Radio Beacon

The Radio beacon is a gadget featured in Battlefield 3. It is used as a spawn point for the user, and eventually his squad.

Overview
The Radio Beacon is a gadget in Battlefield 3. It is for the Recon class and acts as a mobile spawn point for your squad. It appears as a small radio, can be placed anywhere, and can be destroyed. The purpose of the Beacon is to allow a squad to spawn closer to their objective without sacrificing a squad member to being a dedicated spawn point.

Gameplay
The Radio Beacon replaces the squad spawn point normally attached to the player (similar to its BF2142 incarnation, the SLSB). In Custom game settings where players can only spawn on squad leaders, the Radio Beacon provides squad members with an alternative spawn. Players still earn the squad spawn bonus if their beacon is used.

When deployed, a folding dish antenna appears next to the radio. This, along with the device's intermittent beeping, makes it difficult to hide from enemies. Friendly beacons have a special minimap icon. Like certain other deployable items, the beacon is finicky about where it can be placed, preferring level ground free of foliage.

In Rush mode, once the current objectives are destroyed, all beacons self-destruct. Players can, however, place new beacons immediately after a base has been taken. Radio Beacons can also be destroyed with any weapon, or disabled with an MAV if it has line of sight.

Because Radio Beacons and SOFLAM occupy different equipment slots, a common tactic is to find a lofty position, deploy a Radio Beacon, and then deploy the SOFLAM. This makes it harder to snuff it out, especially if squad engineers carrying Javelins spawn on it.

Gadget Behavior After Respawn
During the original final build, the player respawn on their own beacon as Recon class, the beacon will destroy itself (explode). Other players can respawn freely, as can the owner if they choose a different kit. This behavior was unique among deployable gadgets.

After the BF3 2011-11-22 PC Patch, Beacons always disappear when the owner respawns. This makes it more imperative for the owner to stay alive, or to replace his beacon. This is also prelevant in the BF3 2011-11-30 PS3 Patch.

Orientation
During the beta, players respawned facing 90 degrees left of where the owner was facing when he planted the beacon. There was also a glitch that prevented the beacon from being placed in certain areas.

In the final build of the game players will respawn facing north regardless of which direction it was placed allowing for users to have a possible idea of where they might land.

Trivia

 * During the BF3 Beta, the folding dish with the beacon was not present. This was probably added to help prevent spawn camping.
 * If a player places the beacon close enough to a solid object, the player and their squad can spawn hundreds of feet in the air with a parachute. This can only happen if the beacon is placed outside.
 * On certain maps like Operation Métro, Seine Crossing, Grand Bazaar, and Tehran Highway users will always spawn on the ground, no matter where the beacon is placed to most likely prevent the user from reaching unintended buildings.
 * The beacon was originally designed to self-destruct when the user died in order to prevent Spawn Camping.
 * The user will always spawn on the ground if the beacon is placed inside of a structure.