what airband scanner for military airplanes?

steveo3002

i live quiet near 2 u.s airbases and see some of the plane spotters have little radios /scanners to listen in to the planes etc

anyone got any ideas what radio id need to pick up military signals?

looking for something maybe second hand/budget

Fonz_2

I know nothing about this... however...

If the miltary are using radio technology which can be intercepted by a guy on the ground with a radio, I'll be shocked... and disgusted

Zahc

Fonz wrote: »

I know nothing about this... however...

If the miltary are using radio technology which can be intercepted by a guy on the ground with a radio, I'll be shocked... and disgusted

They very rarely use encryption/freq jumping tech in civilian airspace, mainly because civilians need to know where they're at too!
Military tend to use UHF freqs and civilian VHF.

Zahc

steveo3002

yeah you can deffo pick up what theyre saying , ive seen others using the radio's openly at the viewing area and at airshows....i doubt theyd broadcast anything important that we can pick up

basill

There is a short write up about scanners here, the same site also has an airshow listing with details of what frquencies to use.

Maplin do this basic manual tuning air band radio for about £30. For a bit more better ones, which will allow you to directly enter frequencies and store favourites, are available, especially if you buy 2nd hand.

Listening in is very popular and there is a huge range of radios available. I would suggest a bit of googling for "radio", "scanner", "airband" etc.. to find out more from the enthusiasts.

B

steveo3002

im just unsure what ones do military? my mate had one and it done airliners but nothing at the airbase

thanks for the link

neilwoods

Budget wise, you will need to spend a bit.

I would avoid the cheap air band scanner (around £30 mark) as these will only pick up the civilian aircraft. You need a scanner that will scan 225 - 400 mhz and preferably one that does not have gaps. Some of the cheaper scanners have gaps in the frequency range.

If you live near a air base and only want to listen from your home, try and go for a second hand base station, you can pick up a good bargain on them.

steveo3002

thanks for that

i wanted a hand held unit really...i sometimes park up and watch the planes

was hoping to find something on ebay

iltisman

Look on Ebay for Yupiteru MVT-7100 this is a good scanner that lots of plane spotters seem to use.
Before a jobsworth jumps in and says listening to anything other than a licensed broadcast station etc is illegal I will mention it, although you are unlikely to get into trouble unless you go to the press with a recording or information you have received whilst listening.

GaryS

Highly recommend the Yupiteru MVT-7100, it's a fantastic scanner.

We have 3 of them for use at Airshows, etc and I also live near the UK's biggest RAF base so it works well here.

They do not make them anymore, but as previously stated the are to be found on Ebay, but be warned they do hold their price and rightly so.

steveo3002

right ive found a yupi 7100 now

can you suggest anywhere that i might find the frequencies for the bases id like to listen to? im after mildenhall, lakenheath and maybe stansted plus anything else that might be good in this area