1988 Airband Frequency Guide

Listening to aircraft comms is totally legal. Only telephone conversations that are transmitted via radio are protected by legislation against eavesdropping. You are not breaking any law to monitor aircraft comms.

Information Section

Air Traffic Control – talk to pilots operating in controlled airspace and actively control the aircraft. Consists of Aerodrome Control (towers, which control airfields), Approach/Departures Control, responsible for control of aircraft 10 to 30 nautical miles (NM), Area Control, who handle en route and arrivals control of high altitude aircraft along airways, which are literally aerial ‘highways’ and Operations Control, who check weather, notices to airmen (NOTAMS) and fuel requirements.

Flight Service – talk to pilots outside controlled airspace and provide traffic, weather info, airways clearances. They do not control the aircraft, pilots choose their own altitudes and take steps to stay clear of other traffic.

Controlled Air – Aircraft positively controlled by ATC.

OCTA (out of controlled airspace)-Aircraft not under direct ATC control; they’re assisted by Flight Service. Altitude parameters that are ‘boundaries’ for both controlled and uncontrolled air vary depending on the distance from airports and other factors. OCTA is usually low altitudes, CTA usually higher altitudes.

VHF Range – Depends on altitude of aircraft, but normal maximum at 35,000ft (FL350) is 180 to 200nm.

UHF Range – 100 to 150nm is usual maximum range.

HF Depends on frequency used and time of day, can be many thousands of miles.

Re-transmitted Channels – Say you are listening in Sydney to Sydney Control 131. 3. The ATC console also has 118. 5 patched into it, as well as 128. 2, which has its antenna at Mount Oxley, near Bourke, in western NSW. 128. 2 is land-lined to Sydney and patched into and re-transmitted along with 131. 3 and 1 18. 5. So, in Sydney, you can hear aircraft high above Central Australia speaking to Sydney Control!

International Oceanic – Inbound: Will call on VHF five minutes prior to 150 DME (distance measuring equipment) after changing from shortwave or HF. Outbound: Will call on VHF at 150nm DME, then call again soon after when directed on primary HF for oceanic sector.

Equipment – Receivers for serious air monitors must be sensitive (able to ‘hear’ weak signals with clarity) and selective (able to separate closely spaced channels so you can hear the frequency you want without annoyance.

Recommended Receivers – HF: lcom IC-R7000; Yaesu FRG-7700; Sony ICF-2001D. VHF: AOR AR2001, 2002; Realistic • Pro-2004: Realistic Pro-32 (handheld); Microcomm SX-155 (handheld); Regency MX-4000; Black Jaguar (handheld); Sony Air 7, Air 8 (handhelds); Saiko SC-7000. UHF: Realistic Pro-2004; AOR AR2001, 2002; Black Jaguar (handheld, limited military coverage).

Fac Plan Further Upgrades at Ksa:

The Federal Airports Corporation is planning further extensions to the international terminal at Sydney’s Kingsford Smith Airport.

Some $25m is already being spent on an internal upgrade programme that will boost per-hour passenger throughput by around 50% though does not address the present lack of docking space for the ever increasing number of aircraft using Australia’s international gateway.

The additional work will be specifically targeted at adding bays in what is already a space constricted site. It is also worth noting that local councils are now beginning to actively endorse the feasibility of building a second parallel feeder runway (of about 2000m alongside 16/34). More than half of the 14,000 people employed at KSA live within ten kilometres of the airport, a fact that at last seems to be understood by local council members.

Additionally, with the present NSW State Labor Government looking decidedly dicey for an election win and a Coalition policy of immediately approving construction of the second parallel runway, it appears that at long last the politicians may actually do what the aviation community has been pleading for for more than a decade.

 Present Us Airways Problems A Lesson for Australia:

Australia can learn from the present situation that exists in the USA where air transportation is experiencing a myriad of problems that are threatening its long-term financial viability.

The situation is essentially that when the US Government deregulated the airlines in 1978, it failed to adequately prepare the vital airways and airport infrastructure to cope with the massive growth that would inevitably follow. Essentially an inferior airways and airports system is today in place to handle an estimated 1987 market of 433m passengers as against only 267m in 1978. No new airport has been built in the USA since Dallas/Fort Worth was opened in 1974 and the number of full-performance-rated air traffic controllers has dropped from a peak of 13,000 to only 9,800 today. Little has been spent on upgrading the Airways system and consequently the problems with lack of concrete, lack of terminals and congested airspace under the control of fewer controllers operating ageing equipment is a potential recipe for disaster.

So where did the US fall behind in coping with the growth in air travel? Deregulation is often blamed for much of what’s wrong today, but that’s a hollow claim, according to George Aste, vice president of government and international affairs at United Airlines.

“Deregulation’s only failure has been that it is too successful,” Aste says. “Deregulation popularized air travel by making it more affordable. US air travellers are saving over $US6bn a year, compared with what was spent for airline tickets prior to deregulation. But the fact is, the system didn’t keep growing with the airlines success. The growth of the industry needs to be matched by a growth in capacity and airport development. That takes money and a commitment from the public, the government and the airlines. ”

“Public commitment is critical. ” Aste says. The problem is, everyone wants low cost air travel, but no one wants an airport in their backyard. Such local environmental concerns have not only stalled plans for new airports, but they have also thwarted the construction of new runways at existing airports.

Money is also critical. For years US air travellers have been paying a tax on each air ticket they buy. That money has been held in the Aviation Trust Fund, and currently amounts to $US5. 6bn. Unfortunately, the Fund is part of the federal Government’s budget and is not directly accessible for air transportation improvements. The money effectively reduces the federal deficit and any withdraw! of it would immediately politically increase the size of an already controversial deficit. Without it though the system is beginning to crack at the seams as passenger enplanements moves towards a massive 622m by 1995.

The lessons for Australia are many. Rapid growth will enter the domestic airline system come late 1990 (providing a sound economy exists generally) as many people currently travelling by surface transportation take to the air. Our airports must be continually upgraded to cope with this local and inbound tourism demand that will see passenger numbers in Australia double before the end of this century. Australia is presently planning to upgrade its overall ATC primary radar and SSR coverage though must also move swiftly to rethink its primary area flow control procedures so that another fiasco such as the ill-fated Marvin system presently in operation at KSA doesn’t occur again.

Additionally, curfew restrictions should apply to specific aircraft types rather than an outdated and totally irrelevant system that limits jet operations where most of the modern jets are quieter than the turboprops presently allowed for night freight operations. The lessons of the US experience are certainly plain to see, let’s hope that they are heeded.