How To Tune In To Any Aircraft!

[@RingwayManchester]

FlightStick 2025 Air Traffic Control Scanner Database. 2000 Freqs. Civil / Mil www.ebay.co.uk/itm/235875105871?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=GEQSq7eoRYy&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=GEQSq7eoRYy&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY SignalStick 2024 Baofeng Database. 600 Frequencies. Fire Marine Air Rescue Chirp www.ebay.co.uk/itm/235767576842?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=GEQSq7eoRYy&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=GEQSq7eoRYy&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

[@richardharris5819]

It's too bad I can't get FlightStick or signalStick in the US.

[@spencerdavis9207]

Have you tried any higher gain directional antennas and pointed them at different airports?

[@stevedewsnap2128]

I've got it already not bad for the price

[@AdamSWL]

Great to see you got yourself an IC-R15 Lewis! It is a cracking little receiver and I love the color display. I enjoy hearing aircraft handing off to HF and following them from there.

[@ukar69]

Being an aviation enthusiast, a scanner is invaluable, especially if you’re photographing at an airfield. It’s got me many a shot I wouldn’t have got otherwise and gives you an overview of what’s happening. You can also listen to the Red Arrows displaying, that’s always interesting.

[@nigeldaffurn]

You mean a plane spotter.

[@ukar69]

⁠I deliberately avoided using the S word as I don’t log registrations.

[@NG23dom]

​@@ukar69totally agree if you please😂

[@RobWhittlestone]

Great video Lewis! That was a lot of editing! Thank you for putting it together so well! I have the Bearcat 125 scanner programmed with Swiss frequencies. Where I used to work in Dübendorf the PC-7 aerobatic display team has often practiced, so it was fun listening to their air-air RT. All the best, Rob in Switzerland

[@RingwayManchester]

Thanks as always Rob!

[@brenstratters2026]

This took me back to pre-internet days. Living not far from LHR I us to listen in to all the frequencies and get a mental picture of what was going on in the skies above. Especially in the holds: Ockham, Biggin Hill, Lambourne & Bovingdon. Thanks for posting and all the best.

[@mrstevens3598]

For those that don't have money for a £400 scanner, I use my quansheng k5 radio with updated firmware by ezgumer along with a diy slim jim antenna. The radio was only about £30 on aliexpress. Use a programming cable to update the firmware, you can even disable tx for all frequencies, not just the airband, if you don't have a ham license.

[@Skiinye]

Any tips on getting better signal?

[@andrewmonument8847]

@@Skiinye One simple word... AERIAL ! If the aerial you use isn't up to the task - you'll miss a lot of what you could be listening to !

[@andrewmonument8847]

I've used a Yupiteru MVT-7100 scanner for decades. It covers all of the bands & frequencies I'm interested in.. in all modes. 1,000 memories is more than enough for me - and it cost me less than £300 when I bought it. From my home near Middlesbrough - I can hear most airfields within a 100 mile range, a lot of marine traffic and a good dose of other users - all with a simple rod antenna mounted in the loft.

[@robertmeyer4744]

That was great ! I am in NY/ USA and lots of air band to listen to hear. I use the BC 125 scanner with a 125 antenna from Moonraker and it works very good. I even hear the UHF air band but mostly digital data stuff. I also use the Talk pod A 36 with a Nagoya NA 771 dule band antenna and it works pretty good for a lost cost radio with air band . I found air weather stations that I can hear . Parts of the USA getting a bad winter storm and it's coming to me in NY . I can hear how the weather is disrupting air travel . The BC 125 scanner can run from power bank as well as 2 AA batteries . Cheers from NY !!

[@andymoss]

Do you know if we have a US equivalent to SignalStick over here? I’m about four miles from BNA. Cheers.

[@robertmeyer4744]

@@andymoss Not that I am aware of. But the AIR band is world wide. You can google most airports for tower channel .What I do .

[@csrrjefflloyd6496]

I live by an airport called Hemet/Ryan with a fair amount of private aircraft. There’s also a bonus in that the airport serves as a “Air Attack Base” for CalFire which is the State of California firefighting Department. Aircraft are loaded with both fire retardant and water. Both fixed wing and helicopters operate out of this port. Thanks for your videos.

[@paulsengupta971]

"Top Mud" (it's what they call themselves, in relation to Top Gun - there's a sign up, or there used to be) Been there, watched them fighting fires. Can you still get the B52 hot dog in the cafe?

[@csrrjefflloyd6496]

@@paulsengupta971I don’t know as I haven’t been to the cafe in a long time.

[@full_time_motorhome]

Just for info about ATIS transmissions. “QNH” is the barometric air pressure in the general area. “QFE” is same but for the immediate airfield. Both are needed by aircraft to calibrate height above ground and not sea level. For eg. Airfield may be at 50m above sea level. The instruments use this figure to compensate.

