How To...Use TACAN In FS2000

By Craig Moulton

Hello everyone. Here is just a bit of undocumented info for use with FS2000. Microsoft did a fairly good job of including all known navaids in their product. I discovered that they included most, if not all TACAN stations. What is a TACAN? Well, I'm not an expert, but basically it's a navaid much like a VOR that provides both bearing and DME. Unfortunately, as far as I know, there isn't an FS2000 TACAN radio out there that can pick up these signals for us...however there is a little trick that I discovered that makes these TACAN stations useful. While you are not able to get any bearing indications from the TACANs in FS2000, you can take advantage of the DME capability. How is this useful, and how do I get it to work?

Well first off, There are many VOR's out there that only provide bearing information, no DME. There are also many approach procedures that require the use of DME, but there isn't any DME info in the ILS frequency. For example, the ILS approaches into Vandenberg AFB in California are ILS/DME, but there is no DME in their ILS frequency of 110.10. However, there is a TACAN located on the field (midfield) that we can take advantage of.

To use a TACAN frequency you will need a Flight Information Handbook, or other equivalent which lists paired frequencies for TACAN channels (see the list at the end of the article). TACANs use CHANNELS rather than a radio frequency. For example, 95Y 101X 52Y etc...and if you have access to a flight information handbook you can find the paired frequency to use with your Nav radio to get DME, if nothing else. Now, the TACAN at Vandenberg is channel 59Y, so by looking that channel up in the handbook it gives a equivalent frequency of 112.25 MHz...and presto, we now have DME to go with the ILS so long as we tune the 112.25 into our NAV2 radio and switch our DME guage to Nav2.

You may find it useful...then again you may never have call to use it. I just thought that I'd bring it up, and let you decide.

Craig Moulton
NBL3358/C-1 LA ARTCC
gaspedal@mindspring.com

TACAN CHANNEL PAIRED FREQUENCIES

CHANNEL	FREQUENCY	CHANNEL	FREQUENCY	CHANNEL	FREQUENCY	CHANNEL	FREQUENCY
	MHz		MHz		MHz		MHz
17X	108.00	43X	110.60	79X	113.20	105X	115.80
17Y	108.05	43Y	110.65	79Y	113.25	105Y	115.85
18X	108.10	44X	110.70	80X	113.30	106X	115.90
18Y	108.15	44Y	110.75	80Y	113.35	106Y	115.95
19X	108.20	45X	110.80	81X	113.40	107X	116.00
19Y	108.25	45Y	110.85	81Y	113.45	107Y	116.05
20X	108.30	46X	110.90	82X	113.50	108X	116.10
20Y	108.35	46Y	110.95	82Y	113.55	108Y	116.15
21X	108.40	47X	111.00	83X	113.60	109X	116.20
21Y	108.45	47Y	111.05	83Y	113.65	109Y	116.25
22X	108.50	48X	111.10	84X	113.70	110X	116.30
22Y	108.55	48Y	111.15	84Y	113.75	110Y	116.35
23X	108.60	49X	111.20	85X	113.80	111X	116.40
23Y	108.65	49Y	111.25	85Y	113.85	111Y	116.45
24X	108.70	50X	111.30	86X	113.90	112X	116.50
24Y	108.75	50Y	111.35	86Y	113.95	112Y	116.55
25X	108.80	51X	111.40	87X	114.00	113X	116.60
25Y	108.85	51Y	111.45	87Y	114.05	113Y	116.65
26X	108.90	52X	111.50	88X	114.10	114X	116.70
26Y	108.95	52Y	111.55	88Y	114.15	114Y	116.75
27X	109.00	53X	111.60	89X	114.20	115X	116.80
27Y	109.05	53Y	111.65	89Y	114.25	115Y	116.85
28X	109.10	54X	111.70	90X	114.30	116X	116.90
28Y	109.15	54Y	111.75	90Y	114.35	116Y	116.95
29X	109.20	55X	111.80	91X	114.40	117X	117.00
29Y	109.25	55Y	111.85	91Y	114.45	117Y	117.05
30X	109.30	56X	111.90	92X	114.50	118X	117.10
30Y	109.35	56Y	111.95	92Y	114.55	118Y	117.15
31X	109.40	57X	112.00	93X	114.60	119X	117.20
31Y	109.45	57Y	112.05	93Y	114.65	119Y	117.25
32X	109.50	58X	112.10	94X	114.70	120X	117.30
32Y	109.55	58Y	112.15	94Y	114.75	120Y	117.35
33X	109.60	59X	112.20	95X	114.80	121X	117.40
33Y	109.65	59Y	112.25	95Y	114.85	121Y	117.45
34X	109.70	70X	112.30	96X	114.90	122X	117.50
34Y	109.75	70Y	112.35	96Y	114.95	122Y	117.55
35X	109.80	71X	112.40	97X	115.00	123X	117.60
35Y	109.85	71Y	112.45	97Y	115.05	123Y	117.65
36X	109.90	72X	112.50	98X	115.10	124X	117.70
36Y	109.95	72Y	112.55	98Y	115.15	124Y	117.75
37X	110.00	73X	112.60	99X	115.20	125X	117.80
37Y	110.05	73Y	112.65	99Y	115.25	125Y	117.85
38X	110.10	74X	112.70	100X	115.30	126X	117.90
38Y	110.15	74Y	112.75	100Y	115.35	126Y	117.95
39X	110.20	75X	112.80	101X	115.40
39Y	110.25	75Y	112.85	101Y	115.45
40X	110.30	76X	112.90	102X	115.50
40Y	110.35	76Y	112.95	102Y	115.55
41X	110.40	77X	113.00	103X	115.60
41Y	110.45	77Y	113.05	103Y	115.65
42X	110.50	78X	113.10	104X	115.70
42Y	110.55	78Y	113.15	104Y	115.75

The preceding information was taken from the United States Department of Defense Flight Information Handbook. You will note that not all TACAN Channels have a paired frequency. Channels 1X thru 16Y and Channels 60X thru 69Y are not listed. This is because there are no paired frequencies for those channels.

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