Why a Nav Freq. for an ATIS?

I flew into KLOU yesterday, good size airport. Plenty of planes around and towered. For the first time in my flying hours, I found that the ATIS freq was 112.2, down in the VOR freq band.

This of course requires a nav radio. Why on earth would someone put an ATIS freq in the nav band where many planes do not even have a nav radio? Not to mention the quality of the sound was absolute junk.

Im sure there must be a reason for this, I just could not think of it.

Who knows why this is?

Nearby radio navigation aids
VOR radial/distance VOR name Freq Var
BQM at field BOWMAN VOR/DME 112.20 01W

I guess they saved money by not buying an atis transmitter.

Paige

Kahuna, sometimes it's just a plain old cost decision. The VOR is probably on the field, so there's no need for another transmitter. Sometimes the original transmitter fails (lightning strike, etc.) and the vor is used as the backup. The repair of the original takes a back seat, and pretty soon the VOR is the main choice.

Vic

Long range

As others have stated, frequency availablity and cost are likely factors. Also, most of these go back many years when most aircraft (even VFR only) had nav radios. There are some airports that have atis on both voice and nav frequencies (KHPN). If it is on a high altitude VOR it can be picked up at a greater distance for a jet crew to plan the descent and approach.

Actually, if you have just a single nav/com it is easy to get atis from the nav without going off freq with center / approach.

This of course, is speculation and observation on my part. I wasn't around when ATIS was invented!

Scott A. Jordan
N733JJ

Wished I'd had know you were in the area.

Kahuna,

I wished I'd had know you were in the area I would have liked to meet you. Were you visiting Chuck or Greg? I live in the Louisville area and am aware of the ATIS situation at Bowman. I'm debating whether or not to install a nav radio (SL30 vs SL40) in my 9A for just this situation. I could use that cost difference for other things in my panel. I do have a backup Sportys nav/com so I quess I could use that when the ATIS nav situation arises. I just intend on flying VFR.

When my son was still at UofL, I used to go to KLOU a lot. I was not able to receive ATIS until I was about 15 nm away and it was usually not clear. Granted that I have a wing tip antenna. I did receive VOR at 35 nm out. Often on the field, if my plane was not oriented properly (with respect to VOR), I could not receive ATIS. Guess what, I just call ground without the number. The small cost cutting ($2,000?) costs a lot of inconvenience.

Another reason that they used to use the VOR's is that we didn't have 760 Comm channels back in the early days....frequency saturation was a problem in busy areas, so you used whatever was available, the VOR was sitting there transmitting all the time....

Now you're makin' feel older than I am (I guess I just started young!). I remember when the FBO I hung out at equipped one of the J-3's we rebuilt with an early "portable" radio - it must have weighed 25 pounds with the battery and only had two frequencies (Tower/CTAF and Unicom) because it was crystal controlled!

Ironflight said:

Now you're makin' feel older than I am (I guess I just started young!). I remember when the FBO I hung out at equipped one of the J-3's we rebuilt with an early "portable" radio - it must have weighed 25 pounds with the battery and only had two frequencies (Tower/CTAF and Unicom) because it was crystal controlled!

Click to expand...

man you ARE old!! hahaha just kidding!

OT speaking of radio inconvenience.. when i fly out of KNIP, (navy jax), they Transmit and recieve on UHF and VHF, (military planes are on UHF), BUT THEY OFTEN FORGET TO LISTEN ON VICTOR!!!!

so i sit and wait.... till i have to call the tower on my cell phone.

ok... a money thing. I get it.

SO I know you have all done this..... Imagine you tune in this nasty vor freq, its squealing and whining. As you try and decifer the faint voice on the freq, You squint your eyes, turn your head, raise you shoulders, move your head closer to the radio.... as if any of this has any impact on your ability to hear! Come on you all do it. I did it and it did not help one bit.

Mean while I run into the side of a mountain or something. Anyway, to me its a useless way to convey important information a pilot needs. I was on instruments and the only thing I really cared about was getting that one word... You know, that information "Bravo" or waht ever, I listened to it 3 times before I got it. I got nothing else on the ATIS and advised the tower of the same and asked him to give it to me on tower freq. He laughed. It was evident he has to do that alot.

Without babbling too much, tower controller guy says,
"Hey, you must be Kahuna"
"Ahhh.. Yeah.. Howd you know that?"
"Cause no other RV-8 comes smokin into the area at 210kts with a head wind. Good to meet you. I have a 6A"

And we continued to babble on tower freq as I recovered onto rnwy 24. He was a nice guy and we had fun on the radio. I gave him a hard time about his sissy wheel 6....He was familiar with the Indy Super 8's and we chit chatted about them whilst I taxied to the FBO on tower freq.

KAVP

KAVP is another one that is actually a Class C with the ATIS on a nav freq. I just call "negative ATIS" both arriving and calling clearance delivery.

John

P.S. before I get in trouble for using the identifier...
That's Wilkes-Barre Pa.