Possible to receive aviation or police frequency with FM radio?

Jet-Fighter7700

Jet-Fighter7700

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Hi guys,

Interesting question my cousin just asked me,

Is it possible to mod the FM radio in a Android phone, to receive aviation/security/police frequency?

I know it's technically illegal, but how exactly can anybody stop that?

Google says it seems possible, although hard to do....
 
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thehuman

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Aviation is AM band +- 110 to 130 mhz so not possible
Maybe android app to stream overseas bands
Police is even higher up in the band so also think not possible
 
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Beachless

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I highly doubt it. Most security and police have some encryption these days anyways.
 
Idiosyncratic

Idiosyncratic

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eg2505 said:
Hi guys,

Interesting question my cousin just asked me,

Is it possible to mod the FM radio in a Android phone, to receive aviation/security/police frequency?

I know it's technically illegal, but how exactly can anybody stop that?

Google says it seems possible, although hard to do....
Click to expand...
With an old radio, yes, one could modify it to receive aviation bands (I have a regular radio that can receive in those bands, but then I hold a pilot's license with a general radio license so nobody is gonna kick down my door).
Doubt you can mod a phone to do the same, but let us know if you find something on Google that indicates otherwise - I'd be interested in trying.
 
X

X-Gamer

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Yes, when plane's fly overhead we pick up interference (comms between pilot and ATC).
 
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Randy_The_Squirrel

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Most of those communications are narrow band FM, or more often, SSB AM.
Normal consumer grade receivers not designed to receive that (IF filter too wide, single conversion, etc..)
 
Idiosyncratic

Idiosyncratic

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Randy_The_Squirrel said:
Most of those communications are narrow band FM, or more often, SSB AM.
Normal consumer grade receivers not designed to receive that (IF filter too wide, single conversion, etc..)
Click to expand...
That's why I'm asking him on what he's receiving interference.

Back in the day when I was flying little light aeries, my grandma would get interference on her AM radio when I flew over and broadcasted... Always wondered about that. At the same time, there's few types of interference quite as bad as a plane full of passengers all leaving their phones on (with the sims on) and then suddenly during descent all those phones find a tower to connect to.
 
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Randy_The_Squirrel

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Idiosyncratic said:
That's why I'm asking him on what he's receiving interference.

Back in the day when I was flying little light aeries, my grandma would get interference on her AM radio when I flew over and broadcasted... Always wondered about that. At the same time, there's few types of interference quite as bad as a plane full of passengers all leaving their phones on (with the sims on) and then suddenly during descent all those phones find a tower to connect to.
Click to expand...

In the old days, all kinds of weird and wonderful happened, with not-so-good designs, and lack of highly sophisticated receiver circuitry.

In the age of CE and other regulations, interference is hard to make happen. However there are still legacy systems that suffer this problem.

Always wondered about that. At the same time, there's few types of interference quite as bad as a plane full of passengers all leaving their phones on (with the sims on) and then suddenly during descent all those phones find a tower to connect to.
Click to expand...

Well they will all be in listening mode, listening for the beacon on the BTS, so hardly I think they will be transmitting. As for interference, the GSM network was designed not to have this issue in so far as the interference you refer to is likely the "galloping horses" heard on crappy audio equipment...
 
Idiosyncratic

Idiosyncratic

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Randy_The_Squirrel said:
In the old days, all kinds of weird and wonderful happened, with not-so-good designs, and lack of highly sophisticated receiver circuitry.

In the age of CE and other regulations, interference is hard to make happen. However there are still legacy systems that suffer this problem.



Well they will all be in listening mode, listening for the beacon on the BTS, so hardly I think they will be transmitting. As for interference, the GSM network was designed not to have this issue in so far as the interference you refer to is likely the "galloping horses" heard on crappy audio equipment...
Click to expand...

Yeah, the newer models of aeries I fly rarely have interference issues. But it's a very real situation with older equipment and mobile phones. It's the same sort of thing that happens with my PC speakers when the mobile is nearby, but for longer duration and increased intensity. Flew with a passenger in the cockpit of a lighter, older aerie the other day (wasn't your usual routine flight) and when his phone rang, both myself and the pilot monitoring received substantial interference. It's not uncommon, same equipment is just more vulnerable than others.

If you flew 1Time a while back (when they still existed), keep in mind mobiles would cause their inertial system to be affected and their electric compasses (best way to explain it to those outside aviation) to drift. There were tests conducted on 727s which showed they were most vulnerable, particularly during descent. Fortunately, after the 727s, the affect mobiles had on inertial systems decreased to a point where some say it's nonexistent. I'm still an advocate for keeping cellphones on flight mode when flying. If there's WiFi onboard (something I'm not a fan of either, but hey, some flights are long and people want connectivity), fine, but flight mode allows WiFi use for a reason
 
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