I've been listening for AE from my QTH in Footscray in the inner west of Melbourne.
It has been suggested that mornings on 144.200 USB is a good time.
I've often listened out then with my beams northwards but only ever heard VK3s.
Am I out of the line of the flight paths?
Bill,
VK3CWF
I'm not into it myself, but you might try a beam heading to the NNE/NE. That's the general direction for Melbourne > Canberra > Sydney flights; the return is slightly south of that track.
This pix shows outbound (red) and inbound (blue).
Timing is a key thing. There are a number of flights on those routes in the 7:30 - 8:30am bracket. Your could also check out Flightradar24 to see what is actually going on and where to point your beams for specific aircraft.
https://www.flightradar24.com/-36.4,147.04/7
Thanks Damien,
I'll try NE / NNE as suggested.
I had a quick look at Flightradar24, that will be helpful.
- Bill VK3CWF
Hi Bill,
8am-9am Melb/Syd/Canb time most days of the week are the peak times, with Saturday and Sunday being the biggest turnout of operators as some switch from MS to AE at 8am. After 9am most people turn off, although AE can be done at anytime there're planes in the air.
Air Scout is an amazing piece of software that has made AE much easier. Have a read of this thread on the VK Logger Forums -
http://www.vklogger.com/forum/viewtopic....35&t=11542
The latest version is much easier to set up compared to the older versions, so don't let that put you off, and once up and running it's almost fool proof.
It predicts (quite well) when a contact is possible on bands 144Mhz and higher.
I'm not an expert on Air Scout, but happy to help where I can.
Regards
Jayson