Home air band listening.

I'd like to improve my air band listening at home. I'd like to be able
to capture ATC ground transmissions from an airport 15 miles away (DTW)
and ATIS from DTW and YIP (also about 15 miles). I'm in a two story
house in a typical suburban setting on ground about 200' higher than the
airports in question.

I'm going to install a base station antenna in my attic (outside is not
doable) and run coax down to the basement. Sometime later I may run it
into my den. I'd like to put a TV coax amplifier in the system to help.
Receiver will be my handheld, but later I might use an illegal
(transmitter) 360 navcom (Com 11?) if I can find one that works at a
giveaway price.

Questions:
- Anybody got a rig like this? Suggestions?
- Should I put RF amp up in the attic, near the antenna, or in the
basement, near the receiver?
- Any watchouts?

Rich

Rich Hare wrote:

I'd like to improve my air band listening at home. I'd like to be able
to capture ATC ground transmissions from an airport 15 miles away (DTW)
and ATIS from DTW and YIP (also about 15 miles). I'm in a two story
house in a typical suburban setting on ground about 200' higher than the
airports in question.

I'm going to install a base station antenna in my attic (outside is not
doable) and run coax down to the basement. Sometime later I may run it
into my den. I'd like to put a TV coax amplifier in the system to help.
Receiver will be my handheld, but later I might use an illegal
(transmitter) 360 navcom (Com 11?) if I can find one that works at a
giveaway price.

Questions:
- Anybody got a rig like this? Suggestions?
- Should I put RF amp up in the attic, near the antenna, or in the
basement, near the receiver?
- Any watchouts?


The signal is line of sight, so elevation is everything. I doubt you'll gain
anything from the RF amps. Instead, consider building a Yagi antenna for
the band you'll be listening on and point that toward the field.

"Rich Hare" wrote:

I'd like to improve my air band listening at home. I'd like to be able
to capture ATC ground transmissions from an airport 15 miles away

I'm not a ham by any means, but I do like to listen to my handheld at home.
Hearing airborne aircraft isn't much of a problem; the challenge is to pick
up ground stations any distance away.

I'm five miles from my home airport, and I can just barely receive their
tower/ATIS using the stock rubber ducky antenna unless I'm upstairs and hold
the unit in just the right orientation. I'm about seven miles from SJC and
I can't receive them at all.

I'm in a two-story townhouse and I put up a basic disc cone antenna near the
peak of my roof. It extends about as high as my chimney, and it's
discreetly located so the HOA doesn't complain. With this setup, I can
receive SJC loud and clear, plus the tower at SFO which is at least 20 miles
away. Airborne aircraft, heck, I can hear them all the way to Nevada.

A disc cone doesn't give you much gain but it's omnidirectional and it's not
tuned to any particular frequency band so it is very versatile. My results
improved also when I got serious about my ground connection and pounded the
obligatory eight foot copper stake into the ground. I think I paid about
$80 for my antenna. The mast was a few dollars extra. Getting the thing
properly mounted and the lead-in through the wall was tricky and
time-consuming, but well worth the trouble.

I don't think an RF amp is worthwhile in my case. One of these days I may
buy a full-on Bearcat scanner or something so I can also listen to the local
Fire and PD in addition to air band.

You are dealing with AM VHF line of site. Height of antenna is the best
option. If you try some gain use a loaded whip for about another 3db. Amps
just boost noise. Hire a tree service to mount you a coiled whip in a tree
with a good ground. You can hear for 50 miles.


"Rich Hare" wrote in message
...
I'd like to improve my air band listening at home. I'd like to be able
to capture ATC ground transmissions from an airport 15 miles away (DTW)
and ATIS from DTW and YIP (also about 15 miles). I'm in a two story
house in a typical suburban setting on ground about 200' higher than the
airports in question.

I'm going to install a base station antenna in my attic (outside is not
doable) and run coax down to the basement. Sometime later I may run it
into my den. I'd like to put a TV coax amplifier in the system to help.
Receiver will be my handheld, but later I might use an illegal
(transmitter) 360 navcom (Com 11?) if I can find one that works at a
giveaway price.

Questions:
- Anybody got a rig like this? Suggestions?
- Should I put RF amp up in the attic, near the antenna, or in the
basement, near the receiver?
- Any watchouts?

Rich