Is it legal to listen to air traffic control?

RoundyMooney · 24-08-2007 4:42pm

Hypothetically, we're living in a world that is ruled more and more by the tracksuited militia.

Nothing would surprise me tbh

deRanged · 24-08-2007 4:58pm

you'll get the frequencies of the airports online easily. e.g..
You can them store them in the airband memory and scan that only.

(you probably know this but - there's two sets of memories on the maycom - 1 for airband and 1 for the upper band, 99 in each. I have airports stored in the airband and marine frequencies stored in the upper band. you can then either scan the entire freq range(sc) or just the stored freqs(mr, sc))

watty · 24-08-2007 5:41pm

The Garda use mobile phones for anything important. Anything else could be taxis

Ratzo Rizzo · 29-08-2007 2:54pm

Moot point now that you have your Maycom but I would have suggested the wonderful Yupiteru MVT-7100. The radio has been replaced in production by the MVT-7300 which is a poor radio by all accounts. The 7100 has wideband receive so even with a simple piece of wire attached to the supplied telescopic whip you would have decent HF reception too.
I remember when I bought mine I tuned into Gander OAC on 5MHz at about 2am and Gander boomed in! I was amazed as this was using the supplied telescopic antenna and in the middle of London too! I bought it to replace an AOR-8200 MkII which was a piece of sh1t, deaf on airband, HF was a joke too, I hated it and it cost me a fortune too.
If funds allow and the 7100 is cheap now 'cos there not made any more try and get hold of one, they're a brilliant little scanner!!

Ratzo Rizzo · 29-08-2007 3:00pm

Oh, and I forgot... as far as I know it's OK to listen as long as you don't publish the info anywhere....;)

highlydebased · 29-08-2007 3:06pm

Waterford Airport tower is on 129.850

You might be able to pick up Shannon Centre too, tonnes of frequencies : http://www.shannonairportenthusiasts.net/airband_radio.htm

UrbanFox · 16-09-2007 8:15pm

Is a discone aerial any good if it is suspended up in the middle of the attic ?

PauloMN · 17-09-2007 1:05pm

UrbanFox wrote:

Is a discone aerial any good if it is suspended up in the middle of the attic ?

Yes, much better than a built in scanner antenna, and better than having the discone sitting downstairs in a room somewhere.

Of course it would be better still to have it mounted as high up outside the house as possible.

If mounting in the attic, try to keep it as far away as possible from any electrical cable or metal water tanks.

Use decent coax feeder (not RG-58 stuff) between the radio and antenna. RG-8 or RG-213 is what you want.

irishair100 · 17-09-2007 3:55pm

hi all im into aircraft acars and photo's

my web site is

http//www.irishaircraftspotting.com

well all the best from irishair

Mike 1972 · 16-12-2007 5:08pm

Technically it is illegal to listen to ATC in both Ireland and the UK. (If you take a look at the Airport regulations/byelaws sign at any Irish airport you can see for yourself) The Authorities generally turn a blind eye (although during times of "heightened security concerns" this may change) but tolerance and legality are not the same thing.

Of course if you listen in the privicy of your own home and arent daft enough to go around telling everyone.............

Taildragon · 16-12-2007 10:05pm

Mike 1972 wrote: »

Technically it is illegal to listen to ATC in both Ireland and the UK. (If you take a look at the Airport regulations/byelaws sign at any Irish airport you can see for yourself)

I really don't buy this, sorry. There are various threads here where it is intimated that listening to "ATC"/pagers/GSM/Telemetry/Gardai/whatever is illegal.

Can anybody provide a definitive reference to legislation that provides for a criminal offence where the average citizen in The Republic of Ireland listening to whatever radio transmission he/she might choose? Why for instance would it be "legal" to listen to Taxi cabs, but not the telemetry of the railway system? Is this just more FUD??

Mike 1972 · 16-12-2007 10:41pm

Irish law is pretty clear http://acts.oireachtas.ie/zza45y1926.2.html

no person shall keep or have in his possession anywhere in Saorstát Eireann or in any ship or aircraft to which this section applies any apparatus for wireless telegraphy* save in so far as such keeping or possession is authorised by a licence** granted under this Act and for the time being in force.

* Reciever or transmitter
** Or a ministerial order exempting a particular class of apparatus from licencing (1972 amendment)

There are exemptions for things like mobile phones. Some types of two way radio (CB and PMR446) and
http://www.odtr.ie/_fileupload/publications/SI211of1972.pdf

apparatus designed solely for receiving sound (but not visual images) broadcast by a broadcasting station, is hereby declared to be a class of
apparatus for wireless telegraphy to which section 3 of the Wireless
Telegraphy Act, 1926 (No. 45 of 1926), is not to apply.

Anything else needs a licence.

So if You are in the Republic of Ireland and you are in possesion (regardless of whether you use it) of apparatus designed for listening to aircraft radio then UNLESS you have a licence for it (and such licences are not issued to members of the public) you are breaking the law.

