MODULE 4

Distance measuring equipment (dme)

MOHAMED SAMEER T K Aero Dept. JCET

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DME provides range information and is used in conjunction with VOR.
It is based on secondary radar principle.

The system consists of a pulse transmitter and receiver (called the Interrogator) installed in an aircraft and a pulse receiver - transmitter system (called the transponder) at a fixed position on the ground.

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1025 - 1150 MHz (126 channels)

Interrogation Reply

962 - 1024 MHz or 1151 - 1213 MHz Transponder

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The interrogator transmits RF pulses periodically at a frequency say f1 .

These are received by the receiver of the transponder, amplified, demodulated and made to trigger the transmitter, generally after a small fixed delay. The frequency of the transmitter f2 is different from that of the receiver. In the aircraft, the receiver, which is tuned to f2 receives these pulses and the delay between the transmitted and received pulses is measured to obtain the distance of the transponder from the aircraft.

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Slant Range R= ct C= speed of electromagnetic wave t= the difference in time between the interrogator and reply 6 pulses

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The system operates in the frequency band of 962 to 1213 MHz and has a range of 200 nautical miles. It has a measuring accuracy of 0.25nm The DME interrogator operates in the band 1025 - 1150 MHz with 126 channels spaced 1MHz apart. The transponder operates in the band 962 - 1213 MHz. For each channel , a pair of frequencies (f1 and f2 ) which are separated by 63 MHz are allotted.
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Both the interrogator and transponder operate with pulse pairs consisting of two pulses 12 sec apart.
The reason for using pulse pairs instead of single pulse is that thereby, the probability of transponder being triggered by spurious noise pulse is reduced.

The pulse rate in the transponder is maintained constantly around 3000 pulse pair per second (constant duty cycle operation).

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In order that pulses trigger the transponder transmitter, they should satisfy two conditions,

(a) two pulses must be received 12 sec apart (b) both pulses must have amplitude exceeding the triggering level.

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The transmitter consists of a crystal oscillator, a frequency multiplier , and a power amplifier. The output power ranges from 50 W to 1 KW depending on the type of equipment.

The power amplifier is modulated by a pulse modulator which is timed by waveforms obtained from the ranging circuit. A common antenna is used for the receiver and transmitter.

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