I live exactly 10 miles west of KELM and am very interested in hosting a feed there. Unfortunately, I have no idea what kind of reception I will get. I live literally right next to the 7N1 (Corning Painted-Post) airport. Do you have any idea if this would allow me to recieve ATC comms at all? I know I can probably pick up the pilots, but I really only want to buy the scanner if I can pick up ATC as well.
Hey, Michael, I am commuting these days to Elmira for contract work at Corning. In fact, just last week I landed at Painted Post to see the viability of commuting there instead of Elmira, given it is only two minutes from where I am working at Corning (Sulliven Park? is the area). Unfortunately that airport won't work as it does not have any instrument approaches so Elmira it is.
To answer your question, the possibility of you receiving Elmira ATC and most aircraft is a tough call given all those hills that surround that winding river valley where most of the Southern Tier population live. I am about 9 miles away from the SYR airport, but I only have one small ridge between my home and the airport so reception is pretty good. If you are next to 7N1, you are more or less on the floor of that valley. If it were a straight shot I would say go for it, but the fact that there are a few bends in the valley and river between you and Elmira make me think it might not work.
My extra scanner is on loan to the KLAX feed or I would be happy to bring it down for you to experiment with. Is there anyone you may know that has a scanner sitting in their basement (scanners sometimes are like Nordic Track exercise machines - they wind up in the basement sitting idle for years) that you could borrow to try it.
If you hear two-way communication on 119.45 with the borrowed scanner and no external antenna, even if the reception is poor, then that might be a good sign to consider investing in a scanner, antenna, and cable for an ELM feed.