"Netgeek" wrote in
:


"W P Dixon" wrote in message:

Thanks for all the advice. I know it is probably beyond my electronic
capability but it sure is something I may try later on.

For lots of folks kits are sometimes a great way to get started. You
might be interested in something like this:

http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/cgi...ction&key=AR1C

It's a pretty straightforward little airband receiver (single
conversion, manual/varactor tuning). It's cheap and hard to go wrong.
There's also *plenty* of room for improvements and customization while
you're learning and experimenting 8-)... You'll instantly learn about
the value of an antenna and what phrases like "selectivity" mean.
There are many small mods you can make and - even if you manage to
toast it - easy to fix and you're only out a few bucks anyway.

When you get bored with it you can stick it out in your garage or
workshop and listen to the local traffic - not *really* exciting, but
beats listening to "elevator music"...........8-)

Beyond that - there are *zillions* of widgets, tools and doodads you
can build (Jim's being among some of the more useful, BTW)...

Bill




I assembled one of these several years ago. Your right about the
customization. It started by hooking the my o-scope's horizontal to the
tuning pot and rapidly swinging it through it's range, while listening, and
watching the audio on the vertical. I then could mark the known frequencies
around the pot's knob. OK, it's not extremely precise, but it sure did
show where the activity was. I then made a simple sawtooth generator to
drive the varicap, and the scope's horizontal input, and schazam!...an
"aircraft band spectrum analyzer". (I live less than 2 miles out on the
approach end of 12R at MSP.)