MARITIMES SCANNING SITE

AERONAUTICAL SCANNING IN THE MARITIMES

None of the information presented here is to be used for actual air navigation purposes!

Last revised March 12, 2008

Information is presented via internal links within this site, as well as external links of interest.

SEE FARTHER DOWN THIS PAGE FOR THE GENERAL DIVISION OF VHF FREQUENCIES IN NORTH AMERICA

MARSCAN INTERNAL LINKS

Regional Frequency List A huge list taken from TAFL, US sources and just plain listening!
Call Signs List What airline is Comet 301? and lots more, for the Maritimes.
high level airspace map of the Maritimes. Shows areas of frequency coverage.
low level airspace map of the Maritimes. Shows areas of frequency coverage.
Localized information A narrative about air traffic and controlled airspace in the Maritimes,narrative concentrating on the Halifax area.
US Military aerial refueling track over Nova Scotia. Aircraft are routinely refueled over Nova Scotia. Tankers from throughout the NE USA rendezvous with military aircraft in this area, and can be heard on civil low and high ATC frequencies, and on their own UHF air-to-air frequencies as shown on this chart. This chart shows track AR-20 commencing in the SW; however this could be reversed.
list regarding international aircraft registration marks (international call signs), such as C-GBDF and N234TF.

EXTERNAL LINKS

Canadian Aeronautical Communications Website, which covers the country with frequency information, along with airline fleet lists, and a log of unusual aircraft movements in the Ontario area.
YYZ News. Despite its YYZ (Toronto) title, this approximately weekly digest covers aeronatautical news from across Canada. Keep in touch with what airlines serving Canada are planning and doing, and as other air industry news
VATCAN Moncton This is one of many sites from around the world established for the benefit of serious flight simulation enthusiasts. This site provides airport maps, along with diagrams of standard approaches and departures at the major airports in the Maritimes, all of which originate in Nav Canada publications and reproduced superbly at the simulator site.

Information about Aero Scanning in general, no matter where you are in North America.

Aircraft and the associated ground stations operate in three main radio frequency bands and these are in use around the world with identical standards. These bands are:

1. VHF in the AM mode 118 to 137 MHz. (136 to 137 is a recent addition). Civil aircraft (and military aircraft using civil air routes) use this band over and near land. Most scanning takes place on this band.

2. UHF in the AM mode 225 to 400 MHz. Military aircraft not utilizing civil facilities use this band which is also used by navies and armies around the world for non-aero purposes. Civil air traffic control facilities often have UHF frequencies for communications with military aircraft, but most commonly these are ignored in favour of civil (VHF) frequencies. Most scanners do not include this UHF band.

3. HF in the SSB mode. This band is used for long distance communications by civil and military aircraft, especially when over the ocean and out of range of VHF and UHF ground stations. A communications receiver is required for reception, and this is not usually considered to be part of "scanning".

As indicated above most aeronautical scanning takes place on the VHF band. This band is divided in North America and most, if not all of the world in the following general way:

Frequency Range (MHz)	Allocation	Comments
108.2 to 111.85 (even tenths)	VOR's (vertical omni-ranges: navigation beacons indicating bearings)	Some VOR's have voice broadcasts
108.3 to 111.95 (odd tenths)	ILS (instrument landing systems) at airports	Non-voice
112 to 117.95	VOR's (see above)	Some VOR's have voice broadcasts
118 to 121.4	Air Traffic Control, including towers, terminal control units and area control centres. Also includes automated (taped) airport information broadcasts (ATIS)	Most control towers communicate in this range. In Canada some Flight Service stations also use this range, often where they have replaced a discontinued control tower and retain its frequency.
121.5	Emergency calling
121.6 to 121.95	Ground Control	Includes most but not all ground control services. 121.9 is the most-used frequency. 121.7 and 121.8 most common alternates.
121.95 to 123.65	Advisory Services and special purposes	includes Flight Service stations in Canada and the USA, plus non government advisory stations such as Unicoms and multicoms. Some frequencies are assigned specifically to particular users. Also includes air-to-air frequencies.
123.675 to 128.8	Air Traffic Control, as described above	126.2 is the common military airfield control tower VHF frequency (but not used at all) 126.7 is the primary Canadian Flight Service Station frequency.
128.825 to 132	Company frequencies	In the USA these frequencies are often listed as "ARINC" which is a company jointly owned by airlines and providing them with "in-house" communications services. ARINC and company frequencies include data link services (ACARS). In Canada the frequencies are normally licenced to individual airlines or their agents.
132.025 to 136.075	Air Traffic Control, as described above	134.1 is the standard VHF radar approach frequency used at many military airfields.

Note that the spacing in North America between consecutive frequencies is still commonly 25 kHz (.025) but the worldwide standard is moving toward 8.33 kHz which will yield 3 times as many frequencies in the same band. Scanners currently available follow the 25 kHz plan.

Specific frequencies in use in the Maritimes are included in my aero pages as linked above

Aero scanning is a subdivision of scanning that is a little off the beaten track and is typically enjoyed by at least three different types of hobbyists:

the pure radio enthusiast who simply wants to know frequencies
the aircraft enthusiast who uses the radio to identify aircraft passing nearby or at the airport
the simulation enthusiast who may never actually listen to real traffic on a real radio, but wants to have all the frequencies and procedures correct. These hobbyists may be interested in virtual flying or in virtual air traffic control.

I fit somewhere in the middle of all this. I do listen to real aircraft and I do have an interest in them, never failing to look up when one passes over my house, and I do enjoy seeing them take off and land at the airport. In fact I think many radio enthusiasts are also aircraft enthusiasts. I am not a photographer or in any way a serious observer but I do like to know the various aircraft types, and then I go off into wanting to know as much as I can about procedures and navigation, so that I am also interested in air charts and in the various operating procedures that are employed in this area. In this way, I have some affinity to the simulation hobbyists, but I am not active in that hobby. Yes I have used Microsoft Flight Simulator, but never had the time to get good at it.

Accordingly, on my site you will find not only frequency information but also maps and charts. I had planned to post many other diagrams and charts but instead I will direct you to a wonderful site provided by an air traffic control simulator group. VATCAN or Virtual Air Traffic Control Canada has a national homepage plus regional sites corresponding to the various air traffic control areas (FIR's), and this is affiliated to an international network of such enthusiasts and sites. Click