direction finder

American  

noun

Radio.

1. a receiver with a loop antenna rotating on a vertical axis, used to ascertain the direction of incoming radio waves.

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direction finder British  

noun

1. Abbreviation: D/F.   DF.  a highly directional aerial system that can be used to determine the direction of incoming radio signals, used esp as a navigation aid

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Other Word Forms

• direction finding
  noun

Etymology

Origin of direction finder

First recorded in 1910–15

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

direction finder

One involved Noonan doing celestial navigation; the other, her use of a radio “bearing” direction finder.

From Forbes ● Nov. 10, 2014

Why would Earhart start out on such a hazardous journey without knowing how to operate her aircraft’s radio direction finder to the nth degree?

From Forbes ● Nov. 10, 2014

Best known is his Learmatic Navigator, a combined automatic radio direction finder and directional gyro, for which he got the Frank Hawks Memorial Award last December.

From Time Magazine Archive

In the lagoon lies the 6,000-ton S. S. Northwind, with a radio direction finder and a 35-man airport staff which laid out a runway channel with green and red buoys.

From Time Magazine Archive

Otherwise, the Federal Communications Commission would pick you up, use a direction finder, and move in on your operation.

From The Electronic Mind Reader by Blaine, John