I'm at Asilomar this week-end. A conference center on the Montery peninsula. As I was walking the grounds, I came across this. Says it is FAA navigation and even thinking about touching it will get you shot. So, what do you think?
Does not look like a US government sign, building, fence, or antenna. Building would be brick and fence would be chain link with barbed wire on top. Sign would have a government form number in the lower corner. Antenna would be more then something from radio shack.
Just someone trying to scare away the local kids.
It does look like the real deal, and the shape of the antenna suggested it was a marker beacon. And yes, Asilomar is a very protected area. My pictures were not very good, but that was no rickety building or fence.
It does look like the real deal, and the shape of the antenna suggested it was a marker beacon. And yes, Asilomar is a very protected area. My pictures were not very good, but that was no rickety building or fence.
Does anybody even use these things anymore? I doubt it. I haven't flown an airplane with a marker beacon antenna in at least ten years. We have an NDB, but its not needed here either. The final approach segment is defined by Glide Scope Intercept as far as I know. If someone ran over that thing with a lawn mower, it may be weeks before anyone even noticed. It should be in a museum.
Does anybody even use these things anymore? I doubt it. I haven't flown an airplane with a marker beacon antenna in at least ten years. We have an NDB, but its not needed here either. The final approach segment is defined by Glide Scope Intercept as far as I know. If someone ran over that thing with a lawn mower, it may be weeks before anyone even noticed. It should be in a museum.
the poster that said there should be a brick building near it has never lived in california. A brick structure will essentially explode in a good earthquake.
the poster that said there should be a brick building near it has never lived in california. A brick structure will essentially explode in a good earthquake.
haha... but in our defense, the doubters that is, it still looks hokey. That government sign looks like it was screwed up to that fence yesterday and yet the rest of the structures are decades old looking. If the sign needed replacing, at least send the guy out to cut the grass too. lol. Perhaps it is for real. Entertaining thread either way.
Does anybody even use these things anymore? I doubt it. I haven't flown an airplane with a marker beacon antenna in at least ten years. We have an NDB, but its not needed here either. The final approach segment is defined by Glide Scope Intercept as far as I know. If someone ran over that thing with a lawn mower, it may be weeks before anyone even noticed. It should be in a museum.
Even if you are just shooting the ILS from radar vectors, it's a good idea to cross check your position at glide slope intercept using the OM, or suitable substitute (NDB, DME, GPS) and monitor your VVI (VSI) for two reasons:
1) Antenna side lobes create false glide paths considerably higher than the true glide slope. (AIM 1-1-9.d.4)
2) During certain failures of the ILS system, localizer and/or glide slope indications will center regardless of your position, with no warning flags. (A Quantas flight ran into this several years ago, I think GPWS saved their bacon).
As a side note, the approach we are looking at has a bunch of interesting features: the ILS signal is unreliable inside 1.8 DME, the at or above 2100' restriction over open ocean, 2000' MSA over open ocean, 2400RVR required with a 300' decision height.
Does anybody even use these things anymore? I doubt it. I haven't flown an airplane with a marker beacon antenna in at least ten years. We have an NDB, but its not needed here either. The final approach segment is defined by Glide Scope Intercept as far as I know. If someone ran over that thing with a lawn mower, it may be weeks before anyone even noticed. It should be in a museum.
