Airband scanner

[Andrew Sarangan]

I have a Bearcat BC340 scanner, as well as a ICOM A6 transceiver. The
signal reception on the A6 is vastly greater than the Bearcat scanner,
using a side-by-side comparison with same antenna feed.

I am looking for a scanner comparable in quality to the ICOM A6, but
without the transmit option (which will hopefully be cheaper).

Any ideas?

[Jay Maynard]

On 2008-04-06, Andrew Sarangan > wrote:
> I am looking for a scanner comparable in quality to the ICOM A6, but
> without the transmit option (which will hopefully be cheaper).

You might look at the Icom handheld receiver/scanners.
--
Jay Maynard, K5ZC http://www.conmicro.com
http://jmaynard.livejournal.com http://www.tronguy.net
Fairmont, MN (FRM) (Yes, that's me!)
AMD Zodiac CH601XLi N55ZC (ordered 17 March, delivery 2 June)

[Andrew Sarangan]

On Apr 6, 6:47 pm, Jay Maynard > wrote:
> On 2008-04-06, Andrew Sarangan > wrote:
>
> > I am looking for a scanner comparable in quality to the ICOM A6, but
> > without the transmit option (which will hopefully be cheaper).
>
> You might look at the Icom handheld receiver/scanners.
> --
> Jay Maynard, K5ZC http://www.conmicro.comhttp://jmaynard.livejournal.com http://www.tronguy.net
> Fairmont, MN (FRM) (Yes, that's me!)
> AMD Zodiac CH601XLi N55ZC (ordered 17 March, delivery 2 June)

I did, and they seem more expensive than the transceivers. Probably
because they cover many bands whereas the A6 transceiver only covers
the airband.

[Jay Honeck[_2_]]

> I am looking for a scanner comparable in quality to the ICOM A6, but
> without the transmit option (which will hopefully be cheaper).

http://tinyurl.com/5b7mg3

We've had this thing running in our lobby for years. The aviation interrupt
feature is really nice.

You can use it as a straight scanner, and it's got the option to hook up an
external antenna. I've been very pleased with it, and it's amazingly
inexpensive at 0.1 AMUs.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Marco Leon[_5_]]

"Andrew Sarangan" > wrote in message
...
>I have a Bearcat BC340 scanner, as well as a ICOM A6 transceiver. The
> signal reception on the A6 is vastly greater than the Bearcat scanner,
> using a side-by-side comparison with same antenna feed.
>
> I am looking for a scanner comparable in quality to the ICOM A6, but
> without the transmit option (which will hopefully be cheaper).
>
> Any ideas?

Don't know if you want handheld or a base scanner but I picked this one up
from Radio Shack a year or so ago. It's branded for NASCAR but it carries
the airband as well. It's also a rebrand from a Bearcat I believe. At $49
it's really a low-risk buy and you can even spring for a good antenna which
is a big factor in performance.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2180625&cp=&sr=1&origkw=scanner&kw=scanner&parentPage=search

Marco

[Andrew Sarangan]

On Apr 7, 9:04 am, "Marco Leon" > wrote:
> "Andrew Sarangan" > wrote in message
>
> ...
>
> >I have a Bearcat BC340 scanner, as well as a ICOM A6 transceiver. The
> > signal reception on the A6 is vastly greater than the Bearcat scanner,
> > using a side-by-side comparison with same antenna feed.
>
> > I am looking for a scanner comparable in quality to the ICOM A6, but
> > without the transmit option (which will hopefully be cheaper).
>
> > Any ideas?
>
> Don't know if you want handheld or a base scanner but I picked this one up
> from Radio Shack a year or so ago. It's branded for NASCAR but it carries
> the airband as well. It's also a rebrand from a Bearcat I believe. At $49
> it's really a low-risk buy and you can even spring for a good antenna which
> is a big factor in performance.
>
> http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2180625&cp=&sr=...
>
> Marco

I've had that one too, but I returned it. I did a side-by-side
comparison with the ICOM A6. Using the same outdoor antenna (roof
mount), the ICOM can receive transmissions that does not even show as
a blip on the Radio Shack or Bearcat models that I had tried. When
tuned to an AWOS 30 miles away, the signal is loud and crisp on the
ICOM, but I can't even get a scratchy transmission on the other
models. I was surprised by the huge disparity. My suspicion is that
the ICOM circuit has been optimized specifically for the air band. It
seems the best option for me is to stick with the ICOM A6 and use it
as a scanner even though I don't need the transmitter functionality.
It is cheaper than buying the other multi-band scanners from ICOM.

[B A R R Y]

On Mon, 7 Apr 2008 14:05:31 -0700 (PDT), Andrew Sarangan
> wrote:

>
>I've had that one too, but I returned it.

Have your tried the "Sporty's Airscan" models available from
Sportys.com?

Personally, I might look for a trusty old Radioshack Pro-2004/5/6?
They don't make them anymore, but there are several on eBay right now
for less than $100. With those, or a handheld Pro-60, you'd also get
the bonus of military air reception.

Uniden could have ignored VHF-Air and / or the AM processing circuitry
on the units you've tried,as they were mainly marketed towards police
/ fire / ems scanning. The Uniden scanners I used to own were so
sensitive, they actually got overloaded by nearby transmissions, as I
scanned public services. I never used mine for VHF-Air, so mine could
have been just as bad on those frequencies or AM signals.

[Jay Maynard]

On 2008-04-07, B A R R Y > wrote:
> Uniden could have ignored VHF-Air and / or the AM processing circuitry
> on the units you've tried,as they were mainly marketed towards police
> / fire / ems scanning. The Uniden scanners I used to own were so
> sensitive, they actually got overloaded by nearby transmissions, as I
> scanned public services. I never used mine for VHF-Air, so mine could
> have been just as bad on those frequencies or AM signals.

Hm. I'll have to put my IC-A24 next to my Bearcat BC-895XLT and see how they
stack up.
--
Jay Maynard, K5ZC http://www.conmicro.com
http://jmaynard.livejournal.com http://www.tronguy.net
Fairmont, MN (FRM) (Yes, that's me!)
AMD Zodiac CH601XLi N55ZC (ordered 17 March, delivery 2 June)

[B A R R Y[_2_]]

Jay Maynard wrote:
>
> Hm. I'll have to put my IC-A24 next to my Bearcat BC-895XLT and see how they
> stack up.


Let us know! I'm interested.

I don't have any scanners any more, but I do have an A24. I have hooked
the A24 to my old rooftop discone and found it to receive very well. I
also remember my Pro-2005, 2006, 2035, and 2042 doing well with VHF-Air
on the same antenna.

I've always suspected that most typical "police" and "race" scanners
were optimized to narrow band FM and the frequencies that use that mode.
The radios that allow selection of mode (AM/NFM/WFM) on any frequency
might work a bit better for VHF-Air.