Sharing A Good Day

[Jimm 437]

This past Friday, my wife insisted that I open my birthday gift early, despite the fact that I guessed what it was beforehand.  I opened it and I was correct: A Tecsun PL-660 Portable AM/FM/LW/Air Shortwave World Band Radio with Single Side Band.  I knew the weekend would be awesome.  I forgot to pack it when we went to DC on Saturday, but we still took a little time to watch the aircraft takeoff and land at KDCA.  Parking at Gravely Point has it's advantages to someone who loves flying.

 

Sunday, we went back to Gravely Point to embark on a walking journey back to DC.  After a few hours of walking (6 miles), we stopped at the park and sat for a little while to cool down from the summer heat and watch the aircraft again but this time, I remembered the radio.  I tuned in to the tower, grabbed my camera and had some fun for about an hour or so.  I've been slowly getting my wife more into aircraft, and at the very least, getting her to understand why I love flying and aircraft so much.  i think she had just as much fun as I did.  The radio helped a lot, listening to real world flying.  We even witnessed a go-around, which I'd never seen before.  The only downside is that KDCA really only caters to smaller aircraft, with a 757 probably being the largest.  Plenty of B737s and everything in between.  Unfortunately, none of the pictures i took came out very well, due to the heat from the runway and taxiways causing a bad rippling effect on the aircraft.

 

A couple of women came over and sat near us, asking questions, wondering what I was listening to.  My wife stepped up and "educated" them on a few things, flaunting her new found knowledge.  Yesterday was a very good day and we are already planning to go back this weekend for more, but this time, we'll make sure we have our bikes.

 

I only wish I could get better signals from KIAD from my house but the position has a lot of obstruction.  I can get a little chatter from KHEF but that being a municipal airport, not very busy.

 

-Jim

[cmpbellsjc 2,963]

You can also try liveatc.net if you have trouble getting a signal. They have an app for both android and iPhone as well if you want to listen on your mobile device rather than on your Internet browser and they cover most airports world wide.

[Jimm 437]

You can also try liveatc.net if you have trouble getting a signal. They have an app for both android and iPhone as well if you want to listen on your mobile device rather than on your Internet browser and they cover most airports world wide.

While searching for frequencies to tune in to, I did notice that I could use a smartphone, but then I thought "where is the fun in that?"  I've always wanted a shortwave radio to pick up distant stations to listen to and the air traffic feature was a plus.  I'm old school.

 

-Jim