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How wide is an NDB approach course?
Andrey Serbinenko wrote:
I believe the unsafe aspect of the system is the lack of training in modern curriculums and our lack of practice with the equipment. This reminded me of a useful training aid that I've put together some time ago. It is a known fact that any AM radio station can serve as a radio beacon that an ADF can be tuned to. AM radio stations are everywhere, unlike real NDB transmitters, and they are just as good for practicing NDB work as any NDB. So, I have downloaded a list of AM-transmitting antenna from FCC, along with their lat/lon, callsign, and output power, and transformed it into a google-earth file. Then I zoomed-in on the area of my interest in google-earth, and printed the map with the stations. Very handy for NDB practice. Here's a link to the google-earth file containing all AM-transmitting antenna within 1000km radius of NYC: http://tinyurl.com/35rdez If anyone wants such a file for some other part of the US, just let me know, and I'll generate it and put it online. The only problem I have with trying to use a MW AM radio station for navigation is that they don't have consistent power and radiation patterns. Typically they'll broadcast a reasonably strong signal during the day. However at night, because the ionospheric absorption goes down and because the signal can skip, the FCC requires most stations to dial their power back and change antenna patterns. This can result in a sudden loss of signal when the sun sets. I would advise anyone looking for NDB practice to avoid the evening hours, and not to navigate with AM stations in actual IMC conditions unless you're very familiar with the radiation pattern and power output of the station you're using. Remember, AM radio stations no longer report service outages via NOTAM, so you're pretty much on your own here. Jake Brodsky |
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