Which scanner should i buy?
It all depends on how much you are willing to pay for a scanner and what you want to use it for. If you are using it mainly at civilian airports then you may only need a scanner with the VHF aircraft band (108-137MHz). If you want a scanner to also be able to receive military aircraft transmissions then you need a scanner with the UHF aircraft band (225-400MHz). You may also want to hear aircraft on the HF band or have a multi-band scanner that can pick up many other transmissions such as local marine communications, CB radio, or police and emergency services etc.
There are many airband models on the market today all packed with various features making it hard to choose which is the best scanner for you. I will mention a few popular hand-held air-band scanners that are good value for money and ideal for listening to aviation broadcasts at air shows or airports etc.
Scanners are available at different prices with the more expensive scanners having more features, a keypad to enter frequencies easily, having more memory to store frequencies etc.
Icom have a very small but robust
Icom IC-R6 Ultra Compact Wideband AM/FM/WFM Handheld Scanning Receiver
which has a wide continuous frequency range from 100KHz to 1309.995MHz which includes the civilian & military airband but has no keypad. Without the keypad it means that manual programming is tedious so you will probably want programming software and a cable.
GRE have the
PSR-295 (now discontinued)
which is very good for airband (civilian & military) listening and has a wide frequency range and includes a keypad.
Uniden have the very popular
UBC-125XLT
scanner which receives both civilian and military airband frequencies, a keypad, and is a very good scanner for a reasonable price.
The
UBC-3500XLT 
has a very wide frequency range including civilian & military airband along with a keypad. The UBC-3500XLT is generally thought to be one of the best airband scanners but has now been discontinued and replaced by the expensive but professional
Uniden Bearcat UBCD3600XLT Digital & Analogue Radio Scanner
.
Other notable Uniden Scanners which receive the civilian airband only include the
Uniden UBC75XLT Handheld Scanner
, the
Uniden EZI-33 XLT Air band Radio Radio Scanner
, and the
Uniden EZI33XLT compact radio scanner
Whistler have an affordable handheld scanner with the
Whistler WS1010 Scanner
which has a keypad and can receive civilian airband frequencies.
If you are considering buying second-hand from
Ebay
then a highly sought after but obsolete scanner for aviation is the Yupiteru
MVT-7100 which is considered to be superior to the newer MVT-7200 & MVT 7300 models. The excellent
Uniden Bearcat 3500XLT has now been discontinued but these scanners can be found second-hand on Ebay etc.
Handheld Airband Scanner Reviews?
• Uniden Bearcat UBC125XLT
• Uniden Bearcat UBC3500XLT (Now discontinued)
• Icom IC-R6
More reviews to be added later...
Where can i buy a Scanner?
Scanners can be bought at
Amazon (see bottom of page), or you may find a shop that sells them in your local Airport.
You can also buy second hand scanners on
Ebay.
Buy
Airband Scanners
and
Cameras
on Ebay
Which frequencies do i use?
Follow the following links for a list of frequencies on this website:
• RAF, Airshow, and Display Team Frequencies.
• Airport Frequencies.
In addition to these frequencies you should have all the Common Air Display Frequencies in your scanner for a UK airshow:
121.175, 130.675, 132.90, 130.50, 130.625, 134.55
and the NATO Common Frequencies:
Tower - 122.1, 257.8
Radar - 123.3, 344.0, 362.3, 385.4
Also add the frequencies of any Display Teams that are expected to display at the airshow.