|
PAUL THOMPSON'S NDB IMAGES
|
|
On this page you will find a collection of Paul's NDB images, all of which were taken at various locations in the state of Minnesota, USA. These include the following installations: 'ON' - on 264.0 kHz at 'Bolln' Winonoa, MN, 'OW' - on 379.0 kHz at Owatonna, MN, and 'RS' - on 329.0 kHz at Stewartville, MN.
|
|
NOTE# Unless otherwise stated, all of the following pictures are copyright 'Paul Thompson', and should not be re-produced with out first obtaining his permission - please ask us for his contact details if you should require them.
|
|
NDB "ON - 264.0 kHz", 'BOLLN', WINONA, MN, USA:
|
|
'ON' Bolln 264 kHz Winona, MN 06/10/2013
|
|
You never know where you will find a beacon. Most are at airports or out in the countryside somewhere. This one is located inside the perimeter of the City of Winona Wastewater Treatment Plant at 1801 Shives Road and is an outer marker for runway 30 at the Winona, MN airport. Although the beacon is out in the open, the plant property is surrounded by a rusty chain-link fence. You can walk up to the fence and shoot pictures of the beacon through the link which is what I did here. Look carefully toward the left of the excavator and you will see the transmitter cabin and teardrop yagi just behind the SUV parked there. A check with the radio confirmed the beacon is active on 264 kHz and ID's on a 9 second cycle. What I really like about this picture is how clearly the antenna connection to the center spacer and two wires are shown. Oh yes, there was no foul odor or smell coming from the wastewater treatment.
|
|
This image gives a nice view of 'ON's two support poles and 'T' Antenna.
|
|
NDB "OW - 379.0 kHz", 'OWATONNA', MN, USA:
|
|
'OW' Tonna 379 kHz Havana, MN 8/7/2013
|
|
There are several views of OW in this series which show the beacon from both east and west. Known as Tonna, it is an outer marker for the Owatonna, MN airport and physically located on Havana Road in Havana Township, MN, a few miles east of Owatonna. The beacon is in an open farm field with no fence and the weeds/grass surrounding the site was recently mowed. When we visited, the beacon was off the air and I was wondering why because it is one of the regulars at my home QTH in St. Paul. Checking the electric meter I found there was still power to the site and, after discussing this on the list, I decided to report the outage to the MN DOT person in charge of navigational aids who promptly dispatched a technician to the scene. The technician, Eric Benson, not only sent a before and after picture to the DOT, but also to me showing that one of the coupler coils was damaged and that's why the beacon wasn't on the air. These are all my pictures except for the coil pictures taken by Mr. Benson.
|
|
The view of the antenna looking east.
|
|
Another view of the antenna looking east.
|
|
The view of the antenna looking west.
|
|
Another view of the antenna looking west.
|
|
This shot shows the Transmitter Cabin and Yagi.
|
|
This shot shows the Transmitter Cabin and Yagi.
|
|
You can see the Transmitter cabin and east Pole in this shot.
|
|
Mr Benson said this is what the inside of an antenna coupler should look like.
|
|
When 'OW' was off the air recently this was the cause. Photo by NDB technician Eric Benson.
|
|
NDB "RS - 329.0 kHz", 'MINGO', STEWARTVILLE, MN, USA:
|
|
'RS' Mingo 329kHz Stewartville, MN Out of Service 8/7/2013
|
|
According to the NDBRNA list, RS was last heard in January of 2003. Known to pilots as Mingo, this beacon served as an outer marker for the Rochester, MN airport and is physically located on Minnesota Highway 30 east of Stewartville, MN. It evidently wasn't widely heard as there were reports only from Nebraska and Oregon logged. It surprised me that there no reports from, of all places, Minnesota or even Wisconsin/Iowa.
I like to use Google maps to research beacon locations and found RS using the coordinates furnished on the DX info Center list. I always use the Satellite view and you can zoom in close to get a birds-eye view of the area. The surprise was when I zoomed in as far as I could, the image changed to a rotating street view and there was the picture of the beacon from ground level. It even gave me a street address although we were out in the countryside. I suspect that this is the only known or existing picture of a complete RS. I couldn't snip the pictures so I thank Alan Gale for copying them and forwarding them to me. The quality of the original isn't great but this is all we have. The watermark on the pictures says November, 2008, so these pictures were taken over 5½ years after the last reported logging. Close examination of the pictures show that everything appeared to be completely intact at that time. I have no idea if the beacon was on the air in November 2008 but I would presume it was not or it would have been reported by monitors.
Knowing it was off the air, it was those pictures that inspired me to drive to Stewartville on August 7, 2013, and check out the site to see what, if anything, was left. I was hoping, of course, to find the complete setup, intact and ready to be fired up, just like it showed in the 2008 pictures. That wasn't the case. All that remains were the transmitter cabin with the feed line to the antenna wrapped around one of the outer walls. The two short 'T' antenna poles were removed as was the teardrop yagi. The chain-link fence surrounding the cabin still stands complete with barbed wire at the top and was locked which made me wonder if the transmitting equipment is still inside the cabin.
|
|
The Mingo Transmitter Cabin.
|
|
Another shot of the Transmitter cabin.
|
|
The Transmitter cabin from a slightly different angle.
|
|
The locked gate at the Mingo site.
|
A Google 'Street View' of the antenna. This image courtesy of Google Earth.
|
Another view of 'RS' taken from Google Street View. This image also courtesy of Google Street View.
|
|
Paul has a number of other Galleries as well, just click on the buttons below to visit them:
|
|
We're very grateful to Paul for sharing these images with us, and if you have shots of your own that you would also like to see on display here in the NDB List Photo Gallery, we would love to hear from you too!
|
|
** NOTE **
|
|
Information given in this page may be freely re-produced by any 'NON-COMMERCIAL' sources (hobbyists, DX Clubs etc.) provided that due credit is given to the 'NDB List' website as the source, and files are not altered in any way without the prior permission of the copyright holder.
|
|
Thank you for visiting the NDB List Photo Gallery
|
|
