[R-390] Whazzat? Mystery Antenna in San Jose, CA

[Bill Hawkins]

I've seen them elsewhere. It looks like an electronic (rather than
rotating)
directional beacon. Used to know how it worked, but in general the whip
in
the center provides a reference frequency while the little orange guys
are
energized one at a time. An aircraft instrument decodes the signals into
a
heading relative to the beacon. They were a major navigational aid years
ago.

Think the Wullenweber-like stuff is just supports for the ground plane.
The
frequency would be around 130 MHz.

Bill Hawkins


-----Original Message-----
From: Barry Hauser
Sent: Saturday, June 02, 2007 10:02 PM
Subject: Re: [R-390] Whazzat? Mystery Antenna in San Jose, CA

Hi Andy and gang...

It might not be a good idea to run a thread about airport installations
at this particular time, all things considered (check the breaking news)
;-)

Could it be some kind of ILS thing?  Or have they phased that out.  (ILS
for glidepath guidance when landing, as I recall.)

Barry



James A. (Andy) Moorer wrote:
> At the end of the runway of the airport in San Jose, California, there

> is the oddest antenna. It looks for all the world like a 
> mini-Wullenweber "Elephant Cage". What it is doing in suburban San 
> Jose I'll never know.
>
> Here are some pix:
>
> http://www.jamminpower.com/images/Antenna/Antenna.html
>
> Anybody know what this is all about? It doesn't seem to be connected 
> to the airport.
>
> James A. (Andy) Moorer
> www.jamminpower.com
>
>