VOR: VHF Omni-directional Radio Ranges [VORs] operate in the Very High Frequency aviation navigation [NAV]

band between 112.1 and 117.9 MHz. As VHF transmissions are line-of-sight the ground to air range depends on
the elevation of the beacon site, the height of the aircraft and the power output. The VOR beacons are usually
located at airfields but as they serve to define designated air routes [ airways] some are located away from
airfields, often on high ground.

A simplified concept of the ground beacon is that it simultaneously transmits two signals, a constant omni-
directional signal called the reference phase and a directional signal which rotates through 360°, during a 0.03
second system cycle, and consistently varies in phase through each rotation. The two signals are only exactly
in phase once during each rotation – when the directional signal is aligned to magnetic north.

Imagine a wheel with 360 spokes, at one degree azimuth spacing, with the VOR beacon being the hub. The
spokes are numbered clockwise from one to 360 and each spoke or radial represents a magnetic
bearing from the VOR beacon. The airborne navigation circuitry measures the phase angle difference between
the directional signal phase received and the reference signal phase and interprets that as the angular, or
'radial', indication currently being received. Radials are identified by magnetic bearing – e.g. the 30° radial –
and thus form the basis for VOR, and designated air route, navigation. Essentially the system indicates a line
of position, from the selected VOR, on which the aircraft is located at any time.

The beacon also transmits a Morse code aural identification signal at about 10 second intervals.

The airborne system utilising the VOR beacon transmissions usually consists of an antenna (probably a V - type
dipole mounted horizontally on the fin or fuselage but could be the more expensive 'blade' or 'towel rail'
types), a conventional VHF receiver (if combined with the VHF communications transceiver it is then called
a NAV / COMM unit), navigation circuitry and the separate panel mounted navigation indicator or 'Omni
Bearing Indicator' [OBI].

Some hand held aviation COMMS transceivers can also receive the NAV band VOR transmissions and appear to
have some navigation circuitry but, from all reports, their VOR navigation capability, if it exists at all, is
limited.

Basic Omni Bearing Indicator, like this Bendix-King model, has a manually operated radial or 'omni bearing'
selector [OBS] which rotates an azimuth ring marked from 0° to 355°. The OBS selected radial is indicated by
the arrow at top dead centre and the reciprocal bearing is indicated by the bottom arrow. The other features
of a basic OBI are the TO–FROM indicators, a deviation bar, a deviation indicator needle and a NAV/OFF alarm
flag.
The TO–FROM indications on the OBI are dependent on the aircraft's position relative to a notional ground
baseline, formed perpendicular to the selected radial and passing through the beacon site. Unlike the NDB the
indication is completely independent of the aircraft's heading. The navigation circuitry compares the
difference between the radial being received and the radial selected. If the aircraft is located anywhere
within range on the radial side of the baseline the 'FROM' indication will be displayed on the OBI and, if
located within range on the reciprocal side, the 'TO' indication will be displayed. For example if the 030°
radial is selected on the OBI, the ground baseline is established between 300° and 120°. If the radial received
indicates the aircraft is anywhere in the blue shaded area of the diagram and no matter whether it is headed
towards or away from the VOR, or in any direction whatsoever, the OBI will display 'FROM'. Similarly if it is in
the yellow area the OBI will display 'TO' no matter which direction the aircraft is headed. There are two areas
of ambiguity – near bearings at right angles to the radial (e.g. shown at 120° and 300°) – where the OBI will
give fluctuating indications, or display the 'OFF' flag.

The deviation bar and the deviation indicator needle together form the Course Deviation Indicator or CDI. If
the needle is over the centre point the aircraft is then located at some position along the selected radial – or
its reciprocal. The five division marks or dots either side of the centre point are spaced at two degree
intervals, thus if the needle is over the third mark, left or right of centre, the aircraft is positioned at a radial
six degrees in azimuth from the selected radial, or its reciprocal.(Actually the aircraft is at the centre mark
and the needle indicates the position of the selected radial). Full travel of the needle from the centre to
either side represents 10° – or more – of azimuth. The ambiguity of whether the OBS selection is the radial or
the reciprocal is determined by the TO / FROM indication; in the diagram at left 030 must be the radial as the
aircraft is in the FROM area. When the aircraft passes overhead the beacon the needle will swing from side to
side, the alarm flag may temporarily indicate that navigation is 'OFF' and the TO/FROM indication will reverse.

