Hand Held Radio
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Earthman
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Unless used inside of an aircraft, you must have an FCC license to transmit on aircraft frequencies using an air-band handheld radio. You used to need a license for this but the FCC discontinued the requirement for a license when using air-band radios inside aircraft.
You do not need an FCC license to monitor the air-band frequencies.
This is strictly enforced since your communications with a handheld radio can be heard in aircraft for hundreds of miles from your position and your use of the frequency may interfere with vital air operations-related radio traffic. Aircraft are high so they can receive better than you can on the ground. In fact, I’ve talked with the International Space Station using a 5-Watt handheld VHF radio and its standard antenna, which was similar to an air-band handheld radio. I’m a licensed Extra Class Amateur Radio operator.
Note: In a life and death situation, anyone can transmit on any frequency, but someone better be about to die.
The FAA can require you to monitor aircraft communications, but you can’t transmit on those frequencies without a proper FCC license. So if the FAA is requiring you to communicate with air traffic controllers on an air-band radio, you need to get an FCC license, which is not trivial.
It is likely that the folks that you are dealing with at the FAA are not familiar with the FCC regulations.
My company does work within the air opperations areas of towered airports that requires our folks to drive ground vehicles across taxiways and runways. We need to be in direct communications with ground control using an air-band handheld radio to move around the airports. The tower controls our movements on the ground. In 2018, it took me a very frustrating 40-hrs of effort to get a license from the FCC to use our radio at one airport on the specific frequencies used at that airport. They would not allow us to transmit on our radio at more than one airport. The cost of our license was $300, which was more than the cost of the handheld radio, not to mention the cost of my 40-hrs of labor spent on the application process. Clearly, the FCC does not grant license to transmit on air-band frequencies lightly.
We use a mag-mount roof antenna on our vehicles to improve the reliability of radio communications with the tower, but even with the better antenna, we don’t have reliable radio reception on our end when we drive into a valley on the airport. VHF radio frequencies are line of sight, so hills, trees, buildings, etc. block the signals, especially between antennas close to ground level.
I own an air-band radio for monitoring communications near airports during my UAV operations. I do not have a license to transmit on the radio and wouldn’t unless in a life or death situation, but I can’t imagine such a situation.
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That was an excellent response. This is obviously another area of the FCC/FAA regulations that need to be updated. I have an Icom A25N radio. I listen. I do have a private pilot's license. It would take training for anyone new to use radios.
I can hardly hear the tower while I am at the airport sometimes. I would appreciate a heads up on what magnetic antenna would work. Am I better off just visiting a ham radio outlet?
I can hardly hear the tower while I am at the airport sometimes. I would appreciate a heads up on what magnetic antenna would work. Am I better off just visiting a ham radio outlet?
AMann
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AMann
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A 2 meter mag mount is close enough to the aeronautical bands. You can get them through HRO.com, or from the A... online retailer. I recommend a Larsen NMO antenna and mag mount like this:
HRO NMO mount 2m antenna
HRO NMO mag mount:
PulseLarsen NMOMMR
NMO Magnetic Mount - Round - 12 Feet RG-58/U Coax - PL-259 UHF Male Connector
www.hamradio.com
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Earthman
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Ham radio antennas are not specially tuned to resonate on air-band frequencies (actually at one frequency, typically at the center of the band). For the most part, this is more significant for transmitting than it is for receiving.
Air-band radios use VHF AM frequencies in the 108 MHz - 137 MHz range, while Ham radios use VHF FM frequencies in the 144 MHz to 148 MHz range in International Telecommunication Union region (ITU) Regions 2 (North and South America plus Hawaii) and 3 (Asia and Oceania)[1] and from 144 MHz to 146 MHz in ITU Region 1 (Europe, Africa, and Russia). So Ham Radio VHF frequencies use shorter wave lengths than air-band frequencies. Consequently, you would have to lengthen a Ham Radio VHF antenna to get it to resonate at air-band frequencies, but it’s harder to lengthen an antenna by adding material than it is to shorten it by cutting material off. However, the air-band and Ham VHF frequencies are probably close enough that the Ham antenna could be used to monitor the air-band frequencies, and the Ham Radio mag-mount antenna on the outside of the vehicle is probably going to work better than the inefficient, short antenna supplied with the air-band handheld radio inside the vehicle even though the mag-mount isn’t tuned right. The difference in modulation (AM vs FM) makes no difference to the antenna.
The air-band antenna I bought for work cost about $70 as I recall from an online aircraft supply store. You can buy a Ham band antenna of similar quality from an online Ham Radio store for $15 to $30 that will probably work fine for monitoring; however, the connector on the Ham antenna may be different than the air-band radio, so you may need an adaptor. Be sure to check this before buying the antenna.
If you are going to try a Ham Radio antenna, I suggest that you buy a 1/8 or 1/4 wavelength, 2m band, Ham Radio mag-mount antenna. Since you are trying to receive aircraft radio signals from any direction, stay away from high-gain antennas that tend to flatten the signal pattern in an attempt to optimize terrestrial communications/signals that are close to the ground. For receiving signals from high-flying aircraft, a low-gain antenna is better.
Air-band radios use VHF AM frequencies in the 108 MHz - 137 MHz range, while Ham radios use VHF FM frequencies in the 144 MHz to 148 MHz range in International Telecommunication Union region (ITU) Regions 2 (North and South America plus Hawaii) and 3 (Asia and Oceania)[1] and from 144 MHz to 146 MHz in ITU Region 1 (Europe, Africa, and Russia). So Ham Radio VHF frequencies use shorter wave lengths than air-band frequencies. Consequently, you would have to lengthen a Ham Radio VHF antenna to get it to resonate at air-band frequencies, but it’s harder to lengthen an antenna by adding material than it is to shorten it by cutting material off. However, the air-band and Ham VHF frequencies are probably close enough that the Ham antenna could be used to monitor the air-band frequencies, and the Ham Radio mag-mount antenna on the outside of the vehicle is probably going to work better than the inefficient, short antenna supplied with the air-band handheld radio inside the vehicle even though the mag-mount isn’t tuned right. The difference in modulation (AM vs FM) makes no difference to the antenna.
