NAVAID Symbols and Boxes

NAVAIDs are radio stations you navigate by. On the sectional, VHF NAVAIDs and their data boxes are printed in blue. The legend shows the symbols for VOR, VORTAC, VOR-DME, and DME. Panoche, east of Salinas, shows the VORTAC symbol. Each VORTAC combines the VOR with the military TACAN, which also gives DME distance.

Its box gives the name, Panoche, then the frequency, 112.6, channel 73, the identifier PXN, and the Morse code. The line under 112.6 means no voice on this frequency. You identify the station by its Morse code. Channel 73 is the TACAN channel that military aircraft select. A civil DME uses the paired frequency, 112.6.

The Salinas VORTAC sits on the airport. The chart marks it with a small open circle inside the airport symbol. The word VORTAC on top of the box names the type. Salinas is 117.3, channel 120, SNS. The San Jose box says VOR-DME. It gives a course and a distance, but it has no TACAN part.

At Watsonville, there is only DME equipment. To get distance, tune the frequency in parentheses, 114.25. There is no course. Check the Morse code before you use any NAVAID for navigation. During maintenance, it may send T-E-S-T or no identifier. Treat it as unreliable then. The chart does not show where a NAVAID is unusable. The Chart Supplement does. For the Salinas VOR, it lists 12 unusable sectors.