RKN VOR/DME

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Picture taken September 29, 2002

Rekken VOR/DME in the meadow. The access road runs to the left, the coniferous trees fence it off a bit. Directly left, halfly hidden under the trees, is an electrical fuse box that likely provides the beacon with normal power. There were also signs of a phone connection.



Picture taken September 29, 2002

Rekken looks a lot like MAS: same construction, same monitor antenna. Just far more area for itself: a whole meadow! The dirt road passes straight into the meadow, where it transforms into two tracks of plating, so that trucks can reach the beacon itself.



Picture taken September 29, 2002

First encounter with the DCF77 time signal receiver antenna. Apparently this beacon likes to live on atomic clock accuracy!



Picture taken September 29, 2002

The Rekken VOR/DME was never designed to be a Doppler VOR, unlike the PAM/SPY/SPL/AMS series of Doppler VOR beacons. The antenna mounts are too far apart for this setup. However, these mounts may have been originally meant for a circle of monitoring antennas, just as with PSB. You can see the DCF77 antenna just in the shade. The single actual beacon health monitor antenna is to the right, about ten meters away.



Picture taken September 29, 2002

The metal pole is the DME transponder antenna. Spot-on overhead, a 757-like plane climbs out from Groningen (Eelde) Airport, Southbound. Rekken attracts quite some traffic, despite its rural location.



Picture taken September 29, 2002

A switch! A switch! Well, most likely the light switch for the simple bull's eye outdoor light that is fixed to the left of the door. Some other beacons, such as STD, have a real infrared sensor for this purpose.



Page updated 2008-12-31

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