[@paulsengupta971]

QNH is the pressure at the airport, but adjusted to give the pressure at sea level, i.e. when set will give you your altitude above sea level. The QFE is the pressure adjusted for airfield elevation, so when set will give you the height above the runway.

[@KingGiac]

@@paulsengupta971correct. The first is used by almost all commercial airliners however it can vary by operator. QFE is mostly used by military.

[@ianlivsey7200]

Sorry if I sound sound a bit pedantic, but some of what you say isn't strictly correct. QNH is the mean sea level pressure at a certain place, so the Manchester Airport QNH is the mean sea level pressure for MAN. Yes, I know Manchester is not by the sea, but MAN is 257ft above mean sea level (The elevation), so if you were to dig a hole 257ft deep in the runway at MAN, the air pressure at the bottom of it is the Manchester QNH. Therefore, if you fly over MAN at 2000ft on the MAN QNH, you would be 2000ft above mean sea level (AMSL) and NOT 2000ft above ground level (AGL). This is an 'altitude'. QFE is the air pressure at ground level of an airfield, so if you fly at 2000ft on the QFE, you will be 2000ft higher than that airfield. This is a 'height'. I don't believe any aircraft flying in or out of Manchester are at all interested in the the QFE there, but at GA airfields, Barton for example, they are very important. Roughly speaking, the QFE will be 1 hectapascal less for every 35ft above mean sea level, at that place, than the QNH. Hence, the Barton QFE is always 2 less than the MAN QNH, as it's elevation is 73ft. Sorry about that, but I had to say it. 😀

[@paulsengupta971]

@@KingGiac QFE is also used by GA pilots doing circuits.

[@fireflyrobert]

Aerodrome QNH is atmospheric pressure at the aerodrome level reduced to sea level assuming a temperature lapse rate according to an International Standard Atmosphere, i.e. 1.98 degrees C per thousand feet. With Aerodrome QNH set the altimeter will display altitude above mean sea level. Another type of QNH are Area QNHs (often called Regional Pressure Settings). Working from memory here but the UK is split up into 13 different altimeter setting regions which are named such as Barnsley, Holyhead, Chatham etc. The Area QNH is the lowest forecast QNH within the area and are forecast up to 3 hours ahead. Area QNHs really come from the days of non radio aircraft (yes really) when the Met Office began supplying lowest forecast pressures so that aviators had a safe altimeter setting to fly on to prevent encountering terrain. The military still use area QNHs to assess things like minimum recovery altitudes for aerobatics and spinning. QFE is simply atmospheric pressure at aerodrome level (or Runway threshold in the event of an instrument runway which is more than 7 feet below the published aerodrome elevation. ) Finally one you never hear on the airwaves is QFF which is atmospheric pressure at the station reporting point reduced to sea level at an isothermal lapse rate (i.e. no change in temperature) and is used by the Met Office for construction of synoptic charts. Simply put isobars are lines joining places of equal QFF.

[@G0RXA]

That one 1️⃣ s right up my street. I remember in the distant past searching out NDBs and VORs. Nice receiver!!

[@Snowy1of1]

Can I just say, that whip antenna shown near start is a decent little twig, I receive quite well on it indoors!

[@nickaxe771]

Great video Lewis.....I take it you a long time air bander like me....since mid 1960s.....no scanners then.....just very basic rotary tuning radios. I to find those ebay taxi mag mount antennas great.....for the house I have a home made vertical 1/2 wave dipole.....stunning reception.....its also good for 2mt and 70cm....each element at around 22inches. For a cheaper new Uniden hand held Civil AM only....I bought the Uniden EZI-33XLT....around £95 Great for mobile use... but I use my 40 year old Realistic Tandy base set at home. Tricky to manual program a freq..... c/w rechargeable batt. Very sensitive.....wont be overloaded in a strong signal area. Great all round basic scanner.....lots used on ebay.....I presume the the sellers struggle to program them. Just in case anybody dont want to break the bank. For home use only I would recommend a base station.....those old Tandy Realistic radios are great ie Pro 2005 or 2006. Nick 2E0LPL

[@MsDscho]

I was sat on tacho break on the Macc side top layby on the A537 last year with my Yaesu FT70 listening and watching the traffic in and out. Loved it :0) cheers Lewis. 2E0WFL

[@josephcote6120]

Interesting stuff. I live about 2km from San Francisco International. Interesting to park near the bay and use the scanner to listen in on approaching flights. Glad I was listening from home ten years ago when Asiana 214 came in too low, clipped the seawall and crashed. Never heard so much traffic on all of the SFO channels. I am still impressed that EVERY person on the radio stayed calm and professional through the whole thing. But then, they practice for this all the time, and everyone is prepared. -- Scanner of choice is Uniden 125. 320mm rubber ducky when mobile, roof mounted discone when home.

