Route: A short flight from KHIO > CBU > KPDX, CBU is the VOR-DME.
Problem: I tried 3 VOR-DMEs close to PDX. My Nav1 VOR receiver won’t pick up 2 out of 3 local VOR-DMEs(e.g., CBU 109.20 and BTG 112.60). However, it does work with KHIO 117.40.
Behavior:
I can tune the frequency on my Logitech panel and transfer standby → active, and it shows correctly on the in-cockpit panel.
Inside the cockpit, the CDI needle doesn’t move for both CBU and BTG frequencies even when i am ~2 NMs to the VORs, nor can i hear the morse code.
KHIO works fine, so the receiver isn’t completely dead. Needles and FROM/TO flags work fine.
Questions:
Is there a known issue with certain VORs in MSFS 2020 not being receivable?
Is this a known bug, or setting issue ?
Any troubleshooting steps to confirm if the problem is the sim vs. the Logitech driver?
This is not an issue but rather an understanding of the different navaid types. CBU for instance is a TACAN only station, didn’t find the other station in the list in the quick search I performed.
Bottom line is not all frequencies will report the same info. This will depend on the type of station it is.
VOR only, VORTAC, VOR DME etc
I’d suggest searching for information on the different Navaid types to help you better understand why you may get a certain result.
Ok I had a bit more time and found the second one which is a VORTAC (combined VOR and TACAN station) but you will not pick it up on the frequency you listed. The data I found has it as 116.6Mhz.
So the results you got were appropriate. No issues.
A lot of VORs have been deactivate and/or downgraded to DME only stations in the last few years. I found that out in my local area. There is a local to me VOR that was downgraded to DME only just a year or two ago. I scratched my head for awhile because it worked when Fs2020 came out. I then found out it was DME only now. When I looked at a chart for my area, I noticed that station was still on the map with the same freq, but it no longer had a compass circle around it and was just labeled DME. The circle indicates a fully functional VOR. You can look at charts on Skyvector for free.
This, and as @Sling380 mentioned, at the same time they’re decommissioning many VORs as part of the NexGen/MON program. With the decommissioning, many of the ones that remain are being assigned new frequencies that have been freed up in order to de-conflict with other, more distant VORs, which allows them to expand the service volumes at lower altitudes. They’re also adding a lot of DME-only stations as a backup for INS, which often uses DME-DME to update position. We still use the same frequency band on our nav sets to tune DME (though they are still VHF/UHF paired under the hood) and they’re often situated for better high-altitude geographic coverage than many of the decommissioned VORs were, hence the further need to manage existing frequencies.
Bottom line: we have to stay on top of the changes, as they’ve been pretty rapid over the last few years. The sim is publishing new real-world navdata/AIRAC with every 28-day cycle, so the use of up-to-date charts and information is imperative.
Wow, you guys are awesome and prompt to help address issues !
I learnt a lot just by reading on your comments and yes, i primarily use World Map to plan my flight plan, and when i switch from “Fly with GPS” to “VOR to VOR”, fs 2020 automatically inserts the CBU VOR in the middle. What I should have done is to cross-check that VOR type and frequency with multiple sources, e.g. skyvector or little navmap. BTW, do you guys have any tools you’d recommend to do a reverse look-up, e..g from a frequency to a VOR identifier ?
Another good learning from all of you is that VOR does work in msfs 2020, thats comforting. For a while, i was wondering if my logitech radio panel could be the problem since a few of my older sim HW fail to work in msfs 2020, e.g. trim wheel & CH yoke.
Also, i will be mindful of the decommissioning and updating of VORs and i’ll be looking forward to the new navadata/AIRAC in the next 28-day cycle.
Thank you so much again everyone. Please keep your good comments and recommendation coming. You guys are invaluable to new simmers and this forum !!!
AirNav will do this for US navaids - just type the frequency into the search box while in the navaid tab. That’s the only way I know of to do a reverse frequency lookup without getting into a full navdata database search.
My CH yoke is so old it was made in the USA. Old enough to vote, drink alcohol, rent a car, etc, etc. Still works great as far as connectivity and assignment, except it’s starting to show its age in terms of accuracy and drift. I have a lot of peripherals attached to my simpit and use SPAD.next to connect all of them to the sim, except the yoke and rudder pedals, which are connected directly to the sim. Let me know if I can help.
Thank you @CharlieFox00. I will try out AirNav . My CH yoke is definitely has shown its age… I will definitely try out SPAD.next to see if it could bring life back but am thinking seriously to get the saitek yoke instead. Hopefully it works ?
If anyone is curious (because I was), here is more information on the MON program. If you look in the upper right-hand corner of that webpage, you’ll see links to VORs to be kept and decommissioned.
Thanks for sharing this interesting tidbit on VOR MON, @GibbysPop ! I didnt find OR VORs on the VOR candidate discontinuance list but i did find all the VORs in candidate retention list so this is a great . Thanks agin !