Idea for Jim Weir

[Bob Chilcoat]

Jim,

Like a lot of small airports, we have quite a few people who park in the
parking lot, frequently on their lunch hours, to watch the airplanes land
and take off. It would be a nice PR opportunity if they could listen to the
CTAF while they're there. I've been thinking about a simple repeater that
would pick up the local CTAF chatter and retransmit it onto the FM band so
that they could tune their car radios in to listen. Would a simple VHF
receiver circuit be selective enough to pick up a single frequency in the
aviation band? There are a few two-transistor regenerative receiver
circuits around for the receiver portion, and quite a few simple FM
"wireless mic" circuits for the low-power transmitter part. IIRC, the FCC
allows a few milliwatts (microwatts?) to be broadcast in the FM band without
a license.

Alternatively we may just buy a cheap Rat Shack scanner and a cheap wireless
mic, hook them together and be done with it, but I thought that a kit of
parts to make such a device might be popular. Just a thought.

--
Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)

[Montblack]

("Bob Chilcoat" wrote)
<snip>
> Like a lot of small airports, we have quite a few people who park in the
> parking lot, frequently on their lunch hours, to watch the airplanes land
> and take off. It would be a nice PR opportunity if they could listen to
> the
> CTAF while they're there. I've been thinking about a simple repeater that
> would pick up the local CTAF chatter and retransmit it onto the FM band so
> that they could tune their car radios in to listen.


A few years ago we ran across a spate of 'House For Sale' signs that
instructed us to tune our radio to (whatever) to hear a recorded message
about the house -- the very house we were sitting in front of. I thought
GREAT idea! Terrific idea!!

Two problems:
1. The recorded one minute message was usually lame - call us for info.
Huh???
2. Haven't seen those signs around now for a couple of years.

Yes, I think it's a great idea for the parking area. I'd like to see
something like that at ANE.


Montblack

[BTIZ]

standard at LAS... park next to the runways, tune the car's FM as directed..
and listen to tower..
low power transmitter does not transmit more than a mile or so.. almost
loose it as soon as you leave the parking lot..

BT

"Bob Chilcoat" > wrote in message
...
> Jim,
>
> Like a lot of small airports, we have quite a few people who park in the
> parking lot, frequently on their lunch hours, to watch the airplanes land
> and take off. It would be a nice PR opportunity if they could listen to
> the
> CTAF while they're there. I've been thinking about a simple repeater that
> would pick up the local CTAF chatter and retransmit it onto the FM band so
> that they could tune their car radios in to listen. Would a simple VHF
> receiver circuit be selective enough to pick up a single frequency in the
> aviation band? There are a few two-transistor regenerative receiver
> circuits around for the receiver portion, and quite a few simple FM
> "wireless mic" circuits for the low-power transmitter part. IIRC, the FCC
> allows a few milliwatts (microwatts?) to be broadcast in the FM band
> without
> a license.
>
> Alternatively we may just buy a cheap Rat Shack scanner and a cheap
> wireless
> mic, hook them together and be done with it, but I thought that a kit of
> parts to make such a device might be popular. Just a thought.
>
> --
> Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)
>
>
>

[RST Engineering]

Easier...cheaper...probable Kitplanes column...

Go down to Walmart and buy one of those $29 synthesized FM transmitters that
is intended to take the output of a CDROM and broadcast it throughout the
house. Modulate it with the speaker or phones output of the UNICOM radio
inside the FBO...with wires as long as necessary to put the transmitter up
high enough to cover the parking lot.

No more fooling around necessary.

Jim




"Bob Chilcoat" > wrote in message
...
> Jim,
>
> Like a lot of small airports, we have quite a few people who park in the
> parking lot, frequently on their lunch hours, to watch the airplanes land
> and take off. It would be a nice PR opportunity if they could listen to
> the
> CTAF while they're there. I've been thinking about a simple repeater that
> would pick up the local CTAF chatter and retransmit it onto the FM band so
> that they could tune their car radios in to listen. Would a simple VHF
> receiver circuit be selective enough to pick up a single frequency in the
> aviation band? There are a few two-transistor regenerative receiver
> circuits around for the receiver portion, and quite a few simple FM
> "wireless mic" circuits for the low-power transmitter part. IIRC, the FCC
> allows a few milliwatts (microwatts?) to be broadcast in the FM band
> without
> a license.
>
> Alternatively we may just buy a cheap Rat Shack scanner and a cheap
> wireless
> mic, hook them together and be done with it, but I thought that a kit of
> parts to make such a device might be popular. Just a thought.
>
> --
> Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)
>
>
>

[Bob Moore]

"RST Engineering" > wrote

> No more fooling around necessary.

