chgomonitor
Silent Key
I took a 75 mile very round trip yesterday and visited all of the outer marker sites, or what is left of them;
(It should be noted that several of these runways are very seldom used for O'Hare landing anymore, especially given the expansion based trend towards east-west operations).
LEAMA 14L - Northwest Community Hospital on Kirchoff in Arlington Heights. Out of service. Replaced by the JEXOS intersection (no marker) overhead. The transmitter shack remains, but not for long. Site being dismantled. One end of the NDB array hanging from the one remaining pole. No 75 MHz array and no transmissions. Salvage dumpsters inside the fence line surround the transmitter shack. About to vanish into the greater hospital grounds.
CHSTR - 14R. Rear of Elizabeth & Meadowbrook condos off of Algonquin northwest of Golf Road. NDB array dismantled and off air. Insulators hanging from the remaining center feed point post. 75 MHz on the air and in good condition. Sign on door reads; "ORD 14R OM". Recently maintained. Current Approach plate for 14R has this marked as an intersection only, no mention of the outer marker beacon.
ZENAH Intersection. 9L (new). Near the IDOT yard southeast of I-290 and Biesterfield Road. No marker at this location, its just an intersection in the sky. I don't think they are landing 9L yet. The current Approach plate for 9L makes reference to the I-SAJ Distance Measuring Equipment antenna.
LANSE 9R (formerly 9L). Right shoulder of the Elgin-O'Hare Expressway east of Rohlwing Road / I53. No NDB at this site, never has been. 75 MHz beacon is on the air here. Outer Marker not shown on current Approach Plates for 9R, LANSE is now shown as an intersection only.
DEANA formerly 9R now 10. Replaced by the BUGSE intersection directly overhead. Rear of the Hawthorn Industrial Park, east of I53 south of Irving. Serta corporation is no longer here, the business is now Darley, Inc. Site is at the rear of their parking lot. Recent truck tire tracks in the snow leading to the gate. This famous NDB which transmitted from an impressive vertical tower on 350 KHz for many decades is off the air. The 75 MHz array is still present but also off the air. DEANA is out of service, quite sad.
LAPPS 4L. West side of Addison Road south of Interstate Road in Addison. No NDB at this site, never has been. Recently maintained, 75 MHz beacon transmitting. Current Approach plate for 4L lists this as both an outer marker and as an intersection.
REKKS 4R. West side of Elmhurst Road / I83 1/2 mile south of North Avenue. No NDB at this site, never has been. In somewhat poor condition, the 75 MHz array is still up and transmitting but leaning over a few degrees. Very weak signal here. REKKS is on the current Approach Plate for 4R marked as both an Outer Marker and an Intersection.
JOCKY 32L. In the woods northwest of Thatcher and Chicago Avenue in River Forest. (Named for the nearby Maywood Park racetrack). The 75 MHz array is up and transmitting. The NDB array is still up in the trees. I've never found a frequency for this NDB as I've never found it transmitting and yesterday was no exception. Current Approach plate for 32L shows both an outer marker and an intersection.
INDDY 32R. Southside of Greenfield just west of Harlem Ave at the north border of the Fenwick High School athletic field. 75 MHz beacon transmitting. Big surprise here, a very jury rigged NDB antenna strung between three 15 foot square metal frames next to the site, very odd. I searched for NDB transmissions but found none. Current Approach plate for 32R lists this only as an outer marker beacon.
WILLT 28 (formerly 27L). Rear of the school yard a block north of Gunnison on Natchez. No NDB has ever been here. Site is totally gone and black topped over for more lot parking spaces. A sad 6 inch wire hangs from the power pole which once fed this site, now gone. Replaced by the WILLT intersection overhead. Current Approach plate for 28 shows the I-TSL distance measuring equipment ("DME") antenna.
TAFFS 27L (formerly 27R). Now the overhead TAFFS intersection only. Rear of Taft High School off of Bryn Mawr west of Nagle. Site is gone. The only trace remains the odd access gate in the modified high school field fence. Current Approach plate for 27L shows the I-IAC DME antenna a couple hundred feet from the start of the runway.
