11
votes
Why is the treatment of magnetic variation different for NDB and VOR?
The reason is, that for a VOR, the receiver in the aircraft determines the radial based on calculating the phase shift and as the VOR is oriented to the magnetic north of its location, we need the ...
- 271
8
votes
What is the difference between unserviceable, unusable, and not maintained?
UNSERVICEABLE (abbreviated U/S) is the ICAO version of what the FAA used to call OUT OF SERVICE (abbreviated OTS). To my mind this is less clear and a step backwards, but at least it's in line with ...
- 13.5k
5
votes
Accepted
What are the ANT and ADF modes on an NDB receiver?
The ADF consists of two antennas: the loop and the sense antenna. We already have an excellent answer by mins on how the ADF works, so I'm not going to repeat it here. The important thing for this ...
- 54.3k
5
votes
What am I doing wrong in this RBI exercise?
You've got the heading right.
Now rotate the whole view of both instruments to the aircraft orientation, and you see the direction in which the Relative Bearing Indicator (RBI) points. Now it's easy ...
- 82.9k
5
votes
What is the difference between a non-directional signal and an omidirectional signal from a radio aid?
"Omnidirectional" may not be the most descriptive word for the actual radio signal emitted by a VOR, as contrasted with the signal from a NDB. We could note that a VOR and a NDB actually both share ...
- 21.8k
4
votes
Accepted
What is the difference between a non-directional signal and an omidirectional signal from a radio aid?
Think of an NDB as dropping a small pebble in an otherwise still/static mass of water like a lake. It generates ripples that expand radially from the point in which you dropped the pebble, in the ...
- 360
4
votes
What are the ANT and ADF modes on an NDB receiver?
ANT mode improves the audio reception when listening to a station's morse code identifier or whatever else is being broadcast. Normally the directional needle gets parked at 3 o'clock when in ANT. ...
- 126k
4
votes
Accepted
How does the heading selector on the ADF work?
It's just a manual compass card (or some call it a heading ring), not an "omnidirectional bearing". The ADF needle just points to the station (NDB or AM radio station) relative to the ...
- 126k
3
votes
Accepted
How do I find the magnetic bearing to the station in this question?
I think the figure is just intended to illustrate the bearing to the NDB relative to the aircraft, and not the magnetic heading of the airplane. So when they give you your magnetic heading of 160, you'...
- 71.8k
3
votes
Accepted
What is the difference between an Non-Directional Beacon and a Compass Locator Beacon?
Normally "Compass Locator Beacons" were co-located with the outer marker for ILS approaches. A "compass locator beacon" is an NDB beacon specifically to drive the radio compass.
A radio compass was a ...
- 36k
2
votes
What is the difference between a non-directional signal and an omidirectional signal from a radio aid?
To add to @quiet flyer's answer, the practical result is:
With Non Directional you only know the radio aid's bearing from the aircraft's longitudinal axis and not the aid's geographic orientation to ...
- 126k
2
votes
How do I calculate drift based on NDB readings?
You are right, the correct answer should be C.
Those two bearings are reciprocals of each other. Being 180 degrees out from each other, the lines are parallel. Parallel lines never intersect, so the ...
- 24.9k
2
votes
What am I doing wrong in this RBI exercise?
If the RBI is of the fixed card variety, the N is not indicative of North. It only indicates the direction the nose of the aircraft is pointing. You can actually dispense with the cardinal direction ...
- 16.5k
1
vote
What am I doing wrong in this RBI exercise?
The gyro on the left gives you the orientation of the aicraft and the RBI arrow gives you the direction of the beacon relative to your aircraft. First one, you have the aircraft facing south and in ...
- 1,837
1
vote
Accepted
What is meant by Manual Tuning of ADF/NDB using BFO?
Manual tuning is like the old style analogue radios with a dial or rolling switch for tuning, similar to old AM/FM radios in your car, etc. Old Automatic Direction Finder (ADF) systems still have a ...
- 908
1
vote
What is the difference between a non-directional signal and an omidirectional signal from a radio aid?
My understanding was that a VOR was not a series of different signals being sent out in narrow cone shapes. I understood VORs to be just a few signals being sent out to include the station identifier, ...
- 16.5k
1
vote
How do I find the magnetic bearing to the station in this question?
MB=RB+MH
for fixed card ADF. as shown here
Airplane now heading 160 from north " nose of airplane "
relative heading now is 45 from heading of airplane " from nose " it means station is located 45 ...
- 11
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