Except for the batteries...mine eats them voraciously.

Bob Moore

[NW_PILOT]

"Bob Chilcoat" > wrote in message
...
> Jim,
>
> Like a lot of small airports, we have quite a few people who park in the
> parking lot, frequently on their lunch hours, to watch the airplanes land
> and take off. It would be a nice PR opportunity if they could listen to
the
> CTAF while they're there. I've been thinking about a simple repeater that
> would pick up the local CTAF chatter and retransmit it onto the FM band so
> that they could tune their car radios in to listen. Would a simple VHF
> receiver circuit be selective enough to pick up a single frequency in the
> aviation band? There are a few two-transistor regenerative receiver
> circuits around for the receiver portion, and quite a few simple FM
> "wireless mic" circuits for the low-power transmitter part. IIRC, the FCC
> allows a few milliwatts (microwatts?) to be broadcast in the FM band
without
> a license.
>
> Alternatively we may just buy a cheap Rat Shack scanner and a cheap
wireless
> mic, hook them together and be done with it, but I thought that a kit of
> parts to make such a device might be popular. Just a thought.
>
> --
> Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)
>
>
>

Try Ramsey Electronics get a FM transmitter and a cheap base scanner hook
the scanner to the transmitter it will do what you want it to do. I
recommend the FM100 its a nice agile unit so you can pick a freq that not
being used in your area.

http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/cgi-bin/commerce.exe?preadd=action&key=FM100B

[Jay Honeck]

> Except for the batteries...mine eats them voraciously.

We put a battery-powered telephone headset amplifier on our hotel's
switchboard phone, so that we could hear better when the lobby got busy and
loud. It ate batteries daily, so I bought one of those 110 volt battery
eliminators at Radio Shack. It was cheap, and has worked flawlessly for
several years now.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[RST Engineering]

Why pay $150 for what Walmart will sell you for $30?

Jim



"NW_PILOT" > wrote in message
...
> Try Ramsey Electronics get a FM transmitter and a cheap base scanner hook
> the scanner to the transmitter it will do what you want it to do. I
> recommend the FM100 its a nice agile unit so you can pick a freq that not
> being used in your area.
>
> http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/cgi-bin/commerce.exe?preadd=action&key=FM100B
>
>

[Bob Chilcoat]

Yeah, but I can build this:
http://www.siliconchip.com.au/cms/A_30469/article.html for five or six bux,
and this: http://www.elexp.com/kit_fmwm.htm for $4.50. Add a simple power
supply built from my junk box and I have the whole thing for under $20. My
concern is whether or not the receiver will be able to discriminate between
123.00 MHz and the frequencies on either side. The airport Unicom
transceiver isn't easily accessible.

--
Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)


"RST Engineering" > wrote in message
...
> Why pay $150 for what Walmart will sell you for $30?
>
> Jim
>
>
>
> "NW_PILOT" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Try Ramsey Electronics get a FM transmitter and a cheap base scanner
hook
> > the scanner to the transmitter it will do what you want it to do. I
> > recommend the FM100 its a nice agile unit so you can pick a freq that
not
> > being used in your area.
> >
> >
http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/cgi-bin/commerce.exe?preadd=action&key=FM10
0B
> >
> >
>
>

[RST Engineering]

"Bob Chilcoat" > wrote in message
...
> Yeah, but I can build this:
> http://www.siliconchip.com.au/cms/A_30469/article.html for five or six
> bux,

The idiots behind this magazine want you to spend many dollars to download
the article. BZZZZT.



> and this: http://www.elexp.com/kit_fmwm.htm for $4.50.


Very buggy and drifty design. Not acceptable.

Jim

[Bob Chilcoat]

That's exactly why I wanted your opinion. I'm now looking for an unwanted
scanner that gets the aviation band, and will look into the Walmart
transmitter you mentioned. Thanks.

--
Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)


"RST Engineering" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Bob Chilcoat" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Yeah, but I can build this:
> > http://www.siliconchip.com.au/cms/A_30469/article.html for five or six
> > bux,
>
> The idiots behind this magazine want you to spend many dollars to download
> the article. BZZZZT.
>
>
>
> > and this: http://www.elexp.com/kit_fmwm.htm for $4.50.
>
>
> Very buggy and drifty design. Not acceptable.
>
> Jim
>
>
>

[jsmith]

Dayton Hamfest coming up in a month or so. Lots of choices to choose from.

[NW_PILOT]

What you buy at Wal-Mart is not capable of the transmit range, stability and
is not agile as the other FM exciters.


