Multimedia Gallery
- Topic: Navigation Tools
Aircraft equipment locates signals from a ground station. Typically, a needle points toward a station, giving a bearing relative to the direction the aircraft is headed.
Radio navigation relies on the transmission and reception of electromagnetic signals to determine position or course.
Antennas create four “beams” that aviators locate by listening to audio signals. When the signals overlap into a constant tone, the aviator is “flying the beam.”
This is a typical radio range receiver used in the late 1930s on private airplanes.
The Seiko Epson Digital Assistant was one of the earliest devices to incorporate GPS navigation with communication features.
Sextant, made by Jesse Ramsden, last quarter of 18th century.
The components pictured here are just part of the Ship’s Inertial Navigation System (SINS) used to steer submarines such as the USS Alabama.
Sidereal time, or “star time,” is based on Earth’s rotation relative to the stars, rather than to the Sun.
Information about the ship’s position, speed, heading, and attitude were constantly transmitted from the Ship's Inertial Navigation System (SINS).