Aircraft Radio Band on VHF radio?

[biglurr54]

I just picked up a handheld VHF radio and it has Aircraft radio bands on it. It is for marine use and I can only listen, not transmit on the air craft bands. Is there any advantage to having these bands? I've tried eaves dropping on the local air port but found nothing.

 

[metriccrescentwrench]

Re: Aircraft Radio Band on VHF radio?

If there's a larger airport near you look up the ATIS frequency and you can listen to current weather.

 

[KD4UPL]

Re: Aircraft Radio Band on VHF radio?

I guess if you want to listen to airplanes it's an advantage. I can't think of any real good reason to do that on a boat though. I guess it might be useful if you had a seaplane. You could use one radio for on the water and in the air.

 

[waterinthefuel]

Re: Aircraft Radio Band on VHF radio?

He said it wont transmit on the air bands.

You can use a VHF boat radio in a seaplane as it is a boat too.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Aircraft Radio Band on VHF radio?

You often won't pick up ATIS or tower/ground radios, as they have antennas that are generally optimized for things above the water (aka planes!) But you can easily pick up plane->tower/ground transmissions.

 

[soggy_feet]

Re: Aircraft Radio Band on VHF radio?

we used to have some old school 2-way radios up at the camp. If you touched the antenna to the tin roof, you could pick up communications from nearby commercial aircraft. That was our entertainment, and I'd be psyched if had a radio now that would let me do the same.