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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