The air-band antenna I bought for work cost about $70 as I recall from an online aircraft supply store. You can buy a Ham band antenna of similar quality from an online Ham Radio store for $15 to $30 that will probably work fine for monitoring; however, the connector on the Ham antenna may be different than the air-band radio, so you may need an adaptor. Be sure to check this before buying the antenna.
If you are going to try a Ham Radio antenna, I suggest that you buy a 1/8 or 1/4 wavelength, 2m band, Ham Radio mag-mount antenna. Since you are trying to receive aircraft radio signals from any direction, stay away from high-gain antennas that tend to flatten the signal pattern in an attempt to optimize terrestrial communications/signals that are close to the ground. For receiving signals from high-flying aircraft, a low-gain antenna is better.
AMann
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You made a great post. I also mentioned those same frequencies In a previous post. Transmitting even out of tuning spec with a five watt handheld will work in close range to the airport, but optimally, an avionics 1/2 wave tuned antenna in the US should be about 46 inches long and a 2m 1/2 wave ham radio antenna should be about 38 inches long. But If desired, one could modify a 2m band antenna into a inexpensive quarter wave avionics tuned antenna by cutting it down to 22.8 inches.
I think the OP was still shopping for the HT too, so if he calls HRO and talks to the sales people, they would be more than happy to put together the antenna for him to fit his particular radio that endes up buying.
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Capt Binkley
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Boy ain't that the truth. The hardest thing about getting your pilot license is learning the language and the radios. (That's excluding the nightmare of trying to learn an NDB approach) If you really want to confuse someone, pull up the radio chatter from Oshkosh or any Class B airport on a YouTube video.
R.Perry
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What is fun when ATC gives you a lengthy clearance, normally as fast as an auctioneer, pause for a moment then say, "Sir you lost me after cleared to....."
Thanks, some great information here. Obviously, I knew most of what you are saying when I asked the question. I have a Ham and Private pilot license. Still, if you have a flight under tower control, I would say that you have every right to respond to them. I certainly respect the use of those frequencies, yet they are almost useless for tower to drone pilot due to line of sight communications.
This issue is stillnot clear and the FCC and FAA still need to get their act together
What You Need to Know About Getting Your Handheld Aviation Radio License - Public Safety Flight
Drone pilots should have an aviation handheld radio to communicate with nearby aircraft, transmit blind announcements about operations near an uncontrolled airport, and most importantly, to communicate with helicopters flying above incident scenes. I regularly communicate with news helicopters...
psflight.org
I paid the $70 for the FCC Restricted Radiotelephone Operator Permit so I don't have to worry about it. If I need to transmit I'll do so.
"Note: In a life and death situation, anyone can transmit on any frequency, but someone better be about to die."
That's a bit dramatic. It is up to the PIC to determine what constitutes an emergency.
I have just now applied. I am $70 short for Christmas, but I sure appreciate the good advice given here. Don't expect to hear me, but I will have my ears on good buddy.This issue is stillnot clear and the FCC and FAA still need to get their act together
What You Need to Know About Getting Your Handheld Aviation Radio License - Public Safety Flight
Drone pilots should have an aviation handheld radio to communicate with nearby aircraft, transmit blind announcements about operations near an uncontrolled airport, and most importantly, to communicate with helicopters flying above incident scenes. I regularly communicate with news helicopters...
I paid the $70 for the FCC Restricted Radiotelephone Operator Permit so I don't have to worry about it. If I need to transmit I'll do so.
Now I need a good repeater to rebroadcast the local tower frequency. Maybe on a Ham band. Hmmm still they would not hear me in an emergency. I will start with a better antenna. I bought the IC-K220A for the Icom portable.
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AMann
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“they are almost useless for tower to drone pilot due to line of sight communications.”
I wouldn’t say that- I have a 1/4 watt 2m credit card radio that I can talk through a repeater about 4-miles away that is the same height as our local ATC tower. Thats with only 1/4 watt and a short rubber duck antenna only about 4 inches long! And with my 5-watt HT with it’s rubber duck antenna, I can hit a repeater about 80 miles away.
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THANK YOU LUIS !!!What You Need to Know About Getting Your Handheld Aviation Radio License - Public Safety Flight
Drone pilots should have an aviation handheld radio to communicate with nearby aircraft, transmit blind announcements about operations near an uncontrolled airport, and most importantly, to communicate with helicopters flying above incident scenes. I regularly communicate with news helicopters...
I paid the $70 for the FCC Restricted Radiotelephone Operator Permit so I don't have to worry about it. If I need to transmit I'll do so.
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@LUIS MARTINEZ & @WJK I went online to fill out the application - it has the first four statements but it does NOT have the statement I hold an aircraft pilot certificate. Did your application have it ?
Capt Binkley
Active Member
So normally when operating an aircraft, your identifier used in all radio communications is your aircraft make or model and the registration number or last few letters or numbers of the registration. For instance "Moline approach, this is Cessna 5303Lima over Geneseo, inbound for landing" And the short identifier would be "03Lima".
So if you are using a handheld on the ground operating a drone, what is the appropriate identifier?
So if you are using a handheld on the ground operating a drone, what is the appropriate identifier?
All my UAS have N numbers so I identify the same way I've done it thousands of times before; November 515 Lima Mike.
As far as those long drone registration numbers I wouldn't know where to begin.
