On the Airbands

Bankstown Twr:

“Whiskey Hotel Papa … err, roger, Sir, you’re still tied down to the ground at your location!”

The callsign VH-WHP is fictitious, to avoid driver embarrassment. Our correspondent Todd Chapman was flying Cessna 172 Skyhawk VH-JGN as he monitored the low hours pilot’s situation. Thanks for the letter Todd.

Darren Mustafa from Beverly Hills in NSW holds ham radio callsign VK2TAE. He recently advised me of something many listeners have been enquiring about for yonks, and I haven’t been able to give them a correct answer. Darren tells me that Radio Sonde devices, as released by the Bureau of Meteorology, operate in the 400 to 403 MHz UHF band, with two releases daily, being 6am and 3pm. Main frequency used in NSW from Sydney is 402.1 MHz. A “pulsing” signal is heard on your scanner. Try the sound of the sondes out! You should be able to track the sonde for a few minutes at least before it climbs out of range of your antenna. Thanks again to Darren, who is doing his HSC in Year 12 this year.

Like Darren, Connor James is young. Younger than Darren, at 12 years. Connor owns a Realistic PRO-39, and has used it to log activity on the airbands since he was nine years of age! Recently Connor spent a day at his dad’s workplace at Richmond RAAF base, and was thrilled to see and hear a lot of military aviation activity. He watched three F-111s on approach, using the callsigns “Buckshot 114”, “Buckshot 123”, and “Buckshot 145”. After landing, they were advised on Richmond Ground (VHF) to park line abreast next to a Lockheed C-130 Hercules. Connor says the aircraft remained there overnight, and departed the next morning, tracking via Katoomba. But before long, “Buckshot 114” returned to the field due to a blown tyre on takeoff. After a one hour tyre replacement turnaround, the F-111 departed one hour later for Amberley. Connor’s day at Richmond also took in a C-141 Starlifter, using the callsign “Reach”, and enquires about whether that callsign actually belongs to C-5A Galaxy aircraft from the US Air Force? The Air Mobility Command (formerly Military Airlift Command) operates both C-141s and C-5s Connor, all routinely callsigned “Reach”. Originally, their callsign used to be “Mac”. Other aircraft watched and monitored by Connor on his “excellent adventure” at Richmond were F/A-18s doing touch-and-go manoeuvres, using the callsign “Maple”, and one F/A-18 using the call “Baron 61”, which identified it as an aircraft from Williamtown’s No 3 Squadron. To cap the day of monitoring off, an emergency with VH-UUJ, a Mitsubishi MU-2B-35 having radio trouble, and having to be contacted by Richmond Tower by mobile telephone. The phone number was passed by VH-SST, a Metro III to Richmond Tower. The MU-2 and Metro pilots obviously knew each other. A minute after the phone number was passed by VH-SST’s crew, VH-UUJ came up on frequency on 135.5 MHz, stating his gear would not go down. But before they had to alert the emergency services, the MU-2 crew corrected the problem, and the aircraft flew on to make a normal landing at Bankstown.

What was “Qantas 7580” heard at 07:30 zulu talking to Honolulu, one recent evening on 5643 kHz? A delivery flight? A charter of some kind? Maybe someone who knows can tell us.

Bob Morrow resides in Taranaki New Zealand, and is a newcomer to monitoring the airbands. He is currently enjoying listening to aeronautical HF transmissions on his Sangean ATS-803A, hooked up to an inverted-L antenna, 40m in length, and local Auckland and Christchurch VHF on his Uniden Bearcat 100 channel handheld receiver. Bob’s catch on 5643 kHz came just a short while after the Federal Elections:

Singapore 280:

“Brisbane Radio, Brisbane Radio, Singapore Two-Eight-Zero, requesting the election result … if you happen to have it.”

Brisbane Radio:

“Mr Howard’s in.”

Shortly after, the Singapore Boeing 747-400 called Auckland on five megs. and requested selcal on “Bravo Papa – Juliet Romeo”, alerting us to the fact that the aircraft flying the SQ 0280 service was 747 tail number 9V-SMQ.

