Why scanners are essential | Ted shows the importance of scanners at RAF CONINGSBY & RAF LAKENHEATH

Well, whether you are a newbie to aviation photography, new to visiting RAF bases, or just interested in military aircraft (or any other reason why you are at an RAF base), you'll see many photographers (and also non-photographers who just love military aircraft) armed with a scanner. Why do they have them? What are they for? Now, this video is not for anyone who wants to know how to use them, but I am currently working on this type of video with Ted. This is about the importance of owning one and what it can do for you. You see, I was an absolute newbie, no idea about how it works or anything. But what the scanner can do for you is tell you pretty much anything that is being transmitted. For example, you can find out when an aircraft is going to be fired up, ready for taxi, ready for take off, listen to pilots air to air, listen out for in coming aircraft on finals, find out if they are doing a touch and go, in fact anything! This is why photographers and aviation enthusiasts have them.
The scanner used here is a UNIDEN UBC125XLT and was purchased online for about £125. Once programmed, you are all set to go. I will make a video on how to use one. The UNIDEN UBC125XLT seems to be very popular and I can understand why. It is very good and is very friendly to the beginner if you get it properly programmed. DO NOT expect to buy a scanner and treat it like a normal radio. You have to programme and enter the frequencies for the scanner to pick these frequencies that you have entered. Enough about the technical stuff, lets see what happens in the video.
Ted is listening to the scanner at RAF CONINGSBY and on approach is ZK350. You can hear the tower give you the distance the aircraft is from the base and then you can hear the pilot say he will be carrying out a touch and go. On the next scene, the same pilot again mentions he will be carrying out a touch and go...bonus!
The Ted shows us that no matter what base you are at, the same process is carried out. Now it does make life easier to enter the corresponding text to the frequency. What this means is that there are many frequencies at a base for each section. This includes APPROACH, DEPARTURES, ZONE, TOWER, AIR2AIR and more. If your scanner comes up with an APPROACH frequency then you know something is coming in. At first hearing the voices may seem vague but with practice you will realise and recognise that you can understand the terminology used.