A difficulty for a non IFR trained pilot using the VOR is a lack of perception of which way to turn the aircraft to
fly to a selected radial, using the CDI indications. However, for VFR purposes, this is easily ascertained if the
pilot follows two simple rules:
1. To track FROM a VOR select the radial required and ensure FROM is indicated.
2. To track TO a VOR rotate the OBS until the CDI is centred and TO is indicated.
In both cases as wind effect drifts the aircraft off track the deviation indicator needle will move to one side
and that movement indicates the direction to turn to regain track. i.e. turn towards the needle.
VOR applications

Like the NDB / ADF there are several applications for the VOR in light aircraft cross country VMC navigation.
The applications briefly described below will be detailed in the 'Using the VOR' module.

Homing & tracking to a VOR. Even with a crosswind component tracking toward a VOR is quite simple, rotate
the OBS until the CDI is centred and TO is indicated, turn onto that magnetic heading and then just keep the
CDI centred and you will track more or less direct to the VOR.

Tracking from a VOR. Rotate the OBS to the required track [radial], ensure FROM is indicated, turn onto that
magnetic heading and just keep the CDI centred and you will maintain the track.

Position fixes. If two VORs are in range then the bearing from each can be ascertained, roughly plotted on the
chart [after converting to true bearings] and the aircraft position will be close to the intersection point of the
LOPs. Alternatively a VOR bearing and a NDB bearing can be used or a VOR bearing and a line feature on the
chart, the latter technique being the most frequently used.

Running fix / distance from VOR. The 1-in-60 rule can be applied when the aircraft is within range of a
transmitter by turning the aircraft so that the station is abeam and then measuring the degrees traversed
against time, as in the NDB running fix application above. The advantage with the VOR is that the CDI needle
indicates the degrees traversed. As in the NDB application the position fix is the distance along the second
radial from the beacon.

VOR errors

Standard VOR systems are more accurate than NDB / ADF but are still subject to errors at the ground station,
bending distortion of signals caused by terrain effect and avionics errors. The aggregation of all errors is very
unlikely to exceed 5°.

Though very thin on the ground in the outback areas of Australia, NDB and VOR can be very useful, provided
the aircraft is within range, but not the best value for money. That distinction now belongs to another, and
more advanced, supplementary navigation tool – the Global Positioning System.

Navigating directly to a VOR is the easiest way to use this kind of navaid.

 Dial in the frequency of the VOR into your NAV1 radio

 Turn the OBS (course selector knob) for the instrument(OBI) until you see the word "TO" and the CDI
needle centres
 Note the heading shown at the top of the instrument; fly that course to go directly to the VOR

That's basically all there is to it! There are complications such as crosswinds that will affect your ability to get
to the VOR. If you have winds you will have to adjust for them and fly a heading that will allow you to follow
the proper course.

In an ideal situation you could fly the heading you just determined right to the VOR station. In that case the
needle on the OBI would remain centred right up until the time when you passed over the VOR. More likely,
though, your course will drift off to the side. By watching the needle on the OBI you can see this happen and
also tell how to adjust your heading to get back on course:

VOR Navigation
Part I
The VHF Omnidirectional Range navigation
system, VOR, was probably the most
significant aviation invention other than the
jet engine. With it, a pilot can simply,
accurately, and without ambiguity navigate
from Point A to Point B.

The widespread introduction of VORs began in the early 1950s and 50 years later it remains
the primary navigation system in the overwhelming majority of aircraft.

If you jumped to this point of the website without proceeding through the earlier sections, I
strongly recommend that you return to the Air Navigation section and review the sections on
VFR Sectional Charts, IFR enroute low altitude charts, and the basics of plotting a course.
Further, you should go to the NDB Approaches/Approach Plates section and read the basics
of Instrument Approach Plates, now called Terminal Procedures.

The basic principle of operation of the VOR is very simple: the VOR facility transmits two
signals at the same time. One signal is constant in all directions, while the other is rotated
about the station. The airborne equipment receives both signals, looks (electronically) at the
difference between the two signals, and interprets the result as a radial from the station.

The GPS, Global Positioning System, is making inroads onto the navigation scene and offers
a flexibility unavailable with either NDB or VOR systems. However, it is supplementing
these systems, not replacing them.