SIBLY 27R. Intersection only. New. Located roughly on Milwaukee north of Albion in or near Niles. No marker at this intersection ground location. With 27R now operational for landings I've observed pilots calling this intersection to the tower for miles in either direction from here, mostly well west of here. Sit on Pratt anywhere east of River Road when they are landing 27R and you'll see what I mean if you are listening to the new North Tower frequency 135.925.
LAIKE. 22L. Rear southeast corner of the storage facility on the east side of Waukegan south of Dempster. I was amazed to find the old Monogram factory erased and replaced by the Trafalgar Woods condo development. A new street on the north end of the condos - Meadow Lane, runs east from Waukegan. Take it east to where it ends and you can now see the 75 MHz antenna array in the back of the storage yard for the first time! Amazing, but the 75 MHz beacon was off the air, not transmitting. There has never been an NDB site at this location. Current Approach plate for 22L lists this both as an outer marker and as an intersection.
RIDGE 22R. East side of the Golf-Milwaukee shopping plaza north of Golf Road east of Milwaukee. Replaced by the RIDGE intersection directly overhead. Site fencing and the pole which supported the 75 MHz plumbers nightmare array remain and little else. There has never been an NDB here. Site is out of service. I had previously detected traces of a 75 MHz signal near here. Having LAIKE off the air sort of confirmed that is what I was hearing, nothing heard yesterday.
So, this little expedition explains why when I tune my shortwave radio below 500 KHz I rarely hear any non-directional beacons ("NDB's") any more - O'Hare's are all off the air. The end of an era. With increasing reliance on advanced ILS and GPS landing techniques I can't say it is much of a shock. NDB has/is become antiquated technology at bigger airports.
I'm a little more surprised by the 75 MHz outer marker beacons slipping into history as well. A few are still marked on Approach plates as "OM", at least for the ones still in use and on the air. But they are clearly becoming fewer and farther between. I know how the intersection deals works, a radial drawn as a line from a VOR beacon (mostly Northbrook or ORD VOR's for O'Hare) or other nav point.
But if a pilot is on the ILS landing O'Hare and they don't get the flag or nav system beep as they pass over the 75 MHz outer marker ground beacon, well, are they using some other technology to call the exact point? Is it the DME data? Does they ILS system itself give them a distance reading or something?
Happy Scanning! - Ted
(It should be noted that several of these runways are very seldom used for O'Hare landing anymore, especially given the expansion based trend towards east-west operations).
LEAMA 14L - Northwest Community Hospital on Kirchoff in Arlington Heights. Out of service. Replaced by the JEXOS intersection (no marker) overhead. The transmitter shack remains, but not for long. Site being dismantled. One end of the NDB array hanging from the one remaining pole. No 75 MHz array and no transmissions. Salvage dumpsters inside the fence line surround the transmitter shack. About to vanish into the greater hospital grounds.
CHSTR - 14R. Rear of Elizabeth & Meadowbrook condos off of Algonquin northwest of Golf Road. NDB array dismantled and off air. Insulators hanging from the remaining center feed point post. 75 MHz on the air and in good condition. Sign on door reads; "ORD 14R OM". Recently maintained. Current Approach plate for 14R has this marked as an intersection only, no mention of the outer marker beacon.
ZENAH Intersection. 9L (new). Near the IDOT yard southeast of I-290 and Biesterfield Road. No marker at this location, its just an intersection in the sky. I don't think they are landing 9L yet. The current Approach plate for 9L makes reference to the I-SAJ Distance Measuring Equipment antenna.
LANSE 9R (formerly 9L). Right shoulder of the Elgin-O'Hare Expressway east of Rohlwing Road / I53. No NDB at this site, never has been. 75 MHz beacon is on the air here. Outer Marker not shown on current Approach Plates for 9R, LANSE is now shown as an intersection only.
DEANA formerly 9R now 10. Replaced by the BUGSE intersection directly overhead. Rear of the Hawthorn Industrial Park, east of I53 south of Irving. Serta corporation is no longer here, the business is now Darley, Inc. Site is at the rear of their parking lot. Recent truck tire tracks in the snow leading to the gate. This famous NDB which transmitted from an impressive vertical tower on 350 KHz for many decades is off the air. The 75 MHz array is still present but also off the air. DEANA is out of service, quite sad.
