Airport marker becons

[scannerrail]

Is it possible to pick up a NDB or VOR

http://www.airnav.com/airport/KHPN

The airport is 7.8miles away from me but from what it says on Airnav it does not have any marker beacons for VOR or NDB would it still be possible?

 

[fredclausen]

The navigational becons in your area are

VOR radial/distance VOR name Freq Var
CMKr216/14.0 CARMEL VOR/DME 116.60 12W
LGAr037/18.4 LA GUARDIA VOR/DME 113.10 12W
TEBr062/20.7 TETERBORO VOR/DME 108.40 11W
DPKr324/24.7 DEER PARK VOR/DME 117.70 12W
JFKr018/26.2 KENNEDY VOR/DME 115.90 12W
BDRr270/27.0 BRIDGEPORT VOR/DME 108.80 12W
CRIr028/28.6 CANARSIE VOR/DME 112.30 11W
IGNr184/36.3 KINGSTON VOR/DME 117.60 12W
SAXr101/37.6 SPARTA VORTAC 115.70 11W
HVNr265/39.0 NEW HAVEN VOR/DME 109.80 13W


NDB name Hdg/Dist Freq Var ID
PATERSON 082/21.3 347 12W PNJ .--. -. .---
BABYLON 342/27.8 275 14W BBN -... -... -.
BRIDGE 027/31.0 414 12W OGY --- --. -.--
WATERBURY 236/37.6 257 14W TBY - -... -.--
CHATHAM 070/38.1 254 11W CAT -.-. .- -

Not terribly sure about NDB reception on a scanner (I don't believe many scanners function in that band but I may be wrong), but you should be able to pick up VORs all day long. HPN doesn't have any on field becons are you noted, but if you look at the ILS charts you can see the localizer frequencies. May want to give those a try.

 

[scannerrail]

the only other airport near me is LGA which is 25 miles from me.

 

[BigJimbo]

VOR's can be monitored if you have a scanner that does AM on 108 up to 118. Their signal is weak from the ground, but if you can get close they can be heard. Of course, they come in crystal clear from the air.

I live near Wright Patterson AFB and can hear the VOR portion of the Patterson VORTAC. There is an observation hill about 1 mile and 100-200 feet up from the VORTAC and it is pretty weak.

I believe the NDB's are transmitting on low Khz ranges. I havent had a chance yet to take my Icom R-20 out and try to tune a couple of them in, but it's on the list.

If youre not familiar with the appearance of the VOR's they are strange looking. A square building with a circular roof and an "upside down ice cream cone" antenna on top. If the station is a VORTAC (TAC=TACAN) the top of the antenna has a notch and a "2-3 foot tip" on the top, which is the TACAN Antenna. TACANS are UHF and for Military Aircraft Nav.

NDB's are wires extended between two telephone poles, with a center line running down in the middle.

Call me weird if you want to, but it is sometimes fun to go on a VOR "hunt" if you have one near home and dont know exactly where it is. A scanner, handheld GPS and FAA Sectional chart are all you need. Use the Chart to give you a general idea of the area, then tune your scanner to the VOR freq. Usually the airport or ARTCC has a remote transmitter on the site too, be sure to tune in those freqs also. Play with it and see if you can find it the old fashioned way.....If you strike out or are running out of time, then enter the lat/long in your GPS and it will take you directly to it.

I wouldnt make it a point to get out of the car and run circles around it once youve found it. They tend to be pretty heavily alarmed, not just the fences, but the ground too. And in today's post 9-11 age, most police dont have a sense of humor if they see you doing your "happy dance" outside your car because you found the beacon!!

In Ohio, the Dayton Flight Service Station at the Dayton Intl Airport monitors the VOR's in our regional area. If the transmitter on the VOR antenna goes out, they know instantly. Two of the six or so they monitor are MAJOR nav points for INDY ARTCC.

It can be a fun way to spend an afternoon in the car. Some of these can be out "in the sticks." My car always seems to find a great little "Mom and Pop" restaurant along the way.....

 

[nd5y]

Marker beacons are all on 75.0 MHz AM with different audio tones for outer, middle, and inner markers. They only put out a few hundred mW into a corner reflector antenna pointed straight up so you can't hear them very far.

NDBs operate between 190 - 530 kHz AM so you won't be able to hear them on a scanner, but if you are extremely close to one that you might be able pick up the 2nd harmonic on a regular AM broadcast radio if you don't have a SW general coverage receiver.

 

[wogggieee]

Yes VOR's can be heard from scanners, but you need to be close. My avatar picture is a VOR. To me they kind of look like a giant sombraro. VOR hunts can be fun. Hunting for more rural ones is probably a bit safer and less likely to draw attention to your self. Also some VOR's have a voice broadcast as well with weather and other info, kind of similar to an ATIS broadcast.