The RMI indicator used in the NDB navigation exercises is as close to a "hands-off" indicator
as you will find. In an aircraft the RMI compass card must initially be aligned with the
compass before a flight begins and then rechecked every fifteen minutes or so, and that's it.

With VOR, however, course information must be manually entered into the indicator. The
VOR indicator below shows an aircraft heading toward, "TO," the Omni station.

NOTE this very important fact, with more info farther down. The radial signals of a
VOR always point away from the station. The indicator below shows 345°, but since
we are heading toward the VOR, see arrow D, we are actually on the reciprocal radial, or the
165° radial. This aircraft is south of the station. This will become more clear in a moment.
 See the text for details on the four components of the VOR Indicator.
The digital indicator is a separate gauge used on the Nav Trainer Panel.

The VOR display has four elements:

A. A Rotating Course Card, calibrated from 0 to 360°, which indicates the VOR bearing
chosen as the reference to fly TO or FROM. Here, the 345° radial has been set into
the display. This VOR gauge also digitally displays the VOR bearing, which
simplifies setting the desired navigation track.
B. The Omni Bearing Selector, or OBS knob, used to manually rotate the course card.
C. The CDI, or Course Deviation Indicator. This needle swings left or right indicating
the direction to turn to return to course. When the needle is to the left, turn left and
when the needle is to the right, turn right, When centered, the aircraft is on course.
Each dot in the arc under the needle represents a 2° deviation from the desired course.
This needle is more-frequently called the left-right needle, with the CDI term quickly
forgotten after taking the FAA written exams. Here, the pilot is doing well, and is
dead-on course—or maybe lazy and with the autopilot activated in the "NAV" mode.
D. The TO-FROM indicator. This arrow will point up, or towards the nose of the aircraft,
when flying TO the VOR station. The arrow reverses direction, points downward,
when flying away FROM the VOR station. A red flag replaces these TO-FROM
arrows when the VOR is beyond reception range, has not been properly tuned in, or
the VOR receiver is turned off. Similarly, the flag appears if the VOR station itself is
inoperative, or down for maintenance. Here, the aircraft is flying TO the station.

Radials, Radials, Radials

To grasp the VOR system you

must understanding that it is
entirely based on radials away
from the station.

In the Sandy Point VOR to the

left, note first that the arrow on
the 0° radial points away from
the center of the compass rose.
You'll remember that this radial
points to the west of true north
because of the west magnetic
variation. North on a VOR is
Magnetic North. So, if you
overflew this VOR on the 0°
radial, you would be flying away
from the VOR.

Similarly, note the arrows by the

30°, 60°, 90° marks and the rest
of the way around the compass
rose. They all point away from the station. Radials arealways away from the station.
There is only one line on the chart for each numbered radial for a particular VOR station.
Whether you are flying it outbound or inbound, or crossing it, a radial is always in the same
place.

The only possible complication lies in the reciprocity of the numbers. Whenever you are
proceeding outbound, your magnetic course (and heading when there is no wind) will be the
same number as the radial. Turn around and fly inbound you must mentally reverse the
numbers and physically reverse the OBS setting so that your course is now the reciprocal of
the radial. But the radial you are flying on hasn't changed.

Some examples will cement this in your mind.

This aircraft is north of the Omni station, flying on the 345° radial away FROM the station.
The left-right needle shows the aircraft on course and the FROM flag is present, pointing
down, toward the station behind.
This aircraft is south of the Omni station. Its magnetic course is 345°. Walk through the steps
below to understand the VOR reading.

1. The aircraft isn't on the 345° radial because that radial extends from the Omni to the
northwest as shown by the arrow.
2. The aircraft is actually on the reciprocal radial, the radial pointing towards the plane.
That reciprocal radial is 165°, away from the station like all radials.
3. If the 165° radial were set into the VOR, the FROM flag would properly show,
because the aircraft is away from the Omni on that radial.
4. Here is the important point. If the OBS is rotated until the needle centers and the
FROM flag shows, it will always show the correct radial from the Omni that the
aircraft is on regardless of the aircraft heading.
5. To eliminate the confusion of location relative to an Omni, the magnetic course of the
aircraft and the radial setting on the VOR should be the same.
6. Presumably the aircraft is flying in the desired course direction, so its heading will be
approximately the same as the VOR setting, i.e., the magnetic course. The heading
may differ slightly from the VOR because of the correction needed to correct for wind
drift.
7. Thus, with the OBS set to 345° the left-right needle shows the aircraft on course and
the TO flag is showing, pointing up, toward the station ahead.

