Originally Posted by
PFGiardino
How does it work? Yes, I've heard and taught a thousand times about frequencies, wattages, classes, errors, and navigating with them. But what does it DO? It seems like they just pump a whole bunch of electrical power out over one frequency, and the ADF senses where its coming from via the loop/sense combo. Is that even remotely correct? And why is it NON-directional as opposed to OMNI-? It transmits in all directions...
Thanks!
It is non-directional in the sense that it does not tell you where YOU are, it only tells you where IT is. A VOR tells you where you are. I wouldn't worry too much about the naming convention...
You are correct in that it transmits a constant signal in all directions, and the ADF determines from which direction the signal is strongest, and points to it.