[ARC5] bc 1206

[Mike Morrow]

> Hi ijust got a bc1206 going did it use a small loop ant.   73  Darryl

It was not used with a loop.

It was intended for use with **directional** LF/MF beacons, sometimes called
Adcock or A-N beacons.  

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-frequency_radio_range for explaination
of how these worked and were utilized by the pilot.

Four beans, not necessarily separated by 90 degrees, were radiated from the
beacon transmitter site.  Directivity came from the transmitter site, not at
the receiver.

The receiver would also be used to monitor the LF/MF tower frequencies
for terminal and weather information.  The most common frequency for that
was 278 kHz., but others were in use as well.  For two-way communication
between aircraft and tower, the aircraft commonly used 3105 kHz and sometimes
6210 kHz.  By the early 1950s, 3023.5 kHz had replaced 3105 kHz.

Many small aircraft sets were sold by GE, Motorola, Harvey-Wells, Hallicrafters,
RCA, and many others that provided beacon band and sometimes broadcast band
reception (with loop capability), alond with a low-powered (10 watt) AM
transmitter on 3105 (later 3023.5) kHz after WWII.  These typically sold for
about $200...about $2000 to $3000 in 2012 dollars.

Almost all of these old directional beacons and tower communication systems
disappeared in the US by 50 years ago.  **Non-directional** LF/MF beacons are
still common, but far less so than even 25 years ago.  For those, the aircraft
must use a directional receiver antenna.

73,
Mike / KK5F