Experiment with this on your FS98 or FS2K to see the effects of the OBS setting on the TO-
FROM flag. Select any Omni, position the aircraft to be flying TO it, then rotate the OBS so
that its reading centers the needle and the TO flag appears.

Next, rotate the OBS to the reciprocal of the course. The needle will again center, but the
FROM flag will appear.

A one-line recap: to know whether you are flying TO or FROM an Omni, the OBS setting
must be approximately the same as the aircraft heading.

Where am I?
This illustration shows the confusion that can result, yes, that the VOR indicator can actually
provide wrong information if the OBS isn't set properly.

Same example as before. The aircraft is south of the Omni, on the 165° radial. It is flying
northwest. Observe the DG. The aircraft is heading 345° as desired. But the OBS was
improperly set to 165° and the VOR is falsely informing the pilot, with a nicely centered
needle, that he/she is flying away FROM the Omni. The aircraft, of course, is flying TO the
Omni.

Hate to beat a dead horse, but again, the TO-FROM confusion disappears if the aircraft
heading and the OBS setting are approximately the same which they weren't here. Pay
attention to this and you will stay out of trouble.

This sort of error usually happens when the pilot rotates the OBS, watching only for a
centered needle, not also paying attention that the setting should approximate the magnetic
course, or aircraft heading.

Wandering off course?

This aircraft has drifted to the right of the desired course. To be "on course" the aircraft must
be on the red line. Not paying attention to a crosswind (what other kind is there?), or simply
letting the heading wander could do it. In any event, the VOR needle has swung to the left,
indicating that the aircraft must move to the left to return to course. So a left turn is in order.
Like the RMI, with the VOR a pilot always turns towards the needle to return to course,
assuming that the OBS setting approximates the aircraft heading.

This aircraft is 4° off course. Each dot of the arc under the needle is a 2° deviation from the
desired course. Don't confuse heading, the direction of the aircraft's nose, with course, the
desired track along the ground. Only with no wind will heading and course be the same.

"The needle is centered, my flying is perfect"

 Nice thought, but not necessarily. The VOR system
operates in the VHF frequency band, from 108.0 to
117.95 MHz. Reception of VHF signals is a line-of-
sight situation. Nominally, you must be 1000 ft AGL
to pick up an Omni within its maximum low-altitude
service range.

The VOR indicator is smart enough to know when a

usable signal has not been received and displays an
"OFF" flag, a red and white barber-pole striped flag in
the gauge in the illustration to the left. So when you
are flying to or from an Omni station and you're quite
content at how stable the CDI needle has been, it's
worth taking another glance at the gauge to see if the
OFF flag is staring back at you.

The OFF flag also displays if the Nav receiver is tuned to the wrong frequency or, blush, if
it's properly tuned but you neglected to turn on the power switch. If you're taking your check
ride with an FAA examiner for a real license, that oversight is likely to get you a quick return
to terra firma. And, there's also the possibility of a popped circuit breaker interrupting power
to the Nav receiver, a connector jiggled loose, etc.

VOR Range

Ah, the oft asked and seldom answered question: how far away can I pick up a reliable signal
from the Omni and what altitude need I be at? The FAA neatly skirts the answer by
classifying Omnis by an altitude code, with the ranges vs. altitudes as shown in the table
below.
Reception Range vs. Altitude of VORs

Range within Altitude

VOR Class
nm feet

Terminal (T) 25 1000 – 12,000

Low Altitude (L) 40 1000 – 18,000

40 1000 – 14,500
High Altitude (H) 100 14,500 – 60,000,
130 18,000 – 45,000
Data is from the Aeronautical Information Manual, AIM.

These ranges assume, please contain your laughter, that terrain plays no part in VOR ranges
of reception. But terrain, of course, can greatly impact the reliable range of an Omni.

Consider the Bangor VOR, BGR, at Bangor (Maine) Int'l. Airport. Here are the comments in
the Airport/Facility Directory:
"VOR unusable 342°—063° below 2500 ft."

Pretty significant terrain impact, wouldn't you say? So think of the FAA data in the table as a
starting point that may be modified by terrain.

