Sunday, 14 November 2010

NDBs (Non Directional Beacons) in the UK


If you fancy a bit of LF DXing, these frequencies might be worth a try. They are non-directional beacons and are used by aircraft. I searched high and low until I found this list, so thought I would share it. Some may now be off the air.

I can hear my local NWI (Norwich) beacon but that's it. They send their idents in fairly slow Morse code. Have a listen, especially at night
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11 comments:

  1. Anonymous10 December 2010 at 00:33

    Hello

    I am hoping to start listening out for NDB's.

    What equipment (ie radio and antenna) do you need for this hobby.

    Also are the beacons on am or fm.

    Yours
    Michael

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  2. Steve Nichols6 January 2011 at 06:14

    Hi,

    You need a receiver capable of receiving AM in the band around 300-400kHz. A good communications receiver will work, or you can start out with something like the Degen DE1103, which are around £40 on Ebay. I have one and can hear the local beacon on it.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous29 November 2012 at 06:28

      I am located just outside Ipswich. I have a 6-turn wire square loop, 800mm per side, rotatable on a brush handle, fastened to the bottom of the bed. Connected via coax my old Kenwood TS440, I can hear over 90 beacons in the UK and Europe. They are easiest to hear in CW mode, otherwise you can get several beacons all within a few kilohertz of each other, making decoding difficult.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous17 January 2011 at 16:12

    get a very strong one here in leicester UK permanently between 381Khz and 387Khz peaking at around 385Khz

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous29 November 2012 at 06:18

      Brize Norton is on 386kHz, call BZ

      Delete
  4. Anonymous20 October 2015 at 03:39

    Wolverhampton Business Airport otherwise know as Halfpenny Green on 356kHz, Morse id is WBA.

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  5. Anonymous28 February 2016 at 02:34

    In my childhood I lived close to Yeadon airport - now Leeds-Bradford. I was interested in amateur radio and remember hearing a beacon which seemed to broadcast MWY. This was brought back to my mind by a report on Aviation Safety Network of the crash of a Bristol Freighter on 27 Feb 1958 in which failure to identify the correct beacon in the Manchester area played a part. I have found no internet references to beacons from this period. I wonder if anyone else has found a historical list of beacons, or could anyone tell me what the signal MWY might have represented? The current signal for Leeds-Bradford seems to be LBA.

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  6. Billlion19 July 2017 at 02:30

    Is there a map showing UK NDBs?

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  7. Anonymous24 May 2018 at 12:38

    carrier is 300-400Khz, in the UK it is amplitiude modulated (AM) by 400Hz to provide the ident in morse code at a rate of 8 words per minute (WPM)

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  8. Terryhow.26 July 2020 at 14:03

    I am picking one up in the daytime near Crosshands South Wales as NQY which I think is Newquay can anyone comfirm please.

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  9. Unknown24 March 2021 at 01:30

    NDB AT TATENHILL NR BURTON ON TRENT ..USE THE INFO ON MY EMAIL STEVE ..GEOFF

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