"I drove up TO KPYM, an uncontrolled airport. 300 yards from the active, in the parking lot, the plane doing touch and goes was "broken", or "static." I moved over to another section of the parking lot and reception is fine."That can happen with scanners. They are sensitive to the environment around them. Even the most minor RF interference can cause issues. You may get more of that if you drive close to an airport. I pick up the tower at Sky Harbor which is 18 miles due east of my home. I also pick up Glendale and Goodyear. My R/S scanner is almost 13 years old, so I know newer ones can pull in the reception. In fact, Radio Shack used to sell (don't know if they still do) an old handheld transistor radio type unit with a rotary dial--very low tech. I could grab most aircraft comms with that thing and Napa Tower. I suspect RF interference was causing some type of problem in your case.-John

You need an FCC operators permit to transmit on airband frequencies. A person a few years ago got life in prison for attempted murder. He decided to vector the planes pretending to be ATC.I know no one here would try that, but dont even get yourself in the same boat by transmitting.Also, If you guys want better reception get an outdoor antenna. The scanner has nothing to do iwth the quality; I have a cheapo radio shack scanner I bought a few years back. With an outdoor antenna though I can pick up ATC from about 30 miles away and airplanes almost 300 miles away.

do I have to buy an adapter to get the antenna on my scanner?