planning to train someday, a decent handheld will be something you will probably want to get anyway.

The good thing about sitting on an airport bench and listening in on a handheld is that you can watch the aircraft as the make calls. It helps build some situational awareness.
 
Windpane said:
It's a little goofy, I'm just going to climb through the training as apt and fast as possible. I want to get cheap 'ol radio to go to the mini airport right by me, and check out the lingo. That way I'm learning what to pay most attention to in all of the training etc.

Not talking about talking to anyone on the frequencies whatsoever. Hehe. Just buy a cheap VHF I assume?
Click to expand...

If you want to buy something Sporty's sells this. I'm sure there's others out there.

https://www.sportys.com/pilotshop/s...zFAe1QKOSHDS0CeqM8GtIrUCCOlSA-24aAvmDEALw_wcB
 
Shame that Radio Shack is gone....that's where I got my scanner....
 
How much range do these scanners have?
 
If your airport isn't on LiveATC, the next cheapest option is one of those little USB SDR Radios. For a few bucks, they're surprisingly decent.
 
schmookeeg said:
If your airport isn't on LiveATC, the next cheapest option is one of those little USB SDR Radios. For a few bucks, they're surprisingly decent.
Click to expand...

LiveAtc. works. That's a great link...a must have. The problem is that it seemed like the live at the mini airport is too muffled to understand. The live for the big, commercial airport by me is clear though.

What I'm wondering is what's the average range? I'm 7mi from the mini airport I'll be training at. Maybe I'm in range from home. I'll take some trips over there, and watch traffic and how they're relating to the radio com, but maybe it's possible to reach from home, eh. Hehe.
 
Range is more a function of the transmitter than the receiver. At home you'll be able to hear planes in the air, some from very far away, but because VHF is line of sight you probably won't hear any ground stations or planes flying low or on the ground.
 
Windpane said:
LiveAtc. works. That's a great link...a must have. The problem is that it seemed like the live at the mini airport is too muffled to understand. The live for the big, commercial airport by me is clear though....
Click to expand...
Some airports are muffled, some are clear. Listening to your home drone is great, but you’ll hear it enough during training anyway, so find a different airport that’s clear and just listen to that. They all use pretty much the same terms. I like the feeds from Madison WI, very clear audio.
 
Windpane said:
LiveAtc. works. That's a great link...a must have. The problem is that it seemed like the live at the mini airport is too muffled to understand. The live for the big, commercial airport by me is clear though.

What I'm wondering is what's the average range? I'm 7mi from the mini airport I'll be training at. Maybe I'm in range from home. I'll take some trips over there, and watch traffic and how they're relating to the radio com, but maybe it's possible to reach from home, eh. Hehe.
Click to expand...
What is a mini airport?

At 7mi you might hear something, but probably not much. Your radio will be line of sight, and with you being on the ground, you're going to have problems hearing planes on the ground and maybe even aircraft in the pattern.

Go to the airport and listen there. Sometimes there's even a speaker wired up to a receiver so you can listen without even needing a radio.
 
LiveATC is good, but I also recommend getting a decent handheld. It'll be convenient now for listening, but also useful later.

I didn't have one back when I had some interesting radio problems that surfaced intermittently while on flight following with SoCal approach (that was fun) and then became not intermittent and I could not transmit intelligibly at all when being handed off to Las Vegas Approach on my way to Henderson (that was even more fun). "Aircraft calling Las Vegas approach, you are broken unreadable, remain clear of the class bravo."

After that I got a decent handheld. Pro tip: absolutely spend the extra to have a plug-in jack wired to one of the external antennas on your airplane. Your handheld's range will go from maybe 5 miles to over 30.
 
Matthew said:
Live ATC is the cheapest way.

But...

If you are planning to train someday, a decent handheld will be something you will probably want to get anyway.

The good thing about sitting on an airport bench and listening in on a handheld is that you can watch the aircraft as the make calls. It helps build some situational awareness.
Click to expand...
And you can say (if the opportunity arises) "twin on short final, check gear down".
 
Whether or not you hear anything while on the ground is primarily a function of line of sight. A handheld while airborne will have improved line of sight, so it's limitation will be the antenna. Connecting a handheld to an aircraft external antenna will improve its operation immensely. Transmit power is probably the least important variable for the ranges we care about.
 
Just buy a handheld VHF radio. If you take up flying you'll need one. Otherwise it's a fun toy to hang around the airport with. Easily sellable on airplane forums or ebay.
 
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