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radio communications at uncontrolled airports

shmellott

I'm New Here
Do uncontrolled airports with multiple runways have any provisions for aircraft on the ground to communicate with each other when not line of sight.
 
Yes, CTAF is used for air and ground operations at an uncontrolled airport, no matter how many runways.
 
I think your asking if there’s a ground frequency for uncontrolled airports. As others have said, all communications happens on the single published ATC frequency.
 
I understand but my question is about our comm radios and line of sight. a few weeks ago I arrived at an uncontrolled airport with multiple runways. The wind was variable but from the north and I landed on 02 along with other traffic. I departed appox. 30 min later. the awos was calling the wind variable but what wind there was, was from the north. There was no traffic in the pattern. I taxied to the end of 02 for takeoff to the north. There are hangers to the west and you cannot see the western half of the east west runway. I'm thinking someone left the hangers as he didn't leave from the fbo while i was there, and taxied to the western end of the runway. I transmitted that I was taking off on 02 and would be departing to the north. On takeoff when crossing the east west runway my RV and a Cessna taking off to the east came closer than I like to becoming intimate. If he broadcast his intensions, I didn't hear it and he obviously didn't hear me. I don't know if he was talking or not but that's where the question is coming from. Without a repeater of some type at a location visible to both aircraft when on the ground how would we hear each other if the radios are truly line of sight. In the future at uncontrolled airports I'm going to take overall visibility of runways into consideration and not solely wind direction.
 
SNIP….Without a repeater of some type at a location visible to both aircraft when on the ground how would we hear each other if the radios are truly line of sight. SNIP

Line of sight does not mean two airplanes have nothing but air between them.

Go experiment with a handheld as you walk around the field, in and out of hangars and such and see what you hear. Now consider a standard aircraft comm radio will have a 6-10 db advantage over a handheld with a rubber duck antenna.

Carl
 
Belly mounted antennas can make it hard to communicate on the ground.

We have the same issue here, group of houses at each end of the runway, and it is often very difficult to get good radio contact until the plane is off the ground.

Happens-----you need to keep aware.
 
Agree, Mike.

As a ham with over 4 decades of VHF mobile and handheld experience with propagation and equipment, I was appalled by the dead spots apparent on the airport surface environment using belly-mounted antennae and 10 watts of AM power. It's not like anything you would expect, and I'm not sure of the best explanation for it.

Never assume.
 
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