From Mark Hanrahan, a cameraman from Seven News on the Gold Coast, a good tip! Well actually … the location of the story was the tip, or the Sun Valley Tip, in Labrador, on the Queensland Gold Coast, to be exact. An EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon) activated, sparking a search which was quickly narrowed down to the tip, and RDF (radio direction finding) soon led members of the Spectrum Management Agency, two policemen, and Mark, our correspondent, to a pile of garbage which had been filled in under several metres of soil. Dig they did, and voila! The effort was rewarded with one activated EPIRB, which it was noticed was “out-of-hours” and had been discarded by its owner in favour of a newer “more reliable” unit. When he or she discarded it, at the Sun Valley Tip, and the bulldozer chucked it around and covered it with soil … yes … you guessed it! The shock triggered the EPIRB, and the search started. Yes, you never know where they are going to be located, emergency beacons. Remember the one we told you about which was in a helicopter on the back of a low-loader, and was clocked by direction-finding searchers at 50km/h. I wonder where we will get our next emergency beacon story from?

Even the big boys make tuning errors sometimes. John Harker hails from Gisborne in Victoria. He recently monitored a conversation relating to three different aircraft, where it became noticeable that one of the aircraft mentioned was not too familiar with Melbourne Approach frequency 124.7 MHz. The three aircraft were: United 841 (heavy), Cessna 172 registered VH-IRH, and Citabria VH-SAG. John Harker was flying the Cessna 172, and was in the circuit at Melton Airfield, along with the Citabria. Suddenly, Melton’s CTAF frequency 124.2 came alive with: “Melbourne Approach, United eight-four-one is with you.” The pilots on board UA0841 didn’t realise that they were on the incorrect frequency and were sharing same (124.2) with the 172 and Citabria, instead of being on the actual MEL APP frequency of 124.7! Again … “Melbourne Approach, United eight-four-one.” Still no response, and United 841 called for the third time on Melton’s CTAF channel before the Citabria had its moment of glory.

Vh-Sag:

“All stations Melton CTAF, this is Sierra Alpha Golf, turning base, Runway two-two, touch-and-go!”

United 841? They were gone, too embarrassed to even say goodbye!

Some questions from an anonymous contributor, who is so undercover that he even wishes me to answer the questions in the magazine, and not in the mail. Okay, I’ll play the game. Because your handwritten letter was in blue pen, I’ll call you “Blue”.

Question 1 – “Where does the beginner look for listening in equipment? Certainly not in Coles or Woolworths?

A. Start at Dick Smith Electronics or Tandy stores. At least there, you can purchase your radio plus all the accessories you may want, including antennas and so on, without having to go to another store. And the prices are fairly reasonable.

Question 2 – How much money should one be expected to part with when considering purchasing such equipment?

A. Generally speaking, for around $400 you will be able to purchase a decent handheld or base scanner radio with which to listen to VHF. To monitor UHF military, you will probably pay $200 more, at least, and for HF, there are some receivers available like the Sangean you can own for less than $300.

Question 3 – Is there equipment on the market that allows a listener to pick up VHF transmissions in addition to the narrow FM broadcasts, when Control elect to change, as they prefer?

A. Your question is slightly confused, and confusing. However, what I believe you’re asking is: “Can you receive aircraft AM transmissions as well as Police, Fire and business frequencies that transmit in the narrow FM?”

A. Yes, but you must ensure your VHF/UHF scanner covers the 108 to 136 aircraft band, or at least the 118 to 136 voice communications part of that band.

Question 4 – What about Brisbane Control frequencies 130.4, 134.4, and Brisbane 133.8? Aren’t they broadcast in narrow FM?

A. No they aren’t. All civil aviation VHF voice communications are in the AM mode.

Question 5 – Why can’t a little receiver intercept those transmissions as well?

A. Many “little” receivers, such as Uniden, Realistic, or Icom handheld radios tune all the frequencies you have been inquiring about.

