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Can someone tell me what this symbol/# on an IFR low chart is?

jcarne

Well Known Member
Patron
So there I was helping a friend study for his IFR oral/checkride by having him teach me some things. If you don't know, in the education world teaching is the best form of learning. I digress...

We were looking at an IFR low like the one below and no one including 3 different CFIIs seem to know what the 21 is that I have circled. Anyone? And no it's not a distance to that VOR, we checked (unless ForeFlight lost its ability to measure). Thanks in advance!
 

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Tacan Channel

Hi,

It has been a long time but I think that is the TACAN Channel. It works on a different principle than the VOR but the needle presentation is the same if you have a TACAN receiver which is pretty much a military thing, not civilian.
 
That is not showing the tacan because only the military uses them except the DME channel of the paired VOR FREQ uses the Tacan DME for your distance.
 
dme channel

Specifically, 21 is the DME channel off of Thief River Falls VOR/DME that the radial is defined off of. If the navaid is a Vortac or Tacan, it then is also the tacan channel.
 
symbol

The dme frequency is normally selected automatically with the accompanying VOR for civilian use.

If, however, you are using a TACAN receiver, it is selected by channel...

Search for FAA chart symbols; there are many, many of them...
 
Bob S appears to be the winner. If you look up the VOR/DME it is in fact a TACAN channel. I confirmed it with another symbol elsewhere on the chart as well. Thanks for the help guys! I knew the VAF crew would come through.
 

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In my F-4 Phantom days, we had two TACAN receivers (one in each cockpit) plus a VOR receiver in the front seat. That VOR-in-a-box symbol specifically means VOR/DME. The VOR in the F-4 (and other mil aircraft) only showed you the bearing, no DME. The "TACAN" channel here on this VOR/DME only gave you DME through the TACAN receiver, but no bearing/radial info.

Thus, to tune Thief River Falls VOR/DME, you would dial 108.4 in the VOR and Channel 21x in the TACAN. By doing so, your front cockpit ADI/HSI and rear cockpit BDHI showed the VOR bearing/radial plus distance in the DME window.
 
In my F-4 Phantom days, we had two TACAN receivers (one in each cockpit) plus a VOR receiver in the front seat. That VOR-in-a-box symbol specifically means VOR/DME. The VOR in the F-4 (and other mil aircraft) only showed you the bearing, no DME. The "TACAN" channel here on this VOR/DME only gave you DME through the TACAN receiver, but no bearing/radial info.

Thus, to tune Thief River Falls VOR/DME, you would dial 108.4 in the VOR and Channel 21x in the TACAN. By doing so, your front cockpit ADI/HSI and rear cockpit BDHI showed the VOR bearing/radial plus distance in the DME window.

Awesome explanation, so cool to learn something from the military side of things!
 
Of course, a full-up TACAN station showed you bearing/radial and DME just by dialing up the TACAN channel.
 
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