Beaconeering

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LVNL invited me!

2023-07-11 The Dutch ATC organisation LVNL completed their project to significantly reduce the number of radio beacons under their airspace, following an EU "suggestion" to do so. To my surprise and delight, they invited me over for the final review meeting and celebration! I got the chance to briefly tell the LVNL people about what we did in the early 2000s and showed them photos of 20 years old of beacons that are long gone.


The LVNL crew, with Hoppie left of the middle (white shirt)
(click for larger version)

Over time I will update the beacon description pages to add their current fate.



VOR/DME
AMS
COA
EEL
HSD
MAS
PAM
RKN
SPL
SPY
SY
WAL
NDB
AB
CH
EHN
GUL
MKP
NV
NW
OA
ONT
PH
PS
RR
STD
TGE
THN
UN
WP
ZL
TACAN/VORTAC
DHP
ELX
ESP
ETX
FKN
GZR
MMJ
PGO
PSB
SAF
SIE
TDT
Markers
KABE 06
EHAM 36R
EHAM 18C
EHBK 22
EHEH 22
KPIT 32
Runways
EHAM 06/24
EHBK 04/22
Other objects
EHAM approach radar
KWWD ILS localiser hut
Old Tempelhof airfield
Last Changes: PSB | EHN | DHP | TDT | FKN | MAS | EHEH-OM22 | THF | PH | NV


Guess the beacon! Think you know it? Get the answer!


We still need to visit the ROT, RTM, and several other beacons.

Beaconeering

What is beaconeering? It is the hobby to track down radio beacon sites on the surface of the Earth. We use a car and a GPS unit for this. Using standard aviation maps and other publications, we locate the position of a beacon and then try to drive to it in order to make a photo and describe the neighbourhood. Not only is this hobby a nice addition to our general interest in aviation, it also brings you to the most unexpectedly beautiful parts of a country that you thought you knew!

Credits

Although most of the work really has been done by ourselves, after having started this site we discovered another beacon site of Robert van der Leije which we subsequently looted for more data. Several people then started to mail us photos and data about beacons, and they have all been given proper credit in the photo descriptions.

Other Links

Some others also have beaconeering sites. For example, Walter Geeraert has one oriented more towards radio techology, just as Johan Veldhuis, and Trevor Diamond collected many UK nav aids. A large site is Beacon World UK which nearly gets a portal function by now. And Wim van Beek also maintains pages about beacon trips.

You think tracking beacons down is a silly hobby? What about tracking latitude/longitude crossing points?

Page updated 2023-07-16

© 2024 Jeroen Hoppenbrouwers For more information, mail to hoppie@hoppie.nl