[@itechflagstaff]

Thanks!

[@RingwayManchester]

I appreciate you so so much. Thank you as always my friend

[@Milcom34]

Thanks RM. Super Video*** Here in the States I Monitor Both Civil & Military Airbands with my Icom IC R7000 Base Radio. Also have Both the Uniden SDS100 Handheld Scanner and the Uniden SDS200 Base Radio Scanner, Both Great for the Airband Monitoring*** Take Care and Scan On****

[@kemi242]

If you already have a PC or a laptop, an RTL-SDR dongle is a pretty good cheap alternative. I can pick up ATC pretty well with just an antenna dangling out of my window.

[@stuartmiller6725]

You're quite right in saying that the IC-R15 is quite limited, especially for the price. I have one. What it does do though it does extremely well. Great user interface, ultra fast scanning, great battery life, and real solid build quality. I often run mine mobile in the car on 2M, 70CM, PMR446, and being near Lakenheath and Mildenhall also mil UHF, and use the bluetooth connection to get the audio on the car sound system. I also have an AOR AR-DV10. That covers most digital modes, and HF bands. But the interface is not a patch on the iCom. Its a £900 radio. It should be much better in terms of usability. If you could combine the plus points of both radios in one unit that would be the ultimate!

[@trislanderadventures]

I'm interested in the R15 - is it a pain that there's no numeric keypad?

[@8thday204]

Super clear explanation to match a super clear little radio. Thanks for making this video :)

[@Subgunman]

We refer to those compact antennas as Hershey Kiss antennas since the base resembles a Hershey’s Kiss chocolate Candy. They work great and are super compact and almost invisible from a distance when mounted on the roof of a car.

[@polarbear1888]

What’re you up to where you need it roof mounted and barely visible? Just curious

[@Subgunman]

@ classified, ask my Uncle Sam…….

[@telkirton]

Thanks for the info Lewis very useful for me as just starting out at 71, late starter Lol 🙂🙂

[@KeystoneInvestigations]

Well done RM! 👍 As an active pilot, I even listen to air comms at home.

[@CarolineFord1]

I tried a bit of this over Christmas. My elderly father loves flight radar 24, so I got a Baofeng UV-K5 plus and managed to pick up LBA ATIS. Anything else was quite hard from our location.

[@superslimanoniem4712]

The baofengs sadly aren't known to be great recievers :/ Maybe get a sdr (can even monitor ADSB and set up your own flightradar using it!), would also be easier to deal with as you usually can't accidentally transmitted and break a load of laws while broadcasting a beacon of your location!

[@TheHeartOfFenris]

Ha! Blackpool.... My best Mate works the tower there. It's through him I got Gloucester's tower freqs when he was training there. So I've been wigging in on their atis, radar and tower traffic for some time. Anyways great vid Lewis, and I have to say bot signal and flight sticks have opened up my radio hobby a fair bit. Cheers for plugging them.

[@wubba_chicken]

Thank you very much I will watch this a few times to take down the frequencies and learn a bit more thank you. 🙏

[@allanbailey5179]

New to all this stuff. Glad I stumbled across your videos, your knowledge is mind blowing thank you.

[@glennwillems9924]

Have been using my Icom IC-R6 for many years now. Lovely machine.

[@RingwayManchester]

Can’t beat Icom scanners Glenn. R6 is an excellent one

[@IM1deadMONEY]

You fellas are trying to give me to purchase a new toy.HA! I don't need much encouragement though😅

[@andrewwood6809]

Yeah IC-R6, heard high altitude aircraft up to 260 miles away on mine... with the standard aerial!

[@Richardincancale]

Military UHF ATIS transmissions are useful as beacons. ATIS frequencies and exact locations are published so we use them to calibrate the positioning accuracy of RF interception satellites in low earth orbit.

[@jjhendo]

I should do more aircraft listening since my suburb is right at the end of a runway and people are always complaining about it. I can almost constantly see something landing from my belcony. I was happy to find the old NOAA voice "Paul" is used as my airports ATIS. :)

[@steveng5503]

Yeah… well put together episode. Enjoyed that I did. 👍🏻

[@sivoltage]

I use an old Yupteru MVT-7000. Still the best scanner of all time, very sensitive.

[@paulsengupta971]

Yep, I've got an MVT-7100 which I still use. (does SSB as well). But at home my FT-991 also receives airband as does my FTM-10. And since my aeroplane radio is old and crap and doesn't do 8.33kHz spacing, I use a handheld transceiver in the aeroplane (FTA-550).

[@jplacido9999]

I have one since they've were produced...

