DISTANC E M E A S U R IN G

E Q U I P M E NT
E N AVIGATION A ND C ONT ROL
GUIDANC
INTRODUCTION

SHORT/MEDIUM RANGE NAVIGATION SYSTEM

USED WITH VOR SYSTEM TO PROVIDE ACCURATE NAVIGATION FIXES (ROH-THETA NAVIGATION)
SECONDARY RADAR PRINCIPLES SECONDARY RADAR ??
OPERATES IN THE L-BAND OF RADAR L-BAND ??
RADAR
RADIO DETECTION AND RANGING
LOCATE AIRCRAFT AND DISPLAY THEIR RANGE AND BEARING
Ground Based Or In Another Aircraft
PRIMARY RADAR
ENERGY IS RADIATED VIA A ROTATING RADAR ANTENNA
THIS TARGET COULD BE AN AIRCRAFT, THE GROUND OR A CLOUD
SOME OF THIS ENERGY IS REFLECTED BACK FROM THE TARGET AND IS COLLECTED IN THE SAME ANTENNA
THE STRENGTH OF THE RETURNED ENERGY IS MEASURED AND USED TO DETERMINE THE RANGE OF THE TARGET
A ROTATING ANTENNA PROVIDES THE DIRECTIONAL INFORMATION SUCH THAT THE TARGET CAN BE DISPLAYED ON A
SCREEN

DISADVANTAGE: THE AMOUNT OF ENERGY BEING TRANSMITTED IS VERY LARGE COMPARED WITH THE AMOUNT OF
ENERGY REFLECTED FROM THE TARGET
SECONDARY RADAR

TRANSMITS A SPECIFIC LOW ENERGY SIGNAL (THE INTERROGATION) TO A KNOWN TARGET

THIS SIGNAL IS ANALYZED AND A NEW (OR SECONDARY) REPLY SIGNAL, I.E. NOT A REFLECTED SIGNAL, IS
SENT BACK TO THE ORIGIN

DEVELOPED DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR TO DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN FRIENDLY AIRCRAFT AND
SHIPS: IDENTIFICATION FRIEND OR FOE (1FF)
DME
THE DME NAVIGATION AID CONTAINS A TRANSPONDER (RECEIVER AND TRANSMITTER)
THE AIRCRAFT EQUIPMENT RADIATES ENERGY PULSES TO THE DME NAVIGATION AID; SECONDARY SIGNALS ARE THEN
TRANSMITTED BACK TO THE AIRCRAFT. AN ON-BOARD INTERROGATOR MEASURES THE TIME TAKEN FOR THE SIGNALS
TO BE TRANSMITTED AND RECEIVED AT THE AIRCRAFT

DME STATIONS, OR CO-LOCATED WITH A VOR

THE SYSTEM IS LINE OF SIGHT, THE ALTITUDE OF THE AIRCRAFT THEREFORE WILL HAVE A DIRECT RELATIONSHIP WITH
THE RANGE

THE MAXIMUM LINE-OF-SIGHT (LOS) DISTANCE BETWEEN AN AIRCRAFT AND THE GROUND STATION WORKING RANGE
DME OPERATION
THE SIGNALS TRANSMITTED BY THE INTERROGATOR ARE A PAIR OF PULSES, EACH OF 3.5 ms DURATION AND 12
ms APART
THE INTERROGATOR GENERATES A PULSE-PAIR REPETITION RATE BETWEEN 5 AND 150 PULSE-PAIRS PER SECOND
AFTER A 50 MS TIME DELAY, TRANSMITS A NEW PAIR OF PULSES AT A FREQUENCY 63 MHZ ABOVE OR BELOW THE
INTERROGATORS FREQUENCY
THE AIRCRAFTS INTERROGATOR RECEIVES THE PULSES AND MATCHES THE TIME INTERVAL BETWEEN THE
TRANSMITTED PAIR OF PULSES THIS ENSURES THAT OTHER AIRCRAFT INTERROGATING THE SAME DME
NAVIGATION AID AT THE SAME TIME ONLY PROCESS THEIR OWN PULSES BY MEASURING THE ELAPSED TIME
DME IS A LINE OF SIGHT SYSTEM WITH A MAXIMUM RANGE OF APPROXIMATELY 200 NM, THIS EQUATES TO
APPROXIMATELY 2400 MS ELAPSED TIME TAKEN FOR A PAIR OF PULSES TO BE TRANSMITTED AND RECEIVED,
TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE 50 MS TIME DELAY IN THE GROUND STATION SYSTEM ACCURACY IS TYPICALLY O.5
NM, OR 3% OF THE CALCULATED DISTANCE, WHICHEVER IS THE GREATER
EQUIPMENT OVERVIEW
COMMERCIAL TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT ARE USUALLY FITTED WITH TWO INDEPENDENT DME SYSTEMS,
COMPRISING ANTENNAS AND INTERROGATORS

THE DME ANTENNAS ARE L-BAND BLADES ANTENNAS, LOCATED ON THE UNDERSIDE OF THE FUSELAGE
THREE MAIN FUNCTIONS TRANSMITTING, RECEIVING AND CALCULATION OF DISTANCE
TRANSMISSION IS IN THE RANGE 1025 TO 1150 MHZ
RECEIVING IS IN THE RANGE 962 TO 1215 MHZ
CHANNEL SPACING IS 1 MHZ
EQUIPMENT OVERVIEW
THE INTERROGATION OPERATES IN SEVERAL MODES

STANDBY
SEARCH
TRACK Assignment
SCAN
MEMORY
FAULT
SELF-TEST