Radio Direction finders at Heathrow

[483lek]

I read on a recent post that ATC at Heathrow do not have a radio direction finder to aid them. I wonder if they still have a DF facility available though, as when I was an engineer in the tower in the late 1980's, one of my favourite jobs was tracking down aircraft jamming 121.9MHz.

We used the DF system to give us a clue where on the airport the jammer was located. We then used a mobile DF to narrow it down to one aircraft. Usually, the pilot had left the mic jammed down the side of his seat!

Regards, Rich

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

Hi Rich. The AD210 was taken away many years ago and there was no DF facility when I was dragged screaming to West Drayton in 1992..

Were you involved the day that all except 2 frequencies were jammed out? We were told a Tels man used a homebrew dipole in the van to track the source of the QRM..

We must have met a million times; I was there '72-92.

All the best

Brendan McCartney (ATC A Watch)

[Gonzo]

There is no DF facility in the VCR, I assume that Tels still have the DF facility in the new tower.

[483lek]

I remember the AD210....lots of high voltages and not enough room in the cabinet to get your hand inside. I had a few shocks of it!

I was there from late 83 untill late 87. The AD210 was replaced by a Fernau Doppler direction finder. It worked very well. We could usually tell which cul-de-sac the jammer was in. We then drove the car round with the mobile DF on the roof. The mobile DF was so good, you could tell which antenna the aircraft was transmitting on.

The best job I went on was when the D&D cell reported hearing a signal on 121.5MHz from Heathrow. We could just about hear it in the tower, but tracked it down to a freight warehouse about 2 miles away. It was in a pallet of emergency beacons that had been delivered that day from the US. One of them had been accidently switched into test mode.

Happy days! (except working on the IRVR when concord took off - loudest noise I have ever heard.

Regards, Rich