[@csparty11]

I used to have a mvt 7100 but i sold it.... but Lewis is cheating, he drove up on a hill maybe even 200+ meters above land. Where i live it's all flat, there is no way to receive ATIS from more than 5-10 KM. Even with my discone antenne at 6-7 meters and i know it's not a perfect airband antenna i still can't get Schiphol TWR which is about 50 KM's away. Obviously you can hear the planes when they are in the air but the TWR freq is too weak even with Airspy SDR filtering. My point is if you don't live near an airport it's going to be disapointing and not possible to have such range.

[@paulsengupta971]

@@csparty11 I live about 30 miles from Heathrow and an antenna in the attic picks it up ok. It is rather flat in between though.

[@OxfordShortwaveLog]

Great video, Lewis. I do like a bit of airband!

[@pauldavies6037]

Very informative a bigger mag mount whip on your car will improve the more distant signals

[@Trevor_Austin]

If you wish to get any frequencies (Tower, ATIS, Ground etc.) go to the UK Aeronautical Information Publication. A rough guide to a departure flow is ATIS, Clearance Delivery, Ground, Tower, Approach/Departure and finally en-route. Don’t expect to get military as they operate on the UHF bands. Also, as time goes on, more clearances are given electronically by CPDLC so old fashioned voice clearances will reduce over time.

[@mpol701]

U get notams as well with uhf freqs sone asacs, fac and navigation, but ukafg guide is best to buy witb lots of freqs, remover civil 118 to 137 8.33, military extended vhf 117 to 155.975 8.33 upto 137 25 khz usually upto 155.975 am, the main uhf mil 225 to 399.975 am mostly 25 khz

[@M6JKW]

Great video Lewis thank you for making and sharing it 🙂👍

[@johnhodgkiss9882]

Warton LARs (lower air Radar service) is a good one on 129.530 only active on weekdays. Us GA pilots use this all the time.

[@aquafox4218]

Very educational, I love your videos. The music is decent as well!

[@steveparkes]

I use a UBC125XLT with a Moonraker MRW-125 when I'm portable and a Moonraker Skyscan Mobile (a birthday present last month) when I'm in the car. I was listening to Birmingham Airport the other day and heard them ready paramedics for a flight coming in. After that I headed up to Sedgley beacon where I'd have a clearer view and spotted the plane making it's approach they were preparing for. At this point I got a close call from somebody on the PMR channels who wasn't using approved hardware given his signal strength and the fact he was about 7 miles away and caught a SOTA spotter on 2m but couldn't hear the person they were talking to. At that point I was annoyed with myself that I hadn't bought my VHF handie and antenna with me to attempt to make contact. The plan is to keep a cheap radio in the car but for various reasons it just hasn't happened yet. Still, scanning around was fun and I proved to myself that once I was outside of the pit of QRM my house has become the new antenna really does the biz.

[@TheSillyshyguy]

I've looked at that Icom, and it seems to be a nice little receiver. May show up in my shopping cart this spring :)

[@NG23dom]

Excellent information thanks as always++

[@dcurleyifa]

Loving this, I have an old AOR 1000 handheld which I have left in a drawer for years as I cannot find a lead to connect to a computer for uploading frequencies. It’s a pain to load by hand 🥴

[@johnhagen31]

One of your best !

[@mattsplitsacsmith]

I spend hours playing with plane finder and my uniden 125. I find especially fun as I am under Gatwick flight path it drives the family nuts. #neek

[@johnharrison373]

I have found the Quansheng UV-K5 (8) egzumer 0.22 excellent at listening to aircraft. Once you put it in spectrum mode (F+5), it can easily hop between different frequencies. For around £12+tax from China, it's a cheap way to listen.

[@rEdf196]

Back in the 1980's to 2000's I used to monitor the communications of our local Martin JRM-1 Mars water Bombers, 2 very massive 4 engine flying boats used for fighting forest fires. They once used the frequency 164.190 FM also used by local logging companies and related helicopter operations. when the 2 Mars bombers were sold to Coulson Aviation, the radio comm's operated on 123.0 MHz AM just like other regular aircraft. I often heard the 2 giant Mars planes communicating with each other on fire missions in FM mode on 164 MHz and later air band frequencies in AM mode. after 50+ years of service, the Martin (Hawaii) Mars was retired and inactive for nearly a decade until being reactivated once more for one last flight to a aircraft museum in Victoria Canada. The Same is being done with the second (Philippine) Mars for a final flight to Pima air museum in Tucson Arizona USA. For the first time in 65 years My hometown will never see the sight and sound of a Mars flying boat ever again.

[@paulsengupta971]

A friend of mine has stood on top of one of them, posting the picture of him standing on Mars...

