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121.5 Mhz

Jaymom

Member
Mar 14, 2011
67
0
16
Ocala, FL.
As a radio operator for 10 of the 20 years I spent in the armed forces I had access to a receiver that covered 121.5 Mhz. I was talking to a ham friend the other night and he asked me if I had a receiver that covered it. I don't and wondered if others on this forum does have. I have checked Google.com and find nothing but expensive rigs that cover this frequency. I wish my 2 meter rig could be converted to do so. lol I rarely use it.

Does anyone have an idea of what I could get my hands on that covers 121.5 Mhz and doesn't cost a mint?

p.s. http://www.equipped.com/uscgsarsat.htm

Harold
 

There are many inexpensive used scanners that cover the AM aero band. I can't give you a model but you can search through them.

Loved my Icom 746 that I had to sell when the recession hit. I'll get another one later, or a 746 Pro

746 covers 108~174mhz straight thru and was an awesome VHF performer. Listened to the Aero Band all the time.
 
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My Icom IC 2200H will recieve at 121.5...I think it bottems out at 118.000..

.I am sure there is a mod that will allow someone to talk there...just be careful

The radio sells new for about 170$ +/-
 
My Icom IC 2200H will recieve at 121.5...I think it bottems out at 118.000..

.I am sure there is a mod that will allow someone to talk there...just be careful

The radio sells new for about 170$ +/-



Hmmm.. are you sure? Specs say it does 136~174mhz. And that's all my earlier IC2100 does.

If your 2200H goes down to 118 then I'd say it's already had some fancy mod done that I'm not familiar with.
 
Also, even if the IC-2200H does receive that low it wouldn't be able to deal with the fact that air band transmissions are AM instead of FM.
 
I am sure this radio has not been tampered with...my radio will not transmit out of band at all,tried it many times....it will recieve 118 to 173.995 according to an Associated Radio spec write up for that radio
 
The IC2200H will receive from 118-174 MHz, but as eagle1911 mentioned the only mode it operates in is Narrow FM.
 
Also, even if the IC-2200H does receive that low it wouldn't be able to deal with the fact that air band transmissions are AM instead of FM.


Yeah that's what I'm saying too. Without AM, there is no point of going below 136 ??

Did they include auto AM below 136 BGT? That would be cool. May have to trade off my 2100 and get the newer one.
 
Hmmm.. are you sure? Specs say it does 136~174mhz. And that's all my earlier IC2100 does.

If your 2200H goes down to 118 then I'd say it's already had some fancy mod done that I'm not familiar with.


Nope. It comes from the factory with 118-174 MHz receiving capability. Check out the USA or export specs.

IC-2200H 144MHz FM Transceiver - Specifications - Icom America

Any scanner should be able to receive 121.5 MHz and almost any of the 2m rigs on the market today. My old IC-2000H will receive the air band in AM mode which is automattically selected when tuning the air bandas will my FT-857. With the air band being AM mode and with VERY tight restrictions on treansmitting on the air band most older rigs will not transmit there and the newer radios like the FT-857 cannot be made to TX there at all regardless of being able to select AM mode.


AFAIK any radio that transmits FM and covers the air band will auto select AM mode when receiving in that range.
 
I have one of those 2200H in thje box here I should dig that thing out and look into it and see about mods for that rig. Im a Yaesu user mainly but do have a few Kenwwods aswell just never got into Icom because these others treated me very well without issues there was no reason to switch brands.
 
AFAIK any radio that transmits FM and covers the air band will auto select AM mode when receiving in that range.

That's good to know...thanks. (y) I haven't used my 2820H as a receiver yet (other than the ham bands) but one of these days I'll spin the dial and see if it auto-selects AM.
 
There's a Vertex Standard handheld that covers AM-Airband and 2m FM-Amateur.

However, the FCC made Vertex Standard stop selling them...they didn't like that they were putting two separate services on one rig.
 
Vintage Uniden Bearcat 20/20 (2 banks, 40 channels total)
My granddady had all those aviation freq in it, does excellent job with AM, loud as hell too.

Its almost as old as I am but I highly recomend it, I inherited his bearcat and used it till I was robbed a few years ago.

vintage Bearcat 20/20 Scanner | eBay
 

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