I recently purchased a Grundig G6 to go with my Radio Shack scanner in order to listen to ATC communications at airports. The G6 can pick up the NDB signals that the scanner can't. Some NDB signals that is , which leads to a question I have.
I enjoy locating the remote NDBs (the off-airport ones) by getting the coordinates to their actual location from the FAA charts, finding them on the satellite maps, and actually driving to the location just to see them and listen to the morse code identifiers. For whatever reason, I haven't been able to find several of them, though they're listed on the current charts. Just yesterday I was driving around out in the boonies, following a 2 track trail through some country fields, in the general facility of the mapped coordinates of one NDB, all the while holding my G6 out the window trying to pick up a signal. Nothing---couldn't hear it or see it. The same thing happened with a different NDB I tried to find a week earlier. I couldn't locate them, even though the aviation charts list them as active.
But, not only that, this same weekend I drove to a small airport with an NDB located right on the field---it served as the only approach facility for that airport (other than a GPS overlay for the same approach). Standing only about 150 yards away from the NDB station, clearly visible across an open field, I could not get the signal with the G6 tuned to the frequency. . .have no idea why (?) While some NDB's blare out loud and clear on the little G6 miles before I get to them, others I can't hear or even find! Any explanations?