[@JamesMills-w1j]

Really interesting Video, so much to listen out there if you're keen enough. 🙂

[@fsstickman1]

Thanks for this could you please do a similar video for marine vhf radio. Coastguard stations around the uk broadcast shipping forecasts every few hours. People like listening the the bulletin on radio 4 twice a day. This is a broadcast you can probably hear on a scanner or online sdr at almost any time

[@RingwayManchester]

Thanks for the idea!

[@morphuk1]

I second that. Would love a video on that!. ​@@RingwayManchester

[@arjovenzia]

I've got a QSL from a West Aus coast guard station 100km inland, while fixing a mates boat radio, they just seemed pleased that people were maintaining the equipment. Given the terrain I thought that was a good shot

[@NG23dom]

Totally agree 💯 would 🖤to watch a shipping channels guide 😇✌️👌

[@dmartin9996]

Many thanks, most interesting. Which antenna was on the Icom ?

[@chrispike5773]

Great video. Thanks.

[@socarroll007]

Hi, great videos, always wondered the difference between a scanner like a 125xlt and receivers like the IC-R15?

[@RingwayManchester]

Sensitivity and receive quality is better in my opinion. Icom is much easier to use and programme

[@highlandoutsider]

Could you use a set-up like this while on a plane? I love the lil maps with all the stats planes have, this would be next level awesomeness 🤓🔥

[@paulsengupta971]

They don't usually allow you to use radio receivers on aeroplanes due to the local oscillator potentially causing interference. If you ever fly on United Airlines, they pipe the radio through onto the in flight entertainment system channel 9 (IIRC).

[@highlandoutsider]

@paulsengupta971 damn, oh well, looks like I'm flying United next chance I get though! Cheers 🙏

[@dfgaJK]

4:09 It seems like it is automatically switching channels really fast? (or is that all just editing?) Do you have a video on how the scanner operates and how it know what channel to switch between an when to switch?

[@yusefaslam9675]

i have the same question

[@stan464]

Scanner mode. It rips through channels till it finds an active one. That's what scanners do. Some can do it fast or slow for more accuracy etc

[@andrewl3655]

thanks for a great video.

[@tyreburster]

Whenever I visit Manchester Airport, I'm always struck by the power, punchiness and superior clarity of their ATC transmissions compared to those from Leeds Bradford.

[@johnmknox]

That is the first occasion upon which I have heard of aircraft departing from runway 5. It strikes me as an oddity, for they are typically directed in the opposite direction. The deviation from the norm is both unexpected and curious.

[@RingwayManchester]

They regularly use 05L for departures John :)

[@menditwithmick4320]

Hi, the link for flightstick does not work. Says page is missing. Could you have a look at it please?

[@RingwayManchester]

Check the link in the description:)

[@stanleybest8833]

My ARC RT328 works fine for this. You need the trays, plugs, and wires to restore one. You can hear a mouse fart on the moon with the ARC RT 328 (A,C, D, or T). Try small aircraft dismantlers.

[@thedogfather5445]

Hi. Are you not at all worried that by publishing UK ATC comms that you might get a knock on the door from OFCOM? Am I wrong, or is it still (stupidly) illegal to listen or repeat? As a kid in the 70s I was always vaguely bemused that police at Birmingham took no notice of the hoards of spotters with radios blaring out. I notice that LiveATC are still not taking UK feeds for this reason.

[@RingwayManchester]

You’re right, the law states you must not listen to anything not intended for you 👍🏻

[@LANDYMAN090]

It is illegal but all airports, airliners have said they will not bring legal action against anyone listening.

[@paulsengupta971]

They don't mind unless you're uploading it to the internet in real time, then they'll ask you to stop apparently, and is why there's no UK feeds on LiveATC.

[@thedogfather5445]

@LANDYMAN090 I'd have been surprised if they had an issue to be honest - it's the jobsworths at OFCOM that would have the issue. I have a Marine VHF licence and had to sign to promise I wouldn't share anything broadcast on there with anyone else. Ridiculous.

[@mpol701]

They don't seem to mind even playing live anymore one site on KZbin has been playing Glasgow several years, publishing freqs they've never really worried about nor standing at military or civil watching and listening

[@robertwilkinson5335]

What about the quansheng uv-k radios, I know you dissed them previously but there are some pretty good mods for them with am fix such as F4WN which makes them much better at receiving AM, yes ok not perfect but great for a beginner foe the low cost. I pick up bhx over 10 miles away pretty easily on stock antenna.

[@RingwayManchester]

I didn’t diss them? They just weren’t great on air band when they first came out

[@robertwilkinson5335]

You sort of did originally, maybe now you've had a change of heart 😉 good little radios for what they are. Keep up with the great vids

[@grayrabbit2211]

I keep a Quansheng radio w/3rd party firmware in my hangar for listening to the various frequencies and ATIS at the airport. Works every bit as well as my ICOM aviation radio.