Checking VOR accuracy

The VOR is the most common navigation instrument presently on aircraft panels. We rely on
it to accurately track VOR radials, whether flying between Omni stations, or locating
intersections, or arriving and departing from airports. We accept at face value that what it
displays is accurate. Well, on FS98 and FS2000 it is always accurate. But in the real world,
not only can the gauge be wrong, but the FAA requires that a pilot check the VOR for
accuracy within 30 days of an IFR flight. Even if a pilot never flys IFR, it is prudent to
regularly check the VOR for accuracy.

One acceptable way to formally check VOR accuracy is with a VOR Test Facility, more
commonly called a VOT. A VOT is a low-power Omni station located on many of the mid-
to-large size airports. A VOT differs from a standard Omni in that it transmits only a single
radial, the 360° radial.

To calibrate a VOR, the pilot tunes in the VOT frequency while on the ground (in rare
instances this check is performed in the air). Refer to the back of theAirport/Facility
Directory for frequencies and whether it is a ground check (G) or an airborne check (A). See
the Connecticut illustration below.

CONNECTICUT
VOR TEST FACILITIES (VOT)

Type
Facility (Arpt Name) Freq. Remarks
VOT

Bradley Int'l 111.4 G

Bridgeport (Sikorsky
109.25 G
Mem)

Groton (Groton–New
110.25 G
London)

Hartford (Hartford– 3 nm Radius 1200–

108.2 A
Brainard) 5000 ft.
Data is from the Airport/Facility Directory.

Next, rotate the OBS until the to-from needle centers. Read the number from the Omni
Bearing Indicator ring or digital display. To be legal, the gauge must be within 4° of either
180° with the TO flag showing or of 0° with the FROM flag showing.
Make note in the illustration above that the VOT at Bradley Int'l. airport is on 111.4 MHz.
That information is important later while performing one of the VOR approach practice
flights.

It's time to fly—All flights will be on the New York Sectional Chart.

DME – DISTANCE MEASURING EQUIPMENT

● BASICS
Distance measuring equipment (DME) is one of the most valuable pieces of avionics in the
aircraft,especially for the IFR pilot.The main purpose of the DME is to display an aircraft distance to a
ground station.DME reduces pilot workload by continuously showing the distance to the station, time-
to-station and groundspeed.
Combined with VOR, the DME permits the pilot to determine an exact position from a single ground
station.The VOR tells what radial the aircraft is on and DME tells how far out on that radial is the
aircraft [1].
DME was developed in Australia, invented by Edward George “Taffy” Bowen.The system is a post-
World War II development of the IFF (identification friend or foe) system.An engineered version of the
system was deployed by Amalgamated Wireless Australasia Limited in the early 1950s.
This Australian domestic version was referred to by the Federal Department of Civil Aviation as
DME(D) (or DME Domestic).The later international version was adopted by ICAO as DME(I).DME has
been standardized by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as a radio aid for short and
medium-distance navigation.

● SYSTEM COMPONENTS
The DME system is composed of a UHF transmitter/receiver (interrogator) in the aircraft and a UHF
receiver/transmitter on the ground.
A transmitter/receiver (interrogator) in the aircraft is showed at figure 1.
The ground station can have its own installations, as showed at figure 2.However it is more usually
installed co-located with another navigation aid, such as VOR. This kind of station is called VOR/DME,
showed at figure 3.

Figure 1: DME receiver/transmitter (interrogator) [9]

Figure 2: DME ground station [2]

Figure 3: VOR/DME ground station [2]

● FREQUENCY RANGE
978 MHZ to 1213 MHZ

This frequency range is situated in UHF Band and is characterized by line of sight (LOS), direct wave
propagation.
The DME frequencies are paired to VOR frequencies.The DME interrogator on the aircraft is designed
to automatically tune to the corresponding DME frequency when the associated VOR frequency is
selected on the NAV receiver.
● HOW IT WORKS
DME function by means of two-way transmissions of signals between the aircraft (interrogator) and
the DME ground station.
 FFigure 4: DME signals [2]
Paired pulses at a specific spacing are sent out from the aircraft and are received by the ground
station.The ground station then transmits the paired pulses back to the aircraft at the same pulse
spacing but on a different frequency.The time required for the round trip of this signal exchange is
measured in the aircraft DME unit and is translated into distance (NM) from the aircraft to the ground
station.
Sequence of events:

1. The aircraft interrogates the ground station by transmitting a series of pulse-pairs (interrogations) on
the RX frequency of the ground station.

