RADIO

DIRECTION
FINDING
(RDF)

REPORTER:
ALFIE JUNE VILLAREAL
EMERSON OTUCAN

TABLE OF CONTENTS
What is RDF?
Why do we need these RDF
The uses of RDF
The equipment of RDF
The theory of RDF

Radio Direction Finding

What is Radio direction finder?

A radio direction finder (RDF) is a device for finding the direction, or bearing, to
a radio source. The act of measuring the direction is known as radio direction finding or
sometimes simply direction finding (DF). Using two or more measurements from different
locations, the location of an unknown transmitter can be determined; alternately, using two or
more measurements of known transmitters, the location of a vehicle can be determined. RDF is
widely used as a radio navigation system, especially with boats and aircraft.
RDF systems can be used with any radio source, although the size of the receiver antennas are a
function of the wavelength of the signal; very long wavelengths (low frequencies) require very
large antennas, and are generally used only on ground-based systems. These wavelengths are
nevertheless very useful for marine navigation as they can travel very long distances and "over
the horizon", which is valuable for ships when the line-of-sight may be only a few tens of
kilometres. For aerial use, where the horizon may extend to hundreds of kilometres, higher
frequencies can be used, allowing the use of much smaller antennas. An automatic direction
finder, often capable of being tuned to commercial AM radio transmitters, is a feature of almost
all modern aircraft.

The early experiment of RDF where carried out 1888 when HEINRICH HERTZ discovered the
directional properties of radio waves

Why do we need these skills?

Locating Harmful Interference

Jammers

Stuck transmitters

Local noise sources

Search and Rescue

ELT/EPIRBs

FRS/ham radios

Wildlife location

Navigation

The RDF used in:

Aviation of air craft

Ships

To locate emergency transmitter for search and rescue

 For tracking wildlife and to locate illegal or interfering transmitters

Equipment Needed
Radio receiver and antenna that are directionally sensitive and can receive the signal
A way to determine your direction
A map and compass would be nice

Equipment
Antennas
Wire Antenna
Simple
Signal strength only
Directivity via body blocking

 Works better with stronger signal and well shielded receiver

High skill level required

Beam/Yagi
Very accurate bearings
Requires clean
pattern and good
front-to-back ratio
Easily overloaded by
strong signals
Tune to null (sharper than gain)
Can use front to help find weaker signals but with reduced bearing accuracy

Loops
More common on HF frequencies
Very compact

 Tune to the null

Bearings not very precise
Has 180 degree ambiguity

Advanced Equipment
Adcock Device Handi Finder
Based on phase difference
Antenna array MUST be symmetric
Cant identify front/back without a third sense antenna
Tune to no tone (signals in phase)
Weak signals can be a problem
Strong signals may cause too much multipath

Doppler DF DF Jr.
Not real Doppler uses a pair of Adcock antennas
Gives real-time bearings
Only accurate to
~30 degrees
Antenna size and
spacing are
frequency dependant

Theory
Locating the Fox (transmitter)
Triangulation
Doing the Math

, and distance AB are already known

C can be calculated by using the distance RC or MC:

RC: Position of C can be calculated using the Law of Sines

RC or MC can be calculated using the Law of Cosines and the Pythagorean

theorem

Triangulation
Graphical Approch

Take bearings from three points

90% of contacts will be inside intersecting triangle

Dont neglect signal strength info

Signal strength will depend on terrain

Sources of Error
Operator Error
Antenna Gain Pattern
Propagation

Multi Path

Reflection

Foxhunting
Containment Area

Large (county) vs. small (city)

or local (park)

Drive times become significant

Starting location

Together vs. distributed

Radios/antennas

HTs vs. mobiles

HTs offer portability but mobile
meters are often more accurate

Omni vs. beam

Even 2m beams are unwieldy, omnis offer some info while driving

RDF Techniques
Mapping

Time vs. accuracy

Accurate bearing plotting is time consuming but often valuable

Terrain

Multipath issues particularly in urban areas

Reflections can mislead and can be accentuated if the target uses a directional
antenna

Going the last mile

Attenuators for non-Adcock antennas

Removing the antenna when within a couple blocks

Body blocking

Detuning decreases receiver sensitivity

Tune a harmonic (2m 3rd harmonic on 70cm)

Be aware of local multipath sources

Resources
Homing In Site
http://members.aol.com/homingin/
Tape Measure Yagi
http://home.att.net/~jleggio/projects/rdf/tape_bm.htm
Adjustable Attenuator
http://home.att.net/~jleggio/projects/rdf/p_atten.htm
Arrow Antenna
http://www.arrowantennas.com/
Ultimate Automated Doppler DF System
http://www.ahha-doppler.com/gpss/gpss.html

1. Who discovered RDF?

2-5. The RDF used in?
6. Directivity via body blocking is a _____
7. Very accurate bearings is a ______
8. What is RDF?
9-10. Advance equipment of RDF
11-13. Source of error
14-15. RDF techniques
16. Adcock device is called _____
17-19. Why do we need these RDF?
20. Loops has ___ degree ambiguity