[@earlyadapter643]

The AM reception is surprisingly crisp on the Icom. But i think the car antenna with the coil and the small magnet is so so, mechanically unstable and probably not tuned to airband. I would make a dedicated lambda/4 without that coil and a strong magnet. For handheld i bought some incredibly cheap of the airband version of the 771 from Ali (bundle deals) and expected them to be fakes but my nanoVNA mounted in a small metal chassis (to emulate a HT body) confirmed that they are exactly matched to the center of airband voice at 125 MHz.

[@paulhole9396]

What adapter do you use for your icom ic-r15 hand scanner, so you can use an aerial with Male BNC connector

[@Robert61-t5k]

Hi Lewis, New on your channel :) and a very good, fun and educational video by the way! :) Your scannerholder seems to fit the IC-R15 perfectly! Could you share with us the brandname and modelnumber of the holder? Cheers, Robert from NL

[@RingwayManchester]

Thanks Robert! It was just a cheap euro store one I picked up in Portugal

[@maxpayneau]

Is my IC-R6 good enough to to it?

[@RIdersfan232]

Hey there! I have a uniden I got for under 100. Is the antenna the main thing for range or just the scanner itself? Thank you in advance ❤

[@RingwayManchester]

Antenna all the way

[@KevinByrne-l4t]

You may have been asked this many times but where do you get the Plane Finder from 😊 Thanks, Kev.

[@RingwayManchester]

App Store

[@KevinByrne-l4t]

@RingwayManchester Thanks mate.

[@Silentracer-o4j]

I bought the flightstick but I’m struggling to get the channels on to my baofeng UV-5RM, the file is not a csv but rather an excel file, I have opened it in excel and then saved as a csv file but it won’t load in to chirp, is there a guide anywhere ?

[@RingwayManchester]

You need to export your csv file from your radio and put the data from the flight stick into the cells. Chris’s page does state it’s an excel database

[@Silentracer-o4j]

@ I’ll give that a try 👍

[@JLGadgetguy26]

Hi Lewis. Great video as always, going to have a serious look at that Icom receiver. I noticed that you were using a car mount for the Icom - could you please tell me is this a proprietary mount or a general scanner/phone mount ? I have a couple of different 3D printed desk stands for Uniden125 and Whistler , just wondering what this vehicle mount is. Many thanks again. John

[@RingwayManchester]

Hey, it was just a cheap phone mount. Cheers

[@Jared-91]

I use a Uniden Bearcat BC125AT with a Diamond RH77CA antenna. I listen to mostly Mil-Air in my area here in the states, but I also pick up general aviation and medevac.

[@andykendall5171]

On a budget wand wanting to listen to more. What budget receiver will give me best bang for buck please? How about the boefeng??

[@RingwayManchester]

Hey Andy, If youre on a budget, the UV-5RM is good. If you can stretch to a uniden 125, they’re worlds better

[@andykendall5171]

​@@RingwayManchester can flightstick be used with either? 👍🏻

[@RingwayManchester]

@@andykendall5171 yes it can, it’s a database to use with their programming software

[@andykendall5171]

@RingwayManchester just one more? 🙏🏻 I live next to the coast and Gatwick, can I listen for marine band also with a uniden. ?

[@RingwayManchester]

Hey Andy yes it’ll do nicely on marine. Chris’s other USB stick does all marine

[@jbbosselut]

The used Power is différent between ATIS / ATC Tower / ground and the size of the airport .

[@stevesretroloft]

Quick question, can you get a convertor for the aerial from BNC to a jack plug so I can use it with my XHData D-808, I'm about 5km from BHX so can pick most local things up reasonably o.k. with the wire extension aerial, but want something a bit better as some of the more distant aircraft aren't clear. Great video btw.

[@jiml4826]

Yes, I got mine from Amazon UK

[@delmare1]

Would it be possible for you to do a video regarding the pilot/ATC speak. It's all very well listening but you need to understand some of what they say.

[@RingwayManchester]

Yes I’ll bear this in mind cheers!!

[@PhilHolt-v7z]

Are you a controller per chance ?

[@ado75]

Does flight stick include data for Ireland?

[@RingwayManchester]

Yes it does

[@dave1secondago]

hi rm got the new signal stick for my baofeng radio , do you know if i can get chirp on chromebook as most chirp software is windows , thanx in advance for the info

[@RingwayManchester]

Hey there I couldn’t tell you sorry . Have a look on the chirp site for compatible systems

[@Bootradr]

One thing I found a little confusing to me was some of the frequencies passed over the air. Instead of using the 25 kHz step sizes like we use in North America it sounded like they were using 5 kHz step sizes? As an example, I believe one of the frequencies passed was 128.055. I noticed this in a lot of traffic on different frequencies passed. It seemed like many of the frequencies were 5 kHz higher. Here in the USA, the 128.055 frequency would have been 128.050. Do they use a different frequency step size in Europe? That's pretty amazing picking up those ATIS frequencies so well that were far away. It looks like a great spot for monitoring aviation traffic you have! Thanks for the video. Brian in Fort Worth

[@rhysackerman9761]

8.33kHz here in the UK.

