New To Airband Listening

[kurier44]

I was recently given a Maycom AR-108 scanner and have decided to listen in to ATC. I am quite a distance from Indianapolis International and hope that I can improve my listening enjoyment by replacing the original antenna, as well as possibly erecting a antenna to the chimney. Any feedback will be most appreciated.

[K5PAT]

Kurier,
    I don't know how far you are from KIND  , but if you can't pick up planes near or on the ground with your scanner, you can always use the LiveATC feed. It sounds pretty good to me with a little hum.
How far are you from the airport?
Are there any hills or mountains between you and the airport?
Are there any strong FM stations near you?
Are there any power substations or high voltage lines near you?
These are all factors which could affect your reception of the weaker signals.

[kurier44]

I am anywhere from 15-20 miles from KIND and affirmative on FM stations (2). Will I notice and improvement in reception with a roof-mounted antenna or a aftermarket antenna? How does one access live ATC?

[K5PAT]

At 15-20 miles you probably won't be able to receive any ground stations unless you can put up a 50-100' tower and there are no tall buildings or mountains between you and the airport. The FM stations could overload your receiver and prevent you from receiving all but the strongest signals. The Maycom receiver appears to be a low-end inexpensive receiver so it probably will not have a very selective front end rf section. It will also be susceptible to intermod from the FM stations.
 Access LiveATC here www.liveatc.net and type in the airport identifier, (KIND or IND) in the box at upper left.

[AB9IL]

Definitely use a rooftop antenna! It makes a huge improvement in receiving range - but make sure you use good quality coaxial cable and weatherproof the connections.  As to the antenna type, you could use a simple quarter wave vertical, a discone, or a steerable beam antenna.  They all will bring in the signals.

Let us all know how it goes.

Regards,
Phil AB9IL

(One of the Americans at Xiamenair - hear us on the Hong Kong or Western Pacific HF feeds)