Online radio primer?

I'm about to make my first cross country outside of our comfortable New
England airspace where flight following is pretty much automatic and you
just keep tuning in the next frequency they give you.

I'm not sure if things will be the same out in the wilds of western New York
and Ohio. Can anyone point me to an online source where I can brush up on
the things I learned and forgot a few years ago, how to receive on a VOR,
how to raise center out in the boonies, etc?

--
Roger Long

You raise Center out in the boonies by looking up its frequency in the back
of the A/FD...or by asking a nearby FSS for the appropriate frequency. If it
is the only avenue available to you, you can communicate with FSS by
transmitting on 122.1 and listening on the VOR freq (mention the VOR you are
using in the initial call)....but the number of alternatives to duplex is
increasing daily.

I'm not aware of an online primer, but I can recommend SAY AGAIN, PLEASE,
published by ASA, or the ASA CD-ROM Communications Trainer. Can't deny that
I have a personal interest in both.

Bob Gardner

"Roger Long" om wrote in
message ...
I'm about to make my first cross country outside of our comfortable New
England airspace where flight following is pretty much automatic and you
just keep tuning in the next frequency they give you.

I'm not sure if things will be the same out in the wilds of western New
York
and Ohio. Can anyone point me to an online source where I can brush up on
the things I learned and forgot a few years ago, how to receive on a VOR,
how to raise center out in the boonies, etc?

--
Roger Long

Not an "online" source, but center freqs are listed toward the back of the
FAA's Airport/Facility Directory.

Receiving a FSS/HIWAS/TWEB/ASOS/AWOS via a VOR is explained in the sectional
chart legend (Radio Aids to Navigation and Communication Boxes).

-0-
JL

"Roger Long" om wrote in
message ...
I'm about to make my first cross country outside of our comfortable New
England airspace where flight following is pretty much automatic and you
just keep tuning in the next frequency they give you.

I'm not sure if things will be the same out in the wilds of western New
York
and Ohio. Can anyone point me to an online source where I can brush up on
the things I learned and forgot a few years ago, how to receive on a VOR,
how to raise center out in the boonies, etc?

--
Roger Long

My KLN-89/B has a NEAREST function and one of the sub-functions is CTR.
Push that and it knows what center freq to give you. I find that nice. I
also get FSS, etc.

Ross

Bob Gardner wrote:

You raise Center out in the boonies by looking up its frequency in the back
of the A/FD...or by asking a nearby FSS for the appropriate frequency. If it
is the only avenue available to you, you can communicate with FSS by
transmitting on 122.1 and listening on the VOR freq (mention the VOR you are
using in the initial call)....but the number of alternatives to duplex is
increasing daily.

I'm not aware of an online primer, but I can recommend SAY AGAIN, PLEASE,
published by ASA, or the ASA CD-ROM Communications Trainer. Can't deny that
I have a personal interest in both.

Bob Gardner

"Roger Long" om wrote in
message ...
I'm about to make my first cross country outside of our comfortable New
England airspace where flight following is pretty much automatic and you
just keep tuning in the next frequency they give you.

I'm not sure if things will be the same out in the wilds of western New
York
and Ohio. Can anyone point me to an online source where I can brush up on
the things I learned and forgot a few years ago, how to receive on a VOR,
how to raise center out in the boonies, etc?

--
Roger Long

"Jeff Lindorff" writes:

Receiving a FSS/HIWAS/TWEB/ASOS/AWOS via a VOR is explained in the
sectional chart legend (Radio Aids to Navigation and Communication
Boxes).

It's funny what you don't think of checking before leaving home. Up
here, I can always call the nearest FSS and hear them on 126.7
(actually, an FIC will usually handle the calls now, but it works out
the same for pilots).

On my first and only trip (so far) down to the U.S., I ended up
calling local FSS's on local frequencies, since that was the easiest
thing to figure out. On my way home the next day, VFR, after midnight
over upstate NY, I was too far away to get any local FSS. I saw the
VOR/FSS thing in the A&FD, but I was too busy flying to figure it out
properly from the cryptic notes (it looked to me like I was supposed
to *transmit* on the VOR frequency). Thanks for the explanation.