LAPPS 4L. West side of Addison Road south of Interstate Road in Addison. No NDB at this site, never has been. Recently maintained, 75 MHz beacon transmitting. Current Approach plate for 4L lists this as both an outer marker and as an intersection.
REKKS 4R. West side of Elmhurst Road / I83 1/2 mile south of North Avenue. No NDB at this site, never has been. In somewhat poor condition, the 75 MHz array is still up and transmitting but leaning over a few degrees. Very weak signal here. REKKS is on the current Approach Plate for 4R marked as both an Outer Marker and an Intersection.
JOCKY 32L. In the woods northwest of Thatcher and Chicago Avenue in River Forest. (Named for the nearby Maywood Park racetrack). The 75 MHz array is up and transmitting. The NDB array is still up in the trees. I've never found a frequency for this NDB as I've never found it transmitting and yesterday was no exception. Current Approach plate for 32L shows both an outer marker and an intersection.
INDDY 32R. Southside of Greenfield just west of Harlem Ave at the north border of the Fenwick High School athletic field. 75 MHz beacon transmitting. Big surprise here, a very jury rigged NDB antenna strung between three 15 foot square metal frames next to the site, very odd. I searched for NDB transmissions but found none. Current Approach plate for 32R lists this only as an outer marker beacon.
WILLT 28 (formerly 27L). Rear of the school yard a block north of Gunnison on Natchez. No NDB has ever been here. Site is totally gone and black topped over for more lot parking spaces. A sad 6 inch wire hangs from the power pole which once fed this site, now gone. Replaced by the WILLT intersection overhead. Current Approach plate for 28 shows the I-TSL distance measuring equipment ("DME") antenna.
TAFFS 27L (formerly 27R). Now the overhead TAFFS intersection only. Rear of Taft High School off of Bryn Mawr west of Nagle. Site is gone. The only trace remains the odd access gate in the modified high school field fence. Current Approach plate for 27L shows the I-IAC DME antenna a couple hundred feet from the start of the runway.
SIBLY 27R. Intersection only. New. Located roughly on Milwaukee north of Albion in or near Niles. No marker at this intersection ground location. With 27R now operational for landings I've observed pilots calling this intersection to the tower for miles in either direction from here, mostly well west of here. Sit on Pratt anywhere east of River Road when they are landing 27R and you'll see what I mean if you are listening to the new North Tower frequency 135.925.
LAIKE. 22L. Rear southeast corner of the storage facility on the east side of Waukegan south of Dempster. I was amazed to find the old Monogram factory erased and replaced by the Trafalgar Woods condo development. A new street on the north end of the condos - Meadow Lane, runs east from Waukegan. Take it east to where it ends and you can now see the 75 MHz antenna array in the back of the storage yard for the first time! Amazing, but the 75 MHz beacon was off the air, not transmitting. There has never been an NDB site at this location. Current Approach plate for 22L lists this both as an outer marker and as an intersection.
RIDGE 22R. East side of the Golf-Milwaukee shopping plaza north of Golf Road east of Milwaukee. Replaced by the RIDGE intersection directly overhead. Site fencing and the pole which supported the 75 MHz plumbers nightmare array remain and little else. There has never been an NDB here. Site is out of service. I had previously detected traces of a 75 MHz signal near here. Having LAIKE off the air sort of confirmed that is what I was hearing, nothing heard yesterday.
So, this little expedition explains why when I tune my shortwave radio below 500 KHz I rarely hear any non-directional beacons ("NDB's") any more - O'Hare's are all off the air. The end of an era. With increasing reliance on advanced ILS and GPS landing techniques I can't say it is much of a shock. NDB has/is become antiquated technology at bigger airports.
I'm a little more surprised by the 75 MHz outer marker beacons slipping into history as well. A few are still marked on Approach plates as "OM", at least for the ones still in use and on the air. But they are clearly becoming fewer and farther between. I know how the intersection deals works, a radial drawn as a line from a VOR beacon (mostly Northbrook or ORD VOR's for O'Hare) or other nav point.
But if a pilot is on the ILS landing O'Hare and they don't get the flag or nav system beep as they pass over the 75 MHz outer marker ground beacon, well, are they using some other technology to call the exact point? Is it the DME data? Does they ILS system itself give them a distance reading or something?
Happy Scanning! - Ted