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RDF (radio direction finding) ... do you ?
You are right. Any AM radio station can be tracked.
That is all RDF ever did and contrary to what some others have said here it is very accurate. I use RDF for instrument approaches in airplanes regularly. The only reason it is not used much anymore is because it fails to give other information that other equipment can give these days, like VOR's that can give a bearing to/from as opposed to just to and DME that is found on most VOR sites. None of that is really mariner equipment but since aviation is what drove a lot of the more modern equipment, it is important because it also killed the old gears popularity. I mentioned in another post that I tracked lightning with an RDF. The pulse of electricity that comes from lightning makes the needle of the RDF jump and point toward the source of the electricity (the lightning) It is a really great tool should you get caught out in an area of storms and need to know where the heaviest activity is. I was out between Swan island, Honduras and Jamaica, right out in the middle of nowhere, the first week of June one year and sailed right through the first tropical storm of the year. The RDF I had lead me away from the strong cells and really did save my life. As for why I was there, I got stuck going through the Panama Canal and really didn't have any other choice unless i wanted to spend the summer in Panama and Colon Panama isn't fun for a day! |
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