All the best,


David

--
David Megginson, , http://www.megginson.com/

On Wed, 06 Aug 2003 16:30:36 -0500, Ross Richardson
wrote:

My KLN-89/B has a NEAREST function and one of the sub-functions is CTR.
Push that and it knows what center freq to give you. I find that nice. I
also get FSS, etc.

A follow-up to this:

So let's say I'm flying out somewhere (VFR) and I decide I want VFR
FF. Most of the C-172Ss I have flown in have the NRST on the GPS. So
I push NRST and I choose 'CTR'. So this gives me the center
frequency. All good and fine, but what if I am close to the radar
(TRACON) service area of a Class C and actually the airspace I am in
is the domain of that TRACON? I assume that the TRACON area of
responsibility is a little further out than the B/C rings, and then
there are some Approach controls who are not associated with a Class
B/C airport either - Dover and Patuxent come to mind the quickest to
me. So I don't really know *what* the coverage area of Patuxent
Approach is, and when (if ever) it switches to DC Center before going
to Norfolk Approach, for example.

I am assuming the 'worst that could happen' is that I call Center and
they say 'no, dummy, you want to call XXX approach on YYY'. My
question is - is there any way to find out this information
beforehand?

Thanks,

aw

aaronw writes:

I am assuming the 'worst that could happen' is that I call Center and
they say 'no, dummy, you want to call XXX approach on YYY'. My
question is - is there any way to find out this information
beforehand?

Don't the U.S. sectionals have frequencies printed right on them?


All the best,


David

--
David Megginson, , http://www.megginson.com/

aaronw wrote:
So let's say I'm flying out somewhere (VFR) and I decide I want VFR
FF. Most of the C-172Ss I have flown in have the NRST on the GPS. So
I push NRST and I choose 'CTR'. So this gives me the center
frequency. All good and fine, but what if I am close to the radar
(TRACON) service area of a Class C and actually the airspace I am in
is the domain of that TRACON? I assume that the TRACON area of
responsibility is a little further out than the B/C rings

Yes. The airspace owned by a TRACON typically extends at least 20 miles
out beyond the edge of the charted airspace. Sometimes quite a bit
more. As far as altitude, they often control well above the charted
airspace ceiling -- 10,000 AGL or even higher is not uncommon.

I am assuming the 'worst that could happen' is that I call Center and
they say 'no, dummy, you want to call XXX approach on YYY'.

Exactly, but they won't even call you dummy. They'll just say something
like, "You're outside my airspace, contact XXX Approach on 123.45".
Happens all the time.

My question is - is there any way to find out this information
beforehand?

The best reference is the AFD. Look up the entry for the airport
nearest your location, and see frequencies it lists for Approach and/or
Departure. To be honest, I don't usually bother en-route. I just call
up the nearest TRACON and if it turns out I've guessed wrong, they'll
give me a different frequency.

"David Megginson" wrote in message
...

Don't the U.S. sectionals have frequencies printed right on them?

Airport freq's, yes. Center freq's no.

I have to differ with others about using the GPS to look up freqs. You IFR
people may have a different slant 'cause you update your GPS regularly
(don't you?). I don't trust the freq's in the VFR GPS. Even if the thing
has been updated in the last few years the freq's still change without
notice.

It's just so darn easy to simply pick an airport, any airport, listed near
to you on the sectional, whip out the AF/D and look up the controlling
frequency.

--
Jim Fisher

"Jim Fisher" writes:

"David Megginson" wrote in message
...

Don't the U.S. sectionals have frequencies printed right on them?

Airport freq's, yes. Center freq's no.

I just pulled out the current NY sectional (that I used for a recent
trip), and it has Tracon frequencies on the map with notes like this:

CTC New York App within 20 nm on 118.0 343.75

A similar note appears on different sides of the area with different
frequencies. I don't know if that kind of thing appears on all the
sectionals, though. There is also a table at the bottom left
containing tower, class B, class C, TSRA, and some radar approach
frequencies. I don't see the centre frequencies, though.


All the best,


David

--
David Megginson, , http://www.megginson.com/