Today I had a chance to test out the range on a clubmate's Hobbico
Frequency checker. I also had my GPS receiver, Ed Wilson's ICOM
handheld scanner and a pair of earphones for the Freq checker's
antenna. The earphones were approximately 5.5 feet in length.
I set a "man overboard point" on my GPS at our landing tape and then
walked out 150 feet. At 150 feet, the freq checker registered all three
radios (30, 32 and 34) with and WITHOUT the antenna. At approximately
200 feet without the antenna is where I first noticed the frequency
checker not picking up at least one of the radios. At 300 feet without
the antenna, it would not "reliably" detect all three radios. I say
"reliably" because I adjusted how I held the frequency checker, and that
varied how well it would pick up the radios. However, with the
earphone-antenna plugged in, it would reliably pick up the radios. At
450 feet without the antenna it became even more unreliable, only
occassionally picking up one of the radios (if at all). With the
antenna, however, it did just fine.
At .15 miles (800 feet), I decided to test out antenna orientation.
Previously, I just had the antenna draped over my shoulder, so to test
worst-case, I laid the frequency checker on the ground with the antenna
stretched out on the ground. It did not pick up all radios reliably.
Then I picked up the end of the antenna and held it above my head. The
frequency checker began reliably detecting all radios.
Finally, I walked out to .25 miles (1,320 feet), and with the antenna
properly oriented, I was able to reliably detect all the radios. I then
walked in an arc to maintain the .25m distance, with the antenna draped
over my shoulder. All radios still detected. I couldn't go any
further, though I believe that it would have certainly detected it well
past .25 miles.
So, the 210-270 foot range that the Hobbico rep stated each unit was
tested as I believe to be accurate. However, why the unit doesn't ship
with the antenna is a bit of a mystery to me. I could certainly see it
causing the frequency checker to show false-posistives RF-polluted
areas, but I believe the extended range to be a greater benefit. The
benefits at contests and flying fields are obvious enough, but I think
that with it's considerable range it would be great for park- and
neighborhood-fliers.
In summation -- if you want to be able to "hear" further than 200 feet,
get an old pair of earphones and plug them into the Hobbico Frequency
checker. Also, make sure that the antenna is oriented vertically.
PS: one thing to note is that if you do get a radio too close to a freq
checkker, it will get swamped and many, many channels will light up.
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