VECTA handheld RDF

[Bob Smith]

I've come across a device called VECTA handheld radio direction finder.
It was manufactured, probably in the mid-seventies, by Vec/Trak
Research
and Development Company in Santa Monica, California, a company that
does
not seem to exist any longer. The unit has several plug-in modules for
289, 302, 233, 235, 312, 332, 350, and 740 KHertz, but doesn't appear
to
work, even with new batteries. A couple of questions:
Does the U. S. government continue to maintain RDF beacons in this era
of GPS? If so, does anyone provide repair service for the VECTA
device? Finally, is the unit or its modules of any value to anyone?
Bob Smith
rt.s...@acm.org

[Steve Baxter]

I still have an RDF but I don't carry it on the boat and I don't use
it any more.

[Peter S/Y Anicula]

I still have a small handheld RDF, and I keep it onboard.
Even if the radio beacons for ships are being closed down
all over, there still is radio-beacons at most airports
(every island has one) and there are commercial or
governmental radio-stations on many islands.
So if the GPS malfunctions and it is clouded so your sextant
is of no use, you should be able to find most islands with
your RDF.

--
Peter S/Y Anicula
anicul...@hotmail.com

Bob Smith <rt.s...@acm.org> skrev i en
nyhedsmeddelelse:39738A5B...@acm.org...

[Douglas S. King]

Peter S/Y Anicula wrote:

> I still have a small handheld RDF, and I keep it onboard.
> Even if the radio beacons for ships are being closed down
> all over, there still is radio-beacons at most airports
> (every island has one) and there are commercial or
> governmental radio-stations on many islands.
> So if the GPS malfunctions and it is clouded so your sextant
> is of no use, you should be able to find most islands with
> your RDF.

IMHO an RDF is still a very useful nav tool; but would vastly
prefer one that was tunable. I once helped deliver a boat which
had a British-made RDF that locked into a bracket on the
coachroof and had a vernier scale dial for the antenna. The
operater could get a fairly precise bearing using the vernier
and the ship's compass. I've used other RDFs that were not as
precise, although that particular one was not easy to tune.

A cool feature is being able to get a bearing on other vessels
as well as fixed transmitters.

> Bob Smith <rt.s...@acm.org> skrev ...

> >
> > I've come across a device called VECTA handheld radio
> direction finder.

I think I remember these- is it a pistol-grip device with a
small compass built into the top? They aren't much good, the
compass isn't accurate enough for real navigating.

Anyway an RDF with plug-in tuning modules will be limited in
what you can recieve. And if the thingie doesn't work, it's
primary use will be either as a fishing weight or to give a
pesky electronics gadgeteer something harmless to fiddle with.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King
--
This is what we look like when we're at our best:
http://recboats.hsh.com/45.htm

[The_navigator]

Hawii TO california? Too easy, sail east. Tuning into radio
station in Hawii told him what, that the USA is to the east? Or
do you mean California to Hawii??

Sounds like another story. There was this guy in a yellow
coronado 27 who claimed he was going to sail to cuba and do
transats but he had no knowlege about anything (apart from how
to drink beer and talk big...)

;-)

Regards MC

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[Mike Fulmor]

Peter S/Y Anicula <anicul...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:Ea0d5.1981$e3.2...@news010.worldonline.dk...

> I still have a small handheld RDF, and I keep it onboard.

A quick story:
I once met a man who had undertaken a foolish passage to Hawaii from
California (singlehanded on a 25' boat-don't remember what make) with no
navigation knowlege. He took a book along and planned to learn enroute.
Turned out he got close enough to pick up Honolulu radio stations on his
little transistor radio and adjusted his course by pointing the antenna
around until the signal came in better. The guy made landfall and lived to
tell the tale!
Mike

[Mike Fulmor]

[Scott Vernon]

Hey babs..er, MC, the post is copied below, read again, s l o w l y , this
time. It states. ''to Hawaii from California ''.

Scott, a landlubber who can read.

The_navigator wrote >...

>Hawii TO california? Too easy, sail east. Tuning into radio
>station in Hawii told him what, that the USA is to the east? Or
>do you mean California to Hawii??
>

Mike Fulmor wrote

[methusel...@gmail.com]

On Monday, July 17, 2000 at 12:00:00 AM UTC-7, Bob Smith wrote:
> I've come across a device called VECTA handheld radio direction finder.

> It was manufactured, probably in the mid-seventies, by Vec/Trak
> Research
> and Development Company in Santa Monica, California, a company that
> does
> not seem to exist any longer. The unit has several plug-in modules for
> 289, 302, 233, 235, 312, 332, 350, and 740 KHertz, but doesn't appear
> to
> work, even with new batteries. A couple of questions:
> Does the U. S. government continue to maintain RDF beacons in this era
> of GPS? If so, does anyone provide repair service for the VECTA
> device? Finally, is the unit or its modules of any value to anyone?
> Bob Smith
> rt.s...@acm.org

I think all of your modules, with the possible exception of 740, are East Coast radio stations/beacons.