Can I get airband radio functionality on my computer?

April 25, 2006 2:58 PM

Can I get airband radio functionality on my computer?

As a total plane dork, I enjoy listening to Air Traffic Control and my new house overlooks the approach to Oakland (CA) airport. There are a lot of ATC audio streams available online but sadly Oakland isn't among them. So what I'd like to do is be able to get some sort of hardware/software combo that would allow me to tune into the frequencies on my computer, as if I was using a handheld radio scanner. Is there anything out there that will do this?

posted by cubedweller to computers & internet (2 comments total)

I believe you're looking for a WinRadio.
posted by deadmessenger at 3:00 PM on April 25, 2006

Deadmessenger hits it -- the WinRadio 1550E or the Icom PCR-1500. The ICOM R-1500 is the same thing with a seperate remote control head, so you can use it as either a PC receiver or a mobile receiver.

You might be tempted by the WinRadio 1550i's lower cost -- don't. PC's are noisy in the RF, you can get much better performance (plus, no slot issues) with the external box.

The other advantage of the external boxes is you aren't tied to Windows.
posted by eriko at 6:19 PM on April 25, 2006