Re: ADF (was Re: Ahoy !!)

Chris mentioned: >before even small-scale cheap RDF Must have been a long time ago. I remember growing up sailing on the Chesapeake, and my dad showed me how to use my battery-powered "transistor radio" as an RDF. AM is highly directional, and by tuning in the strong Baltimore station, I could rotate the radio and get a pretty good "null" signal, which would yield a right-angle bearing. This had to be before 1962. He also built a Heathkit RDF at about that time, but I don't expect that it qualified as "small-scale" or "cheap". <g> Alfred Poor 1973 Tartan 34C #288 "Jambalaya"

We were taught how to use an RDF on our Beechcrash D-18's in Naval Aviator basic nav school. I wonder if anybody out there salvaged any of those sets? I recall each plane sarcastically had a label on top of the fuselage, above the windows, with statements like "built in 1943", and the pair of 450H.P. radials made the planes viabrate like crazy, but what that has to do with sailing...I guess we sail 'cause we don't like a whole lot of shaking, noise, and stinking going on, and, unless your sailing an AC 72 you're not likely to fall out of the sky. BTW, what's an ADF? Jerry From: Alfred Poor <ap… [at] verizon.net> To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Sent: Sunday, February 24, 2013 7:43 AM Subject: [Cal_Boats] Re: ADF (was Re: Ahoy !!) Chris mentioned: >before even small-scale cheap RDF Must have been a long time ago. I remember growing up sailing on the Chesapeake, and my dad showed me how to use my battery-powered “transistor radio” as an RDF. AM is highly directional, and by tuning in the strong Baltimore station, I could rotate the radio and get a pretty good “null” signal, which would yield a right-angle bearing. This had to be before 1962. He also built a Heathkit RDF at about that time, but I don’t expect that it qualified as “small-scale” or “cheap”. <g> Alfred Poor 1973 Tartan 34C #288 “Jambalaya”

On 2/24/2013 10:43 AM, Alfred Poor wrote: > > > Chris mentioned: > > >before even small-scale cheap RDF > > Must have been a long time ago. I remember growing up sailing on the > Chesapeake, and my dad showed me how to use my battery-powered > "transistor radio" as an RDF. AM is highly directional, and by tuning > in the strong Baltimore station, I could rotate the radio and get a > pretty good "null" signal, which would yield a right-angle bearing. > This had to be before 1962. He also built a Heathkit RDF at about that > time, but I don't expect that it qualified as "small-scale" or > "cheap". <g> > Actually, I meant before there were really inexpensive small-yacht RDFs. They have long been used on commercial vessels, of course. But the real consumer electronics revolution that brought sophisticated and mass produced things like that was mostly the 1960s, wasn't it? Zenith made portables with a compass ring on top that let you use the radio as an RDF, but I'm thinking of the dedicated RDF units like the Heathkit (I've got one of those) and Ray Jefferson (I use one of those as the sound system on my Cal 20--it has the FM broadcast band, the VHF-FM marine and weather bands, and CB too). My former boss spent all his money on boats, beer, and bimbos at the time and would not have had $$$ for the available RDFs in the 1950s. Chris Campbell > >

I think I would like your former boss. Allen On Tue, Feb 26, 2013 at 1:43 PM, Chris Campbell <cc… [at] lsnm.org> wrote: > ** > > > On 2/24/2013 10:43 AM, Alfred Poor wrote: > > Chris mentioned:**** > > >before even small-scale cheap RDF**** > > ** ** > > Must have been a long time ago. I remember growing up sailing on the > Chesapeake, and my dad showed me how to use my battery-powered “transistor > radio” as an RDF. AM is highly directional, and by tuning in the strong > Baltimore station, I could rotate the radio and get a pretty good “null” > signal, which would yield a right-angle bearing. This had to be before > 1962. He also built a Heathkit RDF at about that time, but I don’t expect > that it qualified as “small-scale” or “cheap”. <g> > > > Actually, I meant before there were really inexpensive small-yacht RDFs. > They have long been used on commercial vessels, of course. But the real > consumer electronics revolution that brought sophisticated and mass > produced things like that was mostly the 1960s, wasn't it? Zenith made > portables with a compass ring on top that let you use the radio as an RDF, > but I'm thinking of the dedicated RDF units like the Heathkit (I've got one > of those) and Ray Jefferson (I use one of those as the sound system on my > Cal 20--it has the FM broadcast band, the VHF-FM marine and weather bands, > and CB too). > > My former boss spent all his money on boats, beer, and bimbos at the time > and would not have had $$$ for the available RDFs in the 1950s. > > Chris Campbell > > **** > > ** ** > > > >

On 2/26/2013 8:23 PM, Allen Edwards wrote: > > > I think I would like your former boss. He's also a really good sailor. Once in the North Channel I saw him maneuver a 40' boat out of very tight quarters (somebody moored right next to us) in a tiny corner of a sheltered anchorage, with an adverse wind. It was one of the most remarkable performances of boat handling under power that I've ever seen. And, like most interesting people, he has his eccentricities. As a kid I used to worry about being seen as eccentric. Most kids want to be just like all the other kids, don't they? Eventually it dawned on me that the most interesting people were notably different in some way. That's a lesson that teachers convey to us. Chris Campbell > > Allen > > On Tue, Feb 26, 2013 at 1:43 PM, Chris Campbell <cc… [at] lsnm.org > <mailto:cc… [at] lsnm.org>> wrote: > > On 2/24/2013 10:43 AM, Alfred Poor wrote: >> >> Chris mentioned: >> >> >before even small-scale cheap RDF >> >> Must have been a long time ago. I remember growing up sailing on >> the Chesapeake, and my dad showed me how to use my >> battery-powered “transistor radio” as an RDF. AM is highly >> directional, and by tuning in the strong Baltimore station, I >> could rotate the radio and get a pretty good “null” signal, which >> would yield a right-angle bearing. This had to be before 1962. He >> also built a Heathkit RDF at about that time, but I don’t expect >> that it qualified as “small-scale” or “cheap”. <g> >> > > Actually, I meant before there were really inexpensive small-yacht > RDFs. They have long been used on commercial vessels, of course. > But the real consumer electronics revolution that brought > sophisticated and mass produced things like that was mostly the > 1960s, wasn't it? Zenith made portables with a compass ring on > top that let you use the radio as an RDF, but I'm thinking of the > dedicated RDF units like the Heathkit (I've got one of those) and > Ray Jefferson (I use one of those as the sound system on my Cal > 20--it has the FM broadcast band, the VHF-FM marine and weather > bands, and CB too). > > My former boss spent all his money on boats, beer, and bimbos at > the time and would not have had $$$ for the available RDFs in the > 1950s. > > Chris Campbell >> >> > > > > >