Question 6 – That $130 aerial being advertised at the conclusion of your column. What is that good for? You need the appropriate equipment first don’t you? Will the employees of Dick Smith stores show you … or me … the latest equipment?

A. Yes, that is if you’re actually prepared to “break cover” and go in and talk to them “Blue”! The antenna you enquire about is the “OZTENNAS” airband antenna, and it is about the best I’ve found at a reasonable price for use on the roof of your home. It works just fine right across the VHF airband, and is an excellent wideband scanner antenna as well, meaning all your VHF and UHF stations can be monitored using it.

Question 7 – In regard to my point 4, is it true that the controllers change from VHF transmitting to narrow FM in order that private individuals can’t listen?

A. Narrow FM can be in the VHF band, as well as any other band. If it were true that the controllers were switching from AM to NFM, which it certainly isn’t, it wouldn’t provide any “security” from prying ears at all! You see, most listeners have access to AM, Narrow FM, Wide FM, and some others also have CW (Morse Code, or Continuous Wave), and both Upper and Lower Sideband Mode.

Question 8 – What is the difference between VHF and HF? Surely just a piece of coil in your radio?

A. Slightly more complicated than that “Blue”! VHF is “Very High Frequency” and the extent of that band is from 30 MHz right through to 200 MHz in reality, (some will argue 300 MHz!), with the aviation portion from 108 to 136 MHz. Aviation is the only part of VHF in AM mode, apart from a few isolated frequencies. HF is “High Frequency” (or “Shortwave”), and extends from 2 MHz (2000 kiloHertz) through to 30 MHz (30,000 kiloHertz). Breaking it down to its smallest denominator, one “Hertz” is one cycle of a radio wave. The number of cycles of a radio wave past a fixed point per second is the frequency. The VHF frequency 128.6 has 128.6 million cycles go past that fixed point every second. Get the idea?

Right at the end of all this, “Blue” says … “Anyway, admire your column, and all the best.” Thank you “Blue”. I hope by helping you, perhaps I’ve also answered some other new listeners questions. Beginner listeners are advised to purchase my book, Climb into the Cockpit by Radio, at $22.95 including pack and post, from Airband Communications, PO Box 16 Georges Hall 2198. Credit cards welcome.

Recently there was a lot of aviation activity on United States FltSatCom channels (UHF) in narrow FM mode relating to the China/Taiwan situation, and the wargames China is playing off the Taiwanese coast. Frequencies to monitor are: 261.850, 261.800, and 261.450 MHz. A lot of the transmissions have been “in the clear”, or unencrypted. Stations regularly heard on air are “R.E. Base”, and “Eagle 3”. Dramatic stuff! with a wonderful piece which while it is essentially a “marine” story, still involves aircraft. Tony says that he is a marine radio buff, and became interested in his hobby when he heard the Queen Mary passing Gibraltar. The radio signal station flashed the challenge “What ship? What ship?” The Queen Mary came back with “What rock? What rock?” Anyway … on to our story, monitored on maritime VHF frequency 156.800 MHz, known as channel 16.

Station 1:

“Please divert your course 15 degrees north to avoid collision.”

Station 2:

“Recommend you divert your course 15 degrees south to avoid a collision!”

Station 1:

“This is the Captain of a US Navy ship. I say again, divert Y-O-U-R course!”

Station 2:

“Negative, I say again, divert your course!”

Station 1:

This Is The Aircraft Carrier Enterprise. We Are A Large Warship Of The Us Navy. Divert Your Course Now!

Station 2:

“This is a lighthouse! Your call Captain!”