"RST Engineering" > wrote in message
...
> Why pay $150 for what Walmart will sell you for $30?
>
> Jim
>
>
>
> "NW_PILOT" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Try Ramsey Electronics get a FM transmitter and a cheap base scanner
hook
> > the scanner to the transmitter it will do what you want it to do. I
> > recommend the FM100 its a nice agile unit so you can pick a freq that
not
> > being used in your area.
> >
> >
http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/cgi-bin/commerce.exe?preadd=action&key=FM100B
> >
> >
>
>

[NW_PILOT]

"Bob Chilcoat" > wrote in message
...
> Yeah, but I can build this:
> http://www.siliconchip.com.au/cms/A_30469/article.html for five or six
bux,
> and this: http://www.elexp.com/kit_fmwm.htm for $4.50. Add a simple power
> supply built from my junk box and I have the whole thing for under $20.
My
> concern is whether or not the receiver will be able to discriminate
between
> 123.00 MHz and the frequencies on either side. The airport Unicom
> transceiver isn't easily accessible.
>
> --
> Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)


Bob, look again at what the guy wants to do? them little things are not
stable they drift all over the place and dont have a range on them.

[NW_PILOT]

"Bob Chilcoat" > wrote in message
...
> That's exactly why I wanted your opinion. I'm now looking for an unwanted
> scanner that gets the aviation band, and will look into the Walmart
> transmitter you mentioned. Thanks.


I have

3, UBC780XLT
1, BC250D
1, AOR 8200MKIII

All work great for picking up aircraft & many other interesting things.

I also have a FM-100B Export + A Veronica Amp and a Ramsey PX50

I do recomend on the FM-100B Export model for transmiting Scanner audio you
could also hook it to the fbo's base unit if it has a line out. I can
transmit for about 3 miles with my 100B Export

[RST Engineering]

Somebody emailed me that an idiot that I killfiled a long time ago is saying
that the Walmart units don't work well. I've had several dozen students
using them for over a semester with excellent results. They are crystal
synthesized and stable as a (literal) rock and have the power to be just
barely legal and cover a maximum amount of legal distance.

The idiot goes on to say (according to the email) that he is using an
illegal transmitter and linear amplifier to increase his range. You want to
take the chance that the FCC won't catch you, be my guest.

Jim



"Bob Chilcoat" > wrote in message
...
> That's exactly why I wanted your opinion. I'm now looking for an unwanted
> scanner that gets the aviation band, and will look into the Walmart
> transmitter you mentioned. Thanks.
>
> --
> Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)

[John Godwin]

I've got a Sony Air-8 that, perhaps, someone can use for the receiver.
It's well used and needs a Rubber Ducky Antenna (BNC connector) and AC
power supply (the battery pack was ruined by Ray-O-Vac batteries). I
live in the SF Bay Area so EMail me to work out the details.

--

[balcaen]

Hello John Godwin

If nobody has picked up on your offer of the Sony air 8 I am looking
for one for my office, to hear what's going on at the local airports.
I had one, and it got stollen from our house. Boo Hoo.

I am handy with AC adapters and cleaning up or making new battery
holders.

http://www.streamload.com/v3d_docs/EL/ICIFZFWI5Y/Canim-air1-2005-03-08_027_800x533.jpg


pic, if the download works, is a approach to our local airport, CAV3 at
100 Mile House BC Canada. Note the farriers in the foreground.

David Balcaen


--
balcaen
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted via OziPilots Online [ http://www.OziPilotsOnline.com.au ]
- A website for Australian Pilots regardless of when, why, or what they fly -

[balcaen]

Hello John Godwin

If nobody has picked up on your offer of the Sony air 8 I am looking
for one for my office, to hear what's going on at the local airports.
I had one, and it got stollen from our house. Boo Hoo.

I am handy with AC adapters and cleaning up or making new battery
holders.

http://www.streamload.com/v3d_docs/EL/ICIFZFWI5Y/Canim-air1-2005-03-08_027_800x533.jpg


pic, if the download works, is a approach to our local airport, CAV3 at
100 Mile House BC Canada. Note the farriers in the foreground.

David Balcaen


--
balcaen
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted via OziPilots Online [ http://www.OziPilotsOnline.com.au ]
- A website for Australian Pilots regardless of when, why, or what they fly -

[John Godwin]

balcaen > wrote in
:

> If nobody has picked up on your offer of the Sony air 8 I am
> looking for one for my office, to hear what's going on at the
> local airports. I had one, and it got stollen from our house. Boo
> Hoo.

Sorry, but I already FexEx'ed it Bob Chilcoat in New Jersey. He felt
the price was in his ballpark :-) I feel your pain.



--