[@DanielW118]

Europe switched to an 8.33kHz spacing back in 2018/19 to allow for more channel availability. Hopefully that answers your question.

[@Bootradr]

@rhysackerman9761 Very interesting. Thanks for that information. I've seen that step size in some of my radios but never have heard of it being used for anything in the US. Scanners over here for decades have been built with the aviation band using 12.5 kHz steps. But the aviation comms have always been 25 kHz apart.

[@Bootradr]

@@DanielW118 it sure does and thank you for that info. Like I mentioned in my other comment, I've seen that step size in some of the scanners and radios I have but I didn't know what it might be there for? It makes me wonder if the US will eventually go over to 8.33 jHz? Thanks for the help and reply.

[@paulsengupta971]

It's become very confusing in Europe. 128.050 and 128.055 are the same frequency, but if you type in 128.050 on an aircraft radio it'll tune to 128.050 and switch in the 25kHz filter. If you select 128.055, it'll tune into 128.050 and switch in the 8.33kHz filter. The next frequency step will be 128.060 which will be an actual frequency of 128.05833kHz with the 8.33 filter. The next one up will be 128.065 which will be an actual frequency of 128.0667kHz with the 8.33 filter. Confused yet? The next one will be 128.075 or 128.080 which is the same frequency (128.075) but the first has the 25kHz filter, the second the 8.33kHz filter.

[@RosssRoyce]

You’d be better off with numerical keys! Like this you can dial immediately the next radar tor they hand them to if you like to.

[@faderman36]

I have an old school AOR AR 5000 Is there any software still available to program this or is it manual procedure. Thanks

[@flybobbie1449]

Also need a good hill to stand on!

[@Back2TheBike]

Will this pick up military traffic? If not, what radio would you recommend that has the ICOM IC-R15's simplicity and can do this?

[@RingwayManchester]

It will yes

[@FXCartel]

Would this aerial work with the quansheng or retevis units? Or would I need an adapter

[@RingwayManchester]

Just needs a bnc to sma adaptor

[@JayWilcox-vv3ou]

Technically it is illegal in the UK to listen to aircraft

[@nclflyer8197]

Is that broadcast bleed-through at 14:54 ?

[@RingwayManchester]

I meant to mention this, somethings going on isn’t it!

[@nclflyer8197]

Yeah I get it on my radios too. I ended up buying a broadcast filter (flamingo) and it seemed to work. Only seems to happen on external antenna, or if close to a broadcast antenna 👍

[@joneschri]

What is it that is allowing you to pick things up from that far away? I have a whip antenna on my Uniden 125XLT, but get absolutely nowhere near that range!

[@RingwayManchester]

What antenna is it? Just the supplied?

[@joneschri]

@ MRW-125 Super Gainer Antenna. I live right under the Heathrow approach, ~18km (linear distance) from the airfield, can’t get ATIS or Ground. Can get the aircraft transmission on TWR freqs, but Tower responses are really low quality

[@RingwayManchester]

You’re best off getting a band specific antenna. They perform much better than something with a broad range.

[@RingwayManchester]

Also, tower transmissions are designed for airborne aircraft; they’re never great on the ground unless you’re above them. Heathrow area is flat

[@joneschri]

@@RingwayManchester might go for the antenna you recommended in this vid then! Thank you!

[@DirtySanchez943]

How much is all this gear ⚙️ 😳 mate???😊😊😊

[@stuartcollett1753]

Is the ic-r15 scanner better than the uniden 75xlt

[@RingwayManchester]

Hey Stuart yes in my opinion. It does more and also records to SD. Much easier to use

[@paulcharlton4788]

I wonder why they have started adding the units for QFE/QNH reading? I’ve not listened for a long time but they never used to do that. Or did they used to use millibars and there has been a change so they are making that clear?

[@paulsengupta971]

It used to be millibars. Any pressure of four digits, i.e. 1000 or above can be given as just the number. A number of 999 or below has to have "hectopascals" added on.

[@paulsengupta971]

CAP 413 Section 3.4 3.4 For all transmissions, the word ‘hectopascal’ shall be appended to figures when transmitting a pressure setting below 1000 hPa, or in cases where confusion or ambiguity may result.

