A radio for listening to the space shuttle launch.
August 25, 2009 8:05 AM Subscribe
Will RadioShack's VHF/AIR/WX/UHF Handheld Scanner let me hear the retransmission of space shuttle launch communications in Cape Canaveral?
I'm headed down to the Cape Canaveral area tonight to watch the shuttle (hopefully) launch. According to this page the audio communications prior to launch are retransmitted on 145.17 (WA4VME) and 146.94 (K4GCC). To pick up these transmissions, I'm looking at the RadioShack 200-Channel VHF/AIR/WX/UHF Handheld Scanner which lists part of its frequency coverage as "137.0000-174.00MHz (FM)".
While I think that would work, I just want to make sure there isn't some type of difference that I don't know about. Can someone provide confirmation, or an alternative if that one won't work?
I'm headed down to the Cape Canaveral area tonight to watch the shuttle (hopefully) launch. According to this page the audio communications prior to launch are retransmitted on 145.17 (WA4VME) and 146.94 (K4GCC). To pick up these transmissions, I'm looking at the RadioShack 200-Channel VHF/AIR/WX/UHF Handheld Scanner which lists part of its frequency coverage as "137.0000-174.00MHz (FM)".
While I think that would work, I just want to make sure there isn't some type of difference that I don't know about. Can someone provide confirmation, or an alternative if that one won't work?
Bonus - you should be able to use the same scanner to listen to the orbiter and/or ISS passing over head while in orbit. You can lookup pass predictions for you location at various places on the web (my favorite is Heavens Above). The only bummer is that they're sometimes not transmitting anything while they fly over. I've managed to hear them a few times, though.
posted by jquinby at 8:19 AM on August 25, 2009
posted by jquinby at 8:19 AM on August 25, 2009
I concur!
posted by lungtaworld at 8:20 AM on August 25, 2009
posted by lungtaworld at 8:20 AM on August 25, 2009
Response by poster: Excellent. I'll post back here with details on how it goes. Thank you!
posted by StimulatingPixels at 8:22 AM on August 25, 2009
posted by StimulatingPixels at 8:22 AM on August 25, 2009
Response by poster: Meant to post back earlier, but things got crazy.
I went with a little more expensive radio that also covered some of the frequencies directly from the shuttle in addition to the retransmission. Turns out I didn't need that and just listened to the retransmission the entire time. The radio worked like a champ though. It was awesome and if ever attend a launch I highly recommend it. It's very helpful to be able to figure out what's going on while you're standing around waiting.
I took some photos and a little video of the launch. In the video, you can hear the audio coming over the scanner. I'm biased, but I think it's pretty cool.
You can check the stuff out here.
Thanks again for the help.
posted by StimulatingPixels at 2:35 PM on September 13, 2009 [1 favorite]
I went with a little more expensive radio that also covered some of the frequencies directly from the shuttle in addition to the retransmission. Turns out I didn't need that and just listened to the retransmission the entire time. The radio worked like a champ though. It was awesome and if ever attend a launch I highly recommend it. It's very helpful to be able to figure out what's going on while you're standing around waiting.
I took some photos and a little video of the launch. In the video, you can hear the audio coming over the scanner. I'm biased, but I think it's pretty cool.
You can check the stuff out here.
Thanks again for the help.
posted by StimulatingPixels at 2:35 PM on September 13, 2009 [1 favorite]
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posted by cdmwebs at 8:16 AM on August 25, 2009