"Rich Hare" wrote:

I'd like to improve my air band listening at home. I'd like to be able
to capture ATC ground transmissions from an airport 15 miles away

I'm not a ham by any means, but I do like to listen to my handheld at home.
Hearing airborne aircraft isn't much of a problem; the challenge is to pick
up ground stations any distance away.

I'm five miles from my home airport, and I can just barely receive their
tower/ATIS using the stock rubber ducky antenna unless I'm upstairs and hold
the unit in just the right orientation. I'm about seven miles from SJC and
I can't receive them at all.

I'm in a two-story townhouse and I put up a basic disc cone antenna near the
peak of my roof. It extends about as high as my chimney, and it's
discreetly located so the HOA doesn't complain. With this setup, I can
receive SJC loud and clear, plus the tower at SFO which is at least 20 miles
away. Airborne aircraft, heck, I can hear them all the way to Nevada.

A disc cone doesn't give you much gain but it's omnidirectional and it's not
tuned to any particular frequency band so it is very versatile. My results
improved also when I got serious about my ground connection and pounded the
obligatory eight foot copper stake into the ground. I think I paid about
$80 for my antenna. The mast was a few dollars extra. Getting the thing
properly mounted and the lead-in through the wall was tricky and
time-consuming, but well worth the trouble.

I don't think an RF amp is worthwhile in my case. One of these days I may
buy a full-on Bearcat scanner or something so I can also listen to the local
Fire and PD in addition to air band.