[@fireflyrobert]

@@paulsengupta971 after an incident many years ago at Birmingham where a USA based aircraft got dangerously low on an approach caused by confusion between pressure in USA recorded in inches of mercury against pressure in hectopascals the authorities mandated that whenever the pressure was less than 1000 hPa the word "hectopascal" was to be added. In the case of the incident the QNH was 992 but the USA operated aircraft understood it as 29.92 inches of mercury (= 1013 hPa). The difference between 1013 and 992 = 21 and it's about 30 feet per hPa hence a height error of around 600 feet.

[@paulsengupta971]

​@@fireflyrobert Yes, I remember. Which leads on to the joke. ATC to US aircraft: Descend 3000ft, QNH 1014. US aircraft: Say, could I have that in inches? ATC: Descend 36,000 inches, QNH 1014.

[@IanDarley]

They should have left it as inches of mercury, we still use NM and feet for altitude.

[@rickchapman9232]

Have you ever picked up the airport becon?

[@RingwayManchester]

Rick, it’s one of them that I’ve been meaning to check out for years but never have!

[@MichaelAtherton1]

@@RingwayManchesterVORs are usually on the lower frequency's of airband - 108. to 117.95. If you listen to one, you'll get morse code for the identifier of the beacon.

[@terryjwood]

I thought it was illegal to listen to transmissions that aren't intended for the public (in the UK)?

[@mpol701]

It is but seriously it's generally not been an issue, even when we had police comms, charges were very few and far between I can safely say I was prob the most arrested in uk during those days between 1985 and 2009 over 10 arrests, but I covered royal and military communications, so was a bigger a risk, some cases dropped, sone fined, sone lost 500 ponds worth of equipment confiscated at a time but it didn't stop me Mainly I knew most police in Royal protection, special branch knew me and had no issues with me

[@8bit_George]

I have an sdr receiver for my laptop. Is there anyway I can do a similar thing? I have managed to listen in to aircraft but never the tower. Any help?

[@Aitch-Two-Oh]

You need a better (or higher) antenna.

[@8bit_George]

@Aitch-Two-Oh do you have any suggestion for what antennas work best. the one I have is just a straight stick

[@Aitch-Two-Oh]

@8bit_George I don't have a specific recommendation sorry. Depends if you want internal or external and the sdr setup. Just getting the antenna away from noise sources like led lights can help a lot. A dipole is very easy to construct with coax and a piece of wood and will beat a simple whip by 3dB, worth a try if you're in to making. There's a telescopic dipole that comes with window suction cups, I have one and it fell apart pretty easy. A VHF (FM) dipole aerial with the elements cut down to airband length would be cheap and professional looking for external mounting. Remember about coax cable loss as well. The thin stuff you get with cheap antennas is useless. Ideally have the SDR next to the antenna, say by running a raspberry pi in the loft and remotely controlled.

[@8bit_George]

@ I have an unused tv antenna mounted in the loft. Would that work? A Yagi I believe

[@Aitch-Two-Oh]

Airband is vhf. TV is uhf. A home made dipole from coax with the sleeve pulled back is likely to work better. Look for howto guides on the internet.

[@isaactheguy244]

I can’t find any ATIS frequency’s, would the flight stick include them?

[@RingwayManchester]

It does! Every one in the UK

[@isaactheguy244]

@@RingwayManchesterThanks, might be a good investment

[@pulsar9716]

Are you using a Bluetooth speaker sounds very loud

[@RingwayManchester]

No that recorded directly to SD within the radio

[@pulsar9716]

@@RingwayManchester blimey possibly the most clear crisp comms I’ve ever heard from a scanner, hopefully getting one myself in the spring.

[@Ma007rk]

I think that it is sad whenever people are worried about the fact that you might be making a little bit of money rather than really listening to what you are actually saying to the point where you have to devote actual time to explain your position regarding these types of things.

[@RosssRoyce]

Ha you can’t listen to any aircraft, rather any frequency 😝 Sometime ago we flew with a friend on separate planes and we talked to eachother on the “garbage frequency” (123.450 ), it certainly is not listed anywhere (here in France).

[@matthewroebuck256]

How do you program the R15 when you get your flightstick 2025?

[@RingwayManchester]

Just edit the csv file from the Icom and upload it :)

[@CampingTruck62]

If you listen really carefully there appears to be quite bassy loud music playing in the background on the tower freq?!

[@RingwayManchester]

I noticed that too!

[@patm5165]

Does anyone know, R30 or R15 a better radio?

[@Aitch-Two-Oh]

Anyone know of a scanner that specifically caters for the 8.33 airband channel numbering? that is, it displays or allows entry of the number spoken by ATC and pilots, rather than the actual frequency, and sets the appropriate bandwidth.

[@pinkteardrops6834]

Is it just me or are there some corrupted video frames at 5:00?

[@jvoric]

2:01 idea,set up a second YT channel just for product reviews?

[@RingwayManchester]

I don’t enjoy it mate but thanks for the suggestion 👍🏻