You could get an aeronautical chart or airport/facility directory...

Will see what I can find, I only ask because I haven't been able to find much as of yet

Seems though I managed to tune into a Chicago frequency.  Picking up all kinds of interesting communications, according to FlightAware there is about 7+ flights in a holding patter just north of my town right now thanks to Chicago getting hammered by storms.  

What I would give to be able to take a trip to Fort Wayne in the morning to catch departures.  Seems like a few flights are diverting.  There's a JetBlue ERJ-190 that just landed there 15 minutes ago that was flying from JFK-ORD.  Judging by the radar there will be a few more interesting birds landing there shortly...FWA is usually quiet at night, but not now  So far there's 2 flights that originated in New York heading for ORD that have touched down at FWA.  Edit that...there's now a flight from Charleston, West Virginia just turned around and heading this way  Edit again, add a Wichita, Kansas flight inbound as well  FWA isn't this busy even at the peak hours of the day  Keeps this up I just might schedule a road trip at sun up

Given the wind is picking up something fierce here its going to be a bad night when all this hits.  The main line of storms is still in Illinois but the wind is gusting over 40mph right now  Worst kind too, hot and humid, these storms look to be hitting us hard in a couple hours

I've been wanting a scanner for years, but never got around to it. What's a good handheld scanner that can pick up a wide range of frequencies?

Try this:

http://skyvector.com/

...you might also find frequencies appropriate for traffic in your area by looking up the airports here:

http://www.airnav.com/

This is what I have running in the background during my sim flights...

Live ATC from selected Airports:

http://www.liveatc.net/feedindex.php?type=all#klax

Brings the flight to life!.. ...!

Paul...B-BPLF... ...!

...a good example of just how confusing Air Traffic Communication can sometimes be in real life... ...!

BFMF wrote on May 14^th, 2009 at 12:01pm:


That would be a lot of fun.. and good learning    It would be a great, secondary monitor.. but you'd find it tiresome, trying to switch channels while following a jet from clearance delivery, to ground, to tower, to departure.. and of course not being able to scan several channels between "action".

Of course.. at a busy airport, there's plenty to listen to, one channel at a time  

Brett_Henderson wrote on May 14^th, 2009 at 12:21pm:


True, and if it doesn't work, i'm out $50, and then I would end up buying a scanner. Or I could get a scanner and be able to pick up a wider range of frequencies

I saw this on radio shack's website. I wonder if it's any good?

PRO-164 1000-Channel Handheld Scanner
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2970547

This site has more information
http://www.scannermaster.com/RadioShack_PRO_164_Police_Scanner_p/22-501222.htm

BFMF wrote on May 14^th, 2009 at 12:52pm:


That would be an excellent choice. It's a newer version of my scanner. You'd be hard-pressed to outgrow that thing.. I'm still learning to use mine, and THAT one has more features..  The ablility to auto-tune to nearby broadcasts is intersting. Drive around apartment complexes and listen in on cordless (not cell) phone conversations.. LOL 

Fozzer wrote on May 15^th, 2009 at 7:36am:


Noted 

As an Electronics Engineer, I spent many years in my Garden Shed designing and building Valve Radios, Valve Audio Amplifiers, and Valve Radio Transmitters...anything with glass Valves, (still got loads of them!).

..but I could never be able to "operate" the Transmitters without a Broadcast Transmitter Licence....but it was a lot of fun building them... ...!

Paul....Roger, Roger... ...!

Brett_Henderson wrote on May 15^th, 2009 at 10:11am:


Shhhhh.... ....

...just don't tell anyone else you are doing it, and what you have been listening to!... ... ... ...!

Paul.... ...!

U4EA wrote on May 15^th, 2009 at 10:50pm:


Hand up.... ...!

Had mine in the early 1950's.... ...!

A Bakelite Case, with a "Cats Whisker" and a Crystal, a tuning coil, and two terminals for a pair of Headphones...

...and an EXTREMELY long aerial, stretching the total length of the garden!

Finally abandoned that (futile) idea, to to design and build my own Valve Radio sets....much more sensible... ...!

Paul....lost in the Crystal Mists of Time... ...!

...nostalgia... ....>>>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_radio

The only thing I ever received, was a pair of hot ears, through wearing headphone for many hours in the vain hope on hearing "something"...which rarely happened... ...!

An interesting fact: A Radio signal reception could often be obtained just by connecting the Headphones directly to the long Aerial. The coil within the headphones often tuned itself to an incoming signal; (AM Amplitude Modulated)......!

For communication over relatively short distances, I finally abandoned the "Crystal Radio" idea, and replaced it with an improved, later version, involving two Baked Bean tins, and a long piece of string... ...!



Worked a treat between my Bedroom window, and the Bedroom window of the delectably young Schoolgirl living next door... ...!

It doesn't happen any more... ...!

Paul... ....!

BFMF wrote on May 16^th, 2009 at 4:10pm:


Mine is a Pro-something  .. I'll have to dig it up. It's about 8 years old.. but the specs sound similar..

YEARS ago, cordless phones used 24 and 49 Mghz (same as baby monitors).. then they went up to 900Mghz.. now,  I think you're right, they're probably in the 2+Ghz, and quite possibly encrypted..