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Old 08-01-2017, 13:39   #1
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RDF anyone?

Out of curiosity I was wondering if anyone is still making use of their old RDFs, if you still have one, and how they are working. I used to use one a lot in the old days and my boat came with one that was no longer functional. I know the aeronautical beacons and marine beacons have been shut down and many am towers have been moved. I was pondering that there may yet be times when the old fashioned low tech way may still be useful.
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Old 08-01-2017, 13:51   #2
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Re: RDF anyone?

It's pretty unlikely that you will come up with a use beyond just playing with it. If your boat is hit by lightning then the RDF is likely to get fried. If the GPS signal is blocked in your area due to a military exercise then perhaps you could use it. All in all a slim likelihood.
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Old 08-01-2017, 18:16   #3
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Re: RDF anyone?

Don, it wasn't very useful when it was in full swing IMO! OH, Ok, I did have one and remember using it one night in a single hand race from SF to Monterrey... lots of fog, little wind. No proper RDF signals, but there was an AM broadcast station in Monterrey and I homed in on that for hours. They played the most gawdawful noise (some sort of pop "music".. horrible), but it kept me awake and I did get there!

But really, not a very useful technique, at least for the sort of sailing I was doing then.

Cheers,

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Old 08-01-2017, 18:21   #4
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Re: RDF anyone?

Jim
Maybe we can change this thread into RDF stories I remember one night beating into the trades trying to figure out where San Juan, PR was. It was comforting info, if not very accurate.
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Old 08-01-2017, 18:34   #5
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Re: RDF anyone?

A working RDF goes for at least $50 in the Vintage Radio section of Ebay.
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Old 08-01-2017, 18:38   #6
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Re: RDF anyone?

In my neighborhood it worked pretty well since there were quite a few sources to use! I could triangulate myself pretty well! I confess I found myself out in soup sometimes and found it very reassuring, if not as accurate as things now, as Paul says. But still I found it to be pretty accurate! I had a friend back in the 80s who had planned to just use noon sights and his RDF to get to Hawaii from Santa Barbara. He figured he'd just home in on the island he wanted once he was within range. He never went on that trip. Nowadays I'd probably have to listen to some annoying talk radio program. Still it seems like it wouldn't be a bad arrow in the quiver in a pinch if it were still available. Yeah I know, "next he'll be saying to bring back LORAN!"
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Old 08-01-2017, 18:57   #7
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Re: RDF anyone?

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Originally Posted by Don C L View Post
In my neighborhood it worked pretty well since there were quite a few sources to use! I could triangulate myself pretty well! I confess I found myself out in soup sometimes and found it very reassuring, if not as accurate as things now, as Paul says. But still I found it to be pretty accurate! I had a friend back in the 80s who had planned to just use noon sights and his RDF to get to Hawaii from Santa Barbara. He figured he'd just home in on the island he wanted once he was within range. He never went on that trip. Nowadays I'd probably have to listen to some annoying talk radio program. Still it seems like it wouldn't be a bad arrow in the quiver in a pinch if it were still available. Yeah I know, "next he'll be saying to bring back LORAN!"
A] I have an RDF that a college friend gave me 25yr ago when they were still occasionally used. The current boat is too small for it, but it will go on whatever comes next.
B] I think the USN is starting to reconsider LORAN. Turns out GPS is subject to hacking. They've already restarted Celestial Nav training at the Academy.
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Old 08-01-2017, 19:46   #8
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Re: RDF anyone?

RDF story: I crossed from Florida to Ireland in 1983 aboard my Yankee 30. I had a nice Loran on board, which took me a bit past Bermuda. In Bermuda I brushed up on my celestial, shooting four or five stars/ planets in the evening. 36 hours before expected landfall at Fastnet Rock, we got fogged in. By then, the Loran should have come in, but the Loran fixes were all over the place. We didn't have RDF, but luckily I brought few components to make one. Took a bunch of turns with a #16 wire around 5gal bucket, soldered some mica capacitors and small variable one across the ends, taped a hockey puck hand bearing compass in the bucket and connected the contraption to our ham radio with a coax cable. Tuned in Fastnet Rock and later Kinsale beacons. I would stand on the cabin top, slowly swinging the bucket around, watching the compass, while my girlfriend below was reading the S-meter on the ham rig and hollered when it hit null. Plotting the bearings on a chart, we were quite confident that we passed about three miles off the Rock and then started to home on the Kinsale beacon. Never saw the Rock, much to my disappointment. When the fog lifted later that afternoon, we were less than two miles off beautiful Irish coast, cliffs and bright green meadows, still homing on the Kinsale beacon.
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Old 08-01-2017, 20:27   #9
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Re: RDF anyone?

Lovely story, svantea. Our first trip was also celestial, and in a Yankee 30. SF to HI and return. Good memories.

Ann
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Old 08-01-2017, 20:37   #10
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Re: RDF anyone?

Used a handheld one to find Bermuda on my first passage; worked like a charm. We like to have nav gear that doesn't require third party help (beacons, gps, etc) but use everything we can. If the beacons are still live I'd ship with one (we do because it's also our AM radio!)
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Old 09-01-2017, 06:43   #11
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Re: RDF anyone?

We carry a still quite functional 1970's era [English made] SeaFix handheld RDF fitted with an excellent hand bearing compass and "stethoscope" like ear plugs. There are still many marine and aviation non-directional radio beacons to be found throughout north America (see North American Radio Beacons) as well as in Europe and beyond. For more information on the subject see US Coast Guard Radio Communications and click on the appropriate links. Using the RDF one can establish a reasonable position with two, but preferably three (the "cocked hat" method), bearings; and, can establish a reasonable LOP or rhumb line to a given position sailing down the "null".

While all of the new Gizmology is wonderful when it works, having the old technologies at hand--RDF, Sextants, Stop Watches, Paper Charts, et al--and knowing how to use them, certainly comes in handy when it does not.

FWIW...
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Old 09-01-2017, 06:53   #12
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Re: RDF anyone?

Back in the day you could use a cheap transistor radio with a directional antenna as a home made RDF, you simply held the radio and slowly turned it until you could no longer hear it. That was the null and meant the radio was pointing to or away from the station, you knew where to was because you were heading there. Our first offshore sailing was also pre GPS so enroute to Hawaii from Mexico it was always nice to use our hand held RDF tuned into a powerful am Hawaii radio station to remind us that we were at least heading in the right direction, lol, those were the days!!
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Old 09-01-2017, 08:35   #13
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Re: RDF anyone?

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We carry a still quite functional 1970's era [English made] SeaFix handheld RDF fitted with an excellent hand bearing compass and "stethoscope" like ear plugs.
I do to.
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Old 19-02-2017, 18:49   #14
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Re: RDF anyone?

--..-...-... I stll have Bimini memorized. Useless trivia!
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Old 19-02-2017, 19:08   #15
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Re: RDF anyone?

I remember using our B&G Heron & Homer, in the Pacific, esp Lord Howe Is Aero beacon
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