Can somebody please help me? (Merged)

Taken the plunge and getting one myself this week, a Uniden Bearcat UBC3500XLT

I recently bought the Uniden Bearcat and i was just wondering if anyone had any tips on how to set up a scanner.

Regards

I found out quite a cool “trick” with my scanner just after i moved house. If i sit the scanner on my window ledge, with the aerial against the window frame i get much better reception, and also i think added range? I can get 2way conversations with Manchester controll (IIRC) using this method from my house in Halifax, which i guess to be 35miles from MAN as the crow flies. My guess is the window frame acts as some kind of big aerial??

Lee

With a telescopic aerial I can pick up all of the MAN frequencies, together with the high-level ATC frequencies, from my ‘office’ indoors.

Thanks. Sorry about the other thread. I was just wondering how far it can reach from your home like the radius

I’ve got a Uniden UBC72XLT. Nice little scanner.

What do you want to know?

By the way – we don’t need two threads on this subject, Sam.

Scanner

Yes i am still looking for a scanner. I was just wondering if anyone has a http://www.radioscan.co.uk/uniden_ubc72xlt.html or a http://www.radioscan.co.uk/uniden_ubc92xlt.html and what it is like.

Thanks

I think they are called scanners now because you can set them to scan multiple frequencies for transmissions. In the old days as I remember them my airband radio was a little hand sized radio which you could tune to only one frequency at a time.

I think now you can even have ones which scan more than one band at a time, so while listening to FlyCookThomsonBabyAirways.com you can even listen to the local Constabulary deciding what everyone wants from MacBurger or whether it is to be Chinese, Indian, Thai or bacon butties from the greasy spoon.

As an aside, is it true, when referring to Her Majesty’s Constabulary, that PCSO stands for Please Call a Sensible Officer?

Regards,

kev35

Yeah, it was a standard tune-in Radio. The FM went from 106 to 140??
The Police were indeed on that too. IIRC Manchester aproach was 119.4 and Tower was 118.7.

If those freq. are correct I’m going to have a MASSIVE brandy in celebration that my brain is still on. It was 1974 I last used such a radio.

…As an aside, I have heard of people being prosecuted for having police frequencies stored in the radios memory so be careful what you store!

I think the rozzers have moved to an all digital set-up now, so even if you have got ‘Fuzz FM’ programmed into your scanner it probably won’t matter…

Got a Yupiteru MVT7100 myself and its very good, if a bit fiddly to set up initially.

-Dazza

I would recommend the Uniden Bearcat UBC3500XLT. It’s a little complicated to set up but a great scanner once you are used to it. As regards the legality issue, why is it legal to buy a radio that can pick up airband transmissions but not legal to listen to them? If the powers that be really wanted to stop people listening in surely they would ban or licence the radios.

As an aside, I have heard of people being prosecuted for having police frequencies stored in the radios memory so be careful what you store!

I think they are called scanners now because you can set them to scan multiple frequencies for transmissions. In the old days as I remember them my airband radio was a little hand sized radio which you could tune to only one frequency at a time.

I think now you can even have ones which scan more than one band at a time, so while listening to FlyCookThomsonBabyAirways.com you can even listen to the local Constabulary deciding what everyone wants from MacBurger or whether it is to be Chinese, Indian, Thai or bacon butties from the greasy spoon.

As an aside, is it true, when referring to Her Majesty’s Constabulary, that PCSO stands for Please Call a Sensible Officer?

Regards,

kev35

Why are you calling them Scanners?
In my day it was an Air Band radio, available at any decent radio/Hi Fi shop.

Sorry for this post but yeah, I been told Police and whoever else don’t care as long as its for your own enjoyment and not using the information for terrorism acts. =]

It looks as though this thread is going slightly off topic – legal or not is another issue.

Stated in earlier posts airshow crowds listen in and those on or near to airports too without any problems.

I am looking for a scanner too but one that will pick up both civil and military.

One that is basic, easy to use and can pick up all air traffic in the north east anglia area.

Any suggestions please ?

Brian.

No, it’s illegal from wherever you are. These are not communications intended for public consumption, and therefore under the law you must be an authorised person to receive them.

The only slight exception comes from events where the frequency has been advertised by the transmitter – eg, an airshow where the frequency is in the programme.

TA

To be honest Paul I have no idea, personally I think if it’s illegal around the airport perimeter then I see no difference listening in a hotel car park a few hundred yards away or in one’s home a few miles away.

Neither do I, but that wasn’t my point; more the reverse in fact. If indeed it isn’t illegal to listen outside the airfield perimeter, then it isn’t illegal in your home, either. It’s that I wanted to clarify but it seems no-one knows for sure anyway!

Paul

Well, either way, I don’t think he has much to worry about listening to ATC from his own home.

To be honest Paul I have no idea, personally I think if it’s illegal around the airport perimeter then I see no difference listening in a hotel car park a few hundred yards away or in one’s home a few miles away.

It is illegal, now as to why people don’t get arrested draw your own conclusions, Police are ignorant? Police turn a blind eye? Police have more pressing matters to deal with? Face it, not even high court judges know every law of the land.

Just because the police doesn’t act doesn’t make it a legality.

I’ve heard several times that it’s only illegal to tune into ATC within the airport perimeter but not from outside it. Is that not the case?

Paul

It is illegal, now as to why people don’t get arrested draw your own conclusions, Police are ignorant? Police turn a blind eye? Police have more pressing matters to deal with? Face it, not even high court judges know every law of the land.

Just because the police doesn’t act doesn’t make it a legality.