 

[scannerrail]

lol I know what a VOR looks like I was not really sure on how the pattern of it's signal goes out.. I mean I know it's skyward but how much maybe could be reflected back down or whatever.. and it seems the highest output is 50W?

 

[N4JNW]

NDB's run in the lower AM radio range. I remember as a student pilot, I could tune in some AM radio stations with the NDB reciever, pull ident to hear it, and listen to music through the headset while in flight.

Actually, during in flight emergencies / times when you have no means to navigate, you can tune the NDB reciever to an AM radio station, and steer to it. There is an instrument in the airplane, called a ADF. It's linked to the NDB reciever. The ADF display is just a compass rose, with an arrow that moves. It essentially points to the tuned staton, and in that case, would "point" to the tuned AM radio station.

That's why NDB's are often used as non-precision approach fixes. During severe weather however, they are highly innacurate, because at that frequency range, lightening has adverse effects on recpetion and accuracy. During a lightening strike, the ADF needle, will momentarily point in the direction of the lightning strike.. NOT GOOD!

 

[scannerrail]

Haha yeah I know about the systems I just did not know about it was on the very low end of the AM band.


Haha.. the joys of reading a bunch of books about flight training but never took my lessons

 

[N4JNW]

Haha yeah I know about the systems I just did not know about it was on the very low end of the AM band.


Haha.. the joys of reading a bunch of books about flight training but never took my lessons

Go for it man... Don't let the cost scare you. I'm just a poor farm boy.. I like :30 having 40 hours. 1/2 hour away from qualifying for my liscence. Go do it. You ain't gotta take a big wad at once. Space em out. Maybe one a month. I was doing 2 a month..

 

[zz0468]

Actually, dx'ing NDB's can be quite challenging and fun. It requires a good low frequency receiver, and a good low noise antenna. I've been able to receive NDB's running 25 watts or less all over the U.S. and Canada. The link shows quite a few VOR's and NDB's. All of them would be worth a shot trying to hear.

The only interesting thing about marker beacons is when you're in solid IMC, the middle marker light has just come on, and the runway has just come into view. There's not much to listen to, and they don't talk too far.

 

[scannerrail]

Go for it man... Don't let the cost scare you. I'm just a poor farm boy.. I like :30 having 40 hours. 1/2 hour away from qualifying for my liscence. Go do it. You ain't gotta take a big wad at once. Space em out. Maybe one a month. I was doing 2 a month..

haha yeah the cost I still wont forget the time I got to tour a small county airport so much fun!

 

[w0fg]

Log those NDBs while you still can. They are gradually being eliminated and it would be unusual to find an ADF receiver in a new airplane. Even VORs are obsolescent as GPS becomes the navigational mode of choice. VORs will likely remain around a while longer as a backup medium, but NDBs are going to go away.

 

[N4JNW]

Log those NDBs while you still can. They are gradually being eliminated and it would be unusual to find an ADF receiver in a new airplane. Even VORs are obsolescent as GPS becomes the navigational mode of choice. VORs will likely remain around a while longer as a backup medium, but NDBs are going to go away.

I read an article about this in AOPA Pilot not long ago. It said radio type nav-aid's are going out like the 60's.

Wonder if the same goes for the ILS instrument approaches, or if they'l be GPS approaches?

 

[zz0468]

Log those NDBs while you still can. They are gradually being eliminated and it would be unusual to find an ADF receiver in a new airplane. Even VORs are obsolescent as GPS becomes the navigational mode of choice. VORs will likely remain around a while longer as a backup medium, but NDBs are going to go away.

Yes, bit by bit, NDBs are going away. But they're being replaced by DGPS stations that are every bit as fun to chase. Low frequency beacon hunting isn't going anywhere... it's just changing.

 

[exkalibur]

Who says it has to just beep? Switch over the frequency from the tower to the outer marker and bump up the wattage! It's a UHF system but the planes are so close they'll never know.

Yeah, I watched that last night... sorry

 

[scannerrail]

Who says it has to just beep? Switch over the frequency from the tower to the outer marker and bump up the wattage! It's a UHF system but the planes are so close they'll never know.

Yeah, I watched that last night... sorry

Haha best movie ever Die Hard 2 I watched it SOOO many times I had to buy the dvd due to the fear of wearing out the VHS tape

(watched 20 times here so far)

funny I was going to watch it tonight again

 

[wogggieee]

For your viewing pleasure

 

[scannerrail]

are VOR's located within inside of the airport? or leading to the airport?

 

[zz0468]

are VOR's located within inside of the airport? or leading to the airport?

Yes. Some are located on airports, some are located on airways, well removed from any airport. There are several classes of VOR's, they all have the same general function, but some are specifically for VOR instrument approaches to a particular airport, some are for high altitude airways. Some are co-located with military TACAN stations (VORTAC). Some don't lead to an airport, but simply lead to another VOR.