Found a VOR

RyanB

RyanB

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Ryan
image.jpeg I was out looking at properties this afternoon and happened to come across the Choo-Choo VOR in Chattanooga. Not much to look at, but I thought it was pretty neat to see it from the ground. Something that only excites an Avgeek!
 
I've actually been flying along, fat-dumb-n-happy on a long XC, and looked down by-chance to see a VOR station below me. And I weren't trackin' no VOR.

At that point I wondered: Do I have some sort of VOR receiver device implanted into my brain by the aliens that run the FAA?
 
So that's where the oversized badminton Birdy landed,
 
There is a VOR right along I-35 outside of Ardmore, OK that is clearly visible from the highway. We drove by that thing for years and years wondering what it was, but nobody that I knew had any idea. Over time, we came to the conclusion that it was a missile silo. Not just me, but a lot of people around the area. I was in my 20s before I new what it actually was.

Nowadays, several of the pilots around here refer to them as taco stands, because that's what they look like from the air.
 
Just put it back where you found it. Who ever left it there might be looking for it....
 
I'm not sure why, but to me it looks huge, like the smokestack of a power plant.
 
OkieFlyer said:
There is a VOR right along I-35 outside of Ardmore, OK that is clearly visible from the highway. We drove by that thing for years and years wondering what it was, but nobody that I knew had any idea. Over time, we came to the conclusion that it was a missile silo. Not just me, but a lot of people around the area. I was in my 20s before I new what it actually was.

Nowadays, several of the pilots around here refer to them as taco stands, because that's what they look like from the air.
Click to expand...

I used to be the same way. I've seen one alongside the interstate in Ohio and one off the interstate in Nevada, a white octogon with a cone on top sticks out like a sore thumb in the desert!
 
OkieFlyer said:
There is a VOR right along I-35 outside of Ardmore, OK that is clearly visible from the highway. We drove by that thing for years and years wondering what it was, but nobody that I knew had any idea. Over time, we came to the conclusion that it was a missile silo. Not just me, but a lot of people around the area. I was in my 20s before I new what it actually was.
Click to expand...

There's a VOR about 100 yds off of Hwy 158 near MAF. For many years I wondered what it was. I figured it was some sort of radar or radio contraption for MAF. One of my "ah-HA!" moments during flight training was to learn what that gizmo really was, and thereafter I took smug pride in educating non-flying cretins what it was (starting with my wife).
 
ETres said:
There's a VOR about 100 yds off of Hwy 158 near MAF. For many years I wondered what it was. I figured it was some sort of radar or radio contraption for MAF. One of my "ah-HA!" moments during flight training was to learn what that gizmo really was, and thereafter I took smug pride in educating non-flying cretins what it was (starting with my wife).
Click to expand...

And I'm guessing she rolled her eyes at you?

I know mine does... :)
 
OkieFlyer said:
Nowadays, several of the pilots around here refer to them as taco stands, because that's what they look like from the air.
Click to expand...
Down here, we call them the "Mesken fiesta hat" because that's what many of them resemble from the air. :)

Proof:
120810_0064_xlarge.jpg
 
BigBadLou said:
Down here, we call them the "Mesken fiesta hat" because that's what many of them resemble from the air. :)

Proof:
120810_0064_xlarge.jpg
Click to expand...

Well, it seems quite reasonable to me for one to assume tacos are sold from a sombrero shaped building.
 
The COWBOY VOR (identifier CVE) needs to be elevated so local buildings don't interfere..... You can see it from I-35E as you pass through Carrollton/Farmers Branch. And it's the raised version of Lou's Sombrero imagery.

cowboy-vor-dme-in-dallas.jpg


omnirange1-706342.jpg


newdfw.jpg
 
AggieMike88 said:
The COWBOY VOR (identifier CVE) needs to be elevated so local buildings don't interfere..... You can see it from I-35E as you pass through Carrollton/Farmers Branch. And it's the raised version of Lou's Sombrero imagery.

Maverick is built similarly. It's at the south entrance to DFW airport. Many people think it a Doppler weather station. Fools.


omnirange1-706342.jpg


newdfw.jpg
Click to expand...
 
OkieFlyer said:
Well, it seems quite reasonable to me for one to assume tacos are sold from a sombrero shaped building.
Click to expand...
I hate to say it....real Mexicans don't wear sombreros. Only Gringo tourists.

And the really good Mexican places don't look that way either.
 
OkieFlyer said:
There is a VOR right along I-35 outside of Ardmore, OK that is clearly visible from the highway. We drove by that thing for years and years wondering what it was, but nobody that I knew had any idea. Over time, we came to the conclusion that it was a missile silo. Not just me, but a lot of people around the area. I was in my 20s before I new what it actually was.

Nowadays, several of the pilots around here refer to them as taco stands, because that's what they look like from the air.
Click to expand...

It's been a short while since I've driven that way, but I remember always wondering the same thing. If I recall correctly, just to the north of that VOR by a number of miles, there was a gaggle of towers (or maybe just one huge one) that contained a multitude of microwave antennas and relays. When I drive by it now, that hulking figure now has maybe one or two of those antennas on it.
 
deonb said:
How come this one only has 20 directional antennas? Or does it use pairs of antennas in a way to emulate a 60-antenna layout?
Click to expand...
I have a friend who worked in aircraft radio nav systems for decades, I will ask him. I always wondered the same but never remembered or cared enough to ask. Stby.

EDIT:
Nm, I just googled it and Wikipedia actually explains it reasonably well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VHF_omnidirectional_range
No need for 360 antennas, there are no discreet radials (as some aviation books might lead one to believe).
I am ashamed I did not know this already. But happy that I finally learned. :)
 
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Can't fit those on the back of a Humvee.:D
 

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