AN/ARC-131 homing operation

[-MadCat-]

There seem to be several bugs with the homing operation of the FM radio.

 

First is the horizontal needle, that should indicate signal strength.

No matter how far away you are from the beacon you are homing on, the needle is always all the way up and does not move the slightest.

 

Second is an "auto-lock" behavior to the closest airfield beacon when you set 75.0MHz to home onto.

Tuning the correct frequency does nothing on the CDI.

75.0MHz works all the time no matter what frequency the beacon has and it jumps to a new beacon when that one is closer than the previous.

 

Third, but only tested once, is the ability to receive signals even when deep in the mountains on the bottom of a valley.

Seems odd to receive signals from a beacon about 40km away while surrounded by high mountains.

 

Greetings

MadCat

Edited September 21, 2013 by -=MadCat=-

[Rongor]

Marker beacons at airports are transmitting on 75 MHz worldwide. Those transmitters beam upwards into the approach path along the extended runway centerlines.

So your homing experiences with this frequency actually prove the receiver being fully functional.

 

Of course the reception of those marker beacons should be very (too) limited in range so the use for homing isn't realistic in real world since you won't receive anything on 75 MHz when some hundred meters apart from the emitter.

Edited October 7, 2013 by Rongor