[ARC5] YG/ZB Demo

[Robert Eleazer]

I would really doubt that with any antenna system you could devise that you could get suitable resolution to determine bearings for distances of less than a few miles.  Anyone who has tried to turn onto a specific "To" heading within a few miles of a VOR station can tell you how difficult that can be, and VOR is far, far more precise than YG/ZB.  Signals bouncing off of various objects will make it much more difficult at ground level.

The YP/ZB system must have been desigend to enable pilots to find the fleet, not individual ships.  It was not common, but neither was it unheard of, for pilots to accidently land on the wrong carrier, not realizing where they were until they went below and discovered the pilot's ready room had been moved in their absence.

I think you are going to need a transmitting station at least a mile away, and probably much more than that, to be able to discern different headings.

I recommend you build at least two transmitters, operating on different frequencies, and at different locations at the outer boundaries of the hamfest grounds, and each with a different code.  This also should be easier than building a rotating antenna with encoder.

Happy 4th of July, Everybody!

Wayne
WB5WSV