Flight trials of InMarSat “Aero-I” airborne earth station equipment were carried out back in February this year, and the results are just filtering through to us now. Aero-I AES equipment was installed on a Cessna Citation business jet for one week, with tests carried out over Canadian and USA airspace, and adjacent oceanic areas. “On the Airbands” has been talking with Mr Jay Sengupta, InMarSat Program Manager, and he tells us that “the tests were a total success”. The first Aero-I voice test calls, paving the way for InMarSat utilisation by medium and short haul aircraft were conducted in late October 1995 using the Atlantic Ocean Region-West InMarSat 2 satellite. AES equipment at InMarSat’s London headquarters and test equipment connected to the Goonhilly satellite ground earth station were used to connect the call. The quality of the voice call was apparently “excellent”, with InMarSat and others involved “very pleased” with the results. Antenna and Avionics manufacturers releasing InMarSat Aero-I equipment include Ball, Tecom, Canadian Marconi, Sensor Systems, Thrane and Thrane, and the CAL Corporation. The Aero-I system will provide circuit-switched telephone, telefax and data services, within the “spot beam” coverage of the InMarSat-3 satellites, and packet-switched data (ACARS) on a global basis. Operators of light corporate jets and turboprops will also benefit from InMarSat’s new Aero-I service, as well as medium/short haul airlines.

Some brief satellite facts:

1. Air France’s long haul fleet has been equipped with satellite telephones.
2. InMarSat has doubled call capacity in the Indian Ocean Region with a new earth station in Singapore.
3. Swissair became the first airline to equip a narrow-body airliner with SatComs – an Airbus A320, operating the London Heathrow/Geneva service.
4. Swissair’s Boeing 747 fleet will have satellite telephones from late this year.

Greg Panazzolo is a commercial pilot at the University of South Australia, and lives in Camden Park SA. He monitors all the Adelaide VHF frequencies on his Netset PRO-2028 base scanner, which he bought at Tandy Electronics. The following conversation was monitored on Adelaide Ground frequency 121.7 MHz, between Qantas 81, a Boeing 767-300, and Adelaide Ground. The pilot was providing them with a report on the changing wind conditions as he rode down the ILS to the threshold of RW23.

Adelaide Ground:

“So there was a tailwind upstairs?”

Qf 81:

“Yeah … there was a 15 knot tailwind all the way down final and then a 180 degree shift in direction. At 300 feet, we were indicating a 1 to 2 knot headwind, which is subject to error of course.”

Adelaide Ground:

“So is that an overshoot shear, or an undershoot shear?”

Qf 81:

“No, it’s not an overshoot shear. You want to overshoot because you’re getting too much lift. It’s the safe one… but you may want to consider Runway zero-five.”

Adelaide Ground:

“I get the case of beer then?”

Qf 81:

(laughing) “Yeah … you get the beer!”

Tom Jarrett from Melbourne enquires “Why is Qantas attaching TN flight numbers to their domestic flights when they use ACARS, and not QF, like the international flight numbers? I thought the merger of Qantas and Australian was long complete?” Well it’s a software problem Tom. Many of the former Australian (TN) fleet aircraft have software on board for ACARS that won’t recognise the QF identifier. Yet. But the problem is in hand. Qantas has purchased the “software kernel” to standardise software. Tom also asks “Where is Sydney’s ACARS Airline Service Provider located?” The answer is: “Singapore”. Sydney’s system works through SITA (Société Internationale de Télécommunications Aéronautiques), which utilises three Airline Service Provider sites. One is Singapore, another is London, and the third Atlanta. ACARS is operated in Australia by SITA, in the USA by ARINC, and in Japan by AviCom. Thanks to Tom Jarrett for his interest and questions.

N L Brine lives in Mansfield, Queensland. He also owns a Netset scanner, his being the 50 channel PRO-44 model. He likes listening to the baggage handlers on 464.950 MHz. Recently, Mr and Mrs Brine were sitting near Runway 19, watching Qantas 60, a 747 climb out. At about 500 feet, two puffs of white smoke appeared from each side of the aircraft, behind the engines. The Tower quickly came on air: “Qantas six-zero, do you have a problem?” The answer given was: “Standby, we’re checking”. The Tower then advised that three people using binoculars had watched QF60 rotate, and that they had seen smoke emitted – lots of smoke. The Captain of Qantas 60 then came up on Tower frequency and asked for a “Runway inspection”, to rule out blown tyres. The flight continued on to Sydney, and landed normally.

And we’re normally signing off and shutting down the receivers by now, so I’ll say “bye bye”, and catch you again next month, monitoring the airbands of the world!