There is no distinction in Irish law between listening to Aircraft, taxis or the Police but the authorities are obviously more likely to turn a blind eye to someone found listening to aircraft (except maybe during times of heightened security) or Taxis (unless the person doing the listening is working for a rival taxi firm) than listening to the police.

watty · 17-12-2007 7:28pm

In the UK it's illegal to use a Scanner to listen to PMR446... Only PMR446 allowed in UK for PMR446

Mike 1972 · 17-12-2007 8:02pm

Same for CB

But in Ireland (unlike the UK) it is illegal to listen to amateur radio (or more accurately its illegal to "posses apparatus designed to recieve" Amateur radio since Irish law is based mainly on possesion rather than use) if one doesnt have a ham licence

On the other hand UK radio listeners arent allowed to listen to UK land based (or any offshore) pirate stations (the law on listening to foreign pirates is somewhat unclear) but in Ireland no problem.

But heres an interesting one
Irish law only allows unlicenced possesion of

apparatus designed solely for receiving sound (but not visual images) broadcast by a broadcasting station,

So apparently if ones apparatus can do other things bar "receiving sound broadcast by a broadcasting station" like for example playing and recording cassette tapes or telling the time..............

workaccount · 24-01-2008 12:55pm

Heh, I would be interested in getting into scanning. I live near an airport also so would be interested in picking up atc.

Would the Maycom AR-108 be good as I would be interested in listening to lots more stuff than just atc? If this scanner is the right job would there any be any other alternative that are similiar?

It's just I would prefer a different design

deRanged · 24-01-2008 1:22pm

the AR 108 is handy out - I use it for ATC, Marine and occasionally the ISS.
it's a nice small unit too, so easy to take places.

is it a different design to the AR108 that you want?

workaccount · 24-01-2008 1:44pm

deRanged wrote: »

the AR 108 is handy out - I use it for ATC, Marine and occasionally the ISS.
it's a nice small unit too, so easy to take places.

is it a different design to the AR108 that you want?

What's the ISS? Yeah, just a differnet design really. It's abit too "cute" looking!

I like this look http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?ITAG=SPEC&ModuleNo=37493&doy=11m8#spec

or similiar.

deRanged · 24-01-2008 1:56pm

workaccount wrote: »

What's the ISS?

International Space Station. They occasionally chat to schools and you can listen in on half the conversation.

workaccount · 24-01-2008 2:58pm

deRanged wrote: »

International Space Station. They occasionally chat to schools and you can listen in on half the conversation.

Class. I would actually like to be able to listen to other interesting stuff that might be going on around the place aswell. Otherwise I might buy this and have to change it again in a few weeks. Dya know what I mean?

deRanged · 24-01-2008 5:20pm

for the ISS stuff, look up the ARISS project. For the 'other interesting things' you want to listen to, check the charter to make sure they're legal then post back saying what you want to listen to.

workaccount · 24-01-2008 5:58pm

deRanged wrote: »

for the ISS stuff, look up the ARISS project. For the 'other interesting things' you want to listen to, check the charter to make sure they're legal then post back saying what you want to listen to.

I would not really know what I want to listen to until I start listening. So something that would cover alot of frequencies.

Sorry for being so vague.

workaccount · 24-01-2008 6:09pm

Someone said this would be the right job. Uniden BCD396T

Slidey · 09-02-2008 12:02am

i got a bearcat off ebay, brand new wit close call so it will automatically pick up freq that are strong in the area.
ubc3500xlt, works out at 205. Very small and great battery life. You can also listen to joe duffy on it if you feel yoou need to bleed from the ears. No comparison to my old bearcat 220.
Can give a link to th guy thats sells them if ya need. got 2 more since for mates

YourName · 25-02-2008 4:22pm

I am brand new to this forum but heard a lot about it, been sifting through all the threads for a while now, so I thought I better get cracking at leaving a few replies . . . . . . . so without further ado . . .. . . . . .

I have become very interested in all this hobby radio stuff over the lst while but don't know much about it whatsoever, I see you have laid out frequencys where you could listen to the people talking down at Dublin Airport, I live in close proximety to it personally and would be highly interested in hearing what they say over the airwaves, what could I buy to do this, you recommend ebay a lot on the forum, I have used that several times, maybe I could pick up a radio from there, but what one exactly ????

I would enjoy doing this as a hobby as I am into technology personally, but obviously to start off I wouldn't want to spend much money . . . . .

Anybody have any recommendations? You all sound very interested in what you do on here and very well up on it, so I hope my lack of knowledge ofthe whole subject hasn't made you laugh to much over the course of you reading this comment, mainly probably the terminology I have used, but sure if any wants to leave a comment I am sure I will figure out how to use this forum and send ya one back,

Thanks,
Andy

:rolleyes:

:eek::cool::D

Mike 1972 · 19-04-2009 1:11am

Apparently the law was updated in 2005

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2005/en/si/0197.html

There is a licencing exemption for

apparatus for wireless telegraphy only capable of reception, which is not licensed under the Television Licences Regulations 2005 ( S.I. No. 165 of 2005 ), and is inherently incapable of transmission.

But there is this condition

Apparatus for wireless telegraphy of the class described in Article 3 of this Order shall not be used to improperly divulge the purport of any message, communication, or signal sent or proposed to be sent by wireless telegraphy.

Although the legal consequences (if any) of doing so are not made entirely clear.

Is it legal to listen to air traffic control?

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