Optimizing Non-Directional Beacon Systems for Offshore Navigation in Libya

The Client

A long-term client of Southern Avionics, this oil and gas company with operations in Libya needed to guarantee safe navigation to its new offshore rigs.

The Challenge

The Client recently installed an SE125 NDB system on an oilrig platform off the coast of Libya. Due to limited space on the platform, the client installed the NDB and its antenna on the very edge of the rig. While the equipment was working in this precarious position, the client was unable to achieve the range they needed for the signal.

The Solution

Southern Avionics Company sent engineers to Libya to find a way to optimize the NDB. After first ensuring the system operated normally, our engineers set out to optimize the configuration. The team discovered that the antenna wire was too close to the structure and was sending all of the beacon’s energy into the platform instead of out to the aircraft.

Once the conditions were established, Southern Avionics began to adjust the antenna to improve the range. Despite the challenges of working on equipment suspended over 100 feet up in the air, our engineers were able to increase the distance between the radiating wire and the oil platform to greatly improve performance. Southern Avionics also installed an improved insulator to keep the antenna’s signal directed away from the metal platform.