Scanner on commercial flight

unknowingly upsidedown · Sun Nov 04, 2007 4:21 pm

I swear I searched for the answer but didn't see anything.

I am flying down to Texas in December and want to take my handheld scanner with me to entertain myself on the way down, tracking the flights progress. Is this possible? I can't see any rules against it but I would hate to have some over zealous security person take my scanner away from me.

Red Line · Post by **Red Line** » Sun Nov 04, 2007 5:37 pm

Leaving all the security concerns aside, I believe a scanner would fall under the devices that "transmit and receive" (cell phones, Blackberrys, etc). Even if it's a receive-only scanner, it can still cause interferance.

Four1oh · Post by **Four1oh** » Sun Nov 04, 2007 5:42 pm

which, of course, we all know, is BS, but still, i've seen FA's get really upset when they see a guy holding a scanner and listening in to ATC and the pilots talking.

FL410 · Post by **FL410** » Sun Nov 04, 2007 5:55 pm

I tried it a few years ago, never got through security with it.

sissyphus · Post by **sissyphus** » Sun Nov 04, 2007 6:13 pm

Lots of u.s airlines now have atc as a channel on the inflight entertainment.

moocow · Post by **moocow** » Sun Nov 04, 2007 7:00 pm

How do you know it's BS? Can you provide some kind of scientific study to back up your claim? I'm not saying that it's not BS but it's simply the fact that no one tested every single one of those devices to prove that they'll not interrupt avionic operations. Read up on the PPRUNE forum, a few crews have encounter avionic interruptions and found someone sitting near an antenna array using a cell phone. Legally speaking, they can toss you off the flight if you fail to comply with crew instructions. Why be a dick?

20DMEYYZ · Post by **20DMEYYZ** » Sun Nov 04, 2007 7:34 pm

i did this on an old ACA diesel-9 flight to the golden nugget .
i didn't get the best reception on crew transmissions ; ATC recieved better for some reason .
anyways , they asked me to take it out of it's box in screening & did the bomb sniff test on the device .
on-board i turned it on while at altitude & was asked to turn it off while on approach by the FA which i did b/c i had learned from the capt when he was in the cabin for a lav-break that the FO was on a line & check flight and i didn't want to mess up her approach & landing on inst-apch even though it was VFR out .
i think you'll be fine while at FL .

Four1oh · Post by **Four1oh** » Sun Nov 04, 2007 7:57 pm

moocow wrote:How do you know it's BS? Can you provide some kind of scientific study to back up your claim? I'm not saying that it's not BS but it's simply the fact that no one tested every single one of those devices to prove that they'll not interrupt avionic operations. Read up on the PPRUNE forum, a few crews have encounter avionic interruptions and found someone sitting near an antenna array using a cell phone. Legally speaking, they can toss you off the flight if you fail to comply with crew instructions. Why be a dick?

Come on! If all it's doing is receiving?

Alex YCV · Post by **Alex YCV** » Sun Nov 04, 2007 8:04 pm

The last time I tried to take a scanner on board (just as carry on luggage, I was heading to an event in the US) the inspection people made Air Canada "certify" that I was allowed to carry it (which made no sense to me) and I was very carefully instructed not to turn it on at any time during the flight. They would have prefered I put it in checked luggage, but I declined.

unknowingly upsidedown · Sun Nov 04, 2007 8:12 pm

I'll just leave it at home. Anybody been on an American Airlines flight who can tell me if they have ATC on the onboard entertainment?

maybe i should just take one of those things....what do they call them....books??

Golden Pilot · Post by **Golden Pilot** » Sun Nov 04, 2007 8:18 pm

I know that United Airlines does, on channel 9.

I just flew from IAD-DIA-YYC, listened to the ATC stuff all the way.

Entertaining.

UAL 301- How's the ride up ahead?
Indy Center- It's good to the west, smooth after Lincon NE
UAL 301- OK, we'll go west to Denver then
Indy Center- Last time I checked, that's the best way to get to Denver from here...

VSF · Post by **VSF** » Mon Nov 05, 2007 2:49 am

the last time i tried this, i was asked to produce a licence for the radio, which of course i had. (Industry Canada radio op. licence)

this was pre 911..

C-FABH · Post by **C-FABH** » Mon Nov 05, 2007 5:12 am

My scanner is really quite small, so I've never had any of these problems. Once a member of CATSA at YVR instructed me to "remove one of the batteries" at security screening, afterwards I proceeded to walk away and later re-insert it

Wacko · Post by **Wacko** » Mon Nov 05, 2007 8:01 am

moocow wrote:How do you know it's BS? Can you provide some kind of scientific study to back up your claim? I'm not saying that it's not BS but it's simply the fact that no one tested every single one of those devices to prove that they'll not interrupt avionic operations. Read up on the PPRUNE forum, a few crews have encounter avionic interruptions and found someone sitting near an antenna array using a cell phone. Legally speaking, they can toss you off the flight if you fail to comply with crew instructions. Why be a dick?

Simpsons did it...... I mean Mythbusters did it

light chop · Post by **light chop** » Mon Nov 05, 2007 8:03 am

Four1oh wrote:
moocow wrote:How do you know it's BS? Can you provide some kind of scientific study to back up your claim? I'm not saying that it's not BS but it's simply the fact that no one tested every single one of those devices to prove that they'll not interrupt avionic operations. Read up on the PPRUNE forum, a few crews have encounter avionic interruptions and found someone sitting near an antenna array using a cell phone. Legally speaking, they can toss you off the flight if you fail to comply with crew instructions. Why be a dick?
Come on! If all it's doing is receiving?

Actually, virtually all modern radio receivers (including scanners) are designed with a "Superheterodyne" front end which allows highly selective tuning with great sensitivity. These "superhet" designs actually have a local oscillator (tiny transmitter) in them as part of the circuitry. These usually don't cause any interference problems to other systems but they could if they were not working properly.

By the way, a laptop computer emits more RF radiation than a decent radio receiver does. Laptops are full of high frequency oscillators (clocks) pumping out noisy square waves (wide band noise). Take an AM radio receiver, tune it so there is no station present, and hold it close to a laptop. Sounds like a cat (not you "Cat") being extruded through a sewer grate.

Four1oh · Post by **Four1oh** » Mon Nov 05, 2007 8:15 am

exactly my point. If there was a problem, laptops would be bringing hundreds of planes down/hour.

There isn't a single cubic centemeter on earth not pummeled by radio waves of one kind or another, and, only because of the lobbying by cellphone companies do we have this ridiculous situation on board our planes.

Invertago · Post by **Invertago** » Mon Nov 05, 2007 11:24 am

I turned on my new Garmin 296 toy in Air Canada flight and was told to turn it off and put it away because it is a receiving device... never bothered me when I turn it on when I fly... actually isn't that why I bought it? Scary how many a/c must have Garmins in them it is an accident waiting to happen!!! (sarcasm)

tiny · Post by **tiny** » Mon Nov 05, 2007 1:57 pm

Depending on the cell phone, you occasionally get increased static in nearby headsets in a small airplane. This I know from personal experiance, not because I am anywhere near smart enough to explain why.

V1RotateV2 · Post by **V1RotateV2** » Mon Nov 05, 2007 2:15 pm

You flying American?

No, no ATC channel like United. By the way, no food, no water, no service, no clean aircraft, no smiles, no.......

CD · Post by CD » Mon Nov 05, 2007 2:24 pm

Four1oh wrote:...only because of the lobbying by cellphone companies do we have this ridiculous situation on board our planes.

Boeing - Electromagnetic Interference From Passenger-Carried Portable Electronic Devices