The pulse-pairs have a constant time interval (T1 = 12µsec or 36µsec) between pulses.
The interrogator randomly varies the time interval between pulse-pairs (Jitter).
Figure 5: DME generated pulse pairs [3]
Jitter
Is the randomly varying space between the pulse-pairs sent by the interrogator, represented by T2 at
figure 5.Jitter works as an encoding of the pulse sequence sent by the aircraft, allowing the DME to
recognize only the replies corresponding to its own interrogations.
2. The ground station receives the series of pulses-pairs and, after a precise time delay (50 µsec), the
ground station replies with an identical sequence of reply pulse-pairs.
The reply from the ground station to the aircraft interrogator is made in a frequency 63 MHZ above or
bellow the interrogator frequency.
3. The DME receiver in the aircraft receives the reply and measures the elapsed time from when it
sent the interrogation until it received the reply.
It subtracts the 50 microsecond delay that the ground station introduced to come up with the round-
trip time.
From this, the airborne receiver can calculate its exact distance from the ground station, given the fact
that Distance = Velocity x Time.
The DME equipment then displays the computed distance.
Example:
Total time between interrogation and reply: 62.36 microseconds
Reply signal round-trip time: (62.36µsec - 50µsec)/2 = 6.18µsec
Velocity: 3x10^8 m/s
Distance = (3x10^8 m/s) x (6.18µsec) = 1,854 meters or 1.00108 NM

Figure 6: DME signal travel time [2]

4. Considering that the ground station is replying interrogation from several aircraft at the same time,
the DME interrogator need to sort its own pulse-pair out from the
ground station replies. To achieve that the DME airborne receiver examines the ground station replies
looking for a sequence with the same randomly jittered signature.
When it finds that, it knows they're replies to its own interrogations.

The DME uses rate of change of the Distance to calculate the Ground Speed and Time to
Station.Ground Speed is calculated by determining how far the aircraft travels in a short time [3].If an
aircraft is known to be at certain distance and travels 1.38NM in 30 seconds, it will have a ground
speed of approximately 190 miles/hour or 165 knots.
Once the ground speed is known, the Time to Station can be calculated. If you are flying away from
the station, groundspeed will be accurate but "time-to-station"will actually show "time-from-station"
and will increase as you get farther and farther from the station.
DME displays distance in nautical miles, groundspeed in knots, and time-to-station in minutes.
Beware, however, that DME groundspeed and time‐to‐station are only accurate when you are
flying directly to (inbound) or from the ground station (outbound).
If you are flying in any other direction, you will see groundspeed that is erroneously low and
time‐to‐station that is erroneously high.

● EFFECTIVE RANGE
DME is limited to line‐of‐sight.
Regardless of how much power the unit has, if it's not within direct line‐of‐sight of the ground
station, it's not going to work.
The altitude of the aircraft will have a direct relationship with the range that the system can be
used. The approximate range can be estimated by the formula [4]:

Where d is distance in nautical miles and h is altitude in feet above the ground level.
For an altitude of 20,000 feet the approximate range will be 155 NM.

Another thing that can limit DME range is high air traffic density [1].
The DME ground station can only respond to a certain number of interrogations in a given
period of time.
If too many aircraft are interrogating the ground station, it will automatically desensitize its
receiver so that it can only hear and reply to the strongest interrogations.
This can result in shorter‐than‐normal DME range, particularly for small aircraft with their low‐
powered DME units.

● DME ACCURACY
DME in fact measures the straight‐line distance from the aircraft to the ground station.
This is called "Slant Range" and is slightly more than the actual horizontal distance because of
the difference in elevation between the aircraft and the station.

Figure 7: Slant Range [2]

The Slant Range (SR) is the actual distance from the aircraft to the VORTAC/DME.
For example, if an aircraft is at an altitude of 24,000ft (approx. 4NM) at a horizontal distance of
3NM, then the Slant Range from the aircraft to the station will be 5NM.

There is than an accuracy problem due to the difference between the actual horizontal distance
from aircraft to station and the Slant Range distance, which is thedistance calculated by the
DME. At short distances the slant range error increase, however the error decreases at longer
distances and is considered negligible atranges greater than 25NM or at altitudes less than
5,000ft [3].
System accuracy is typically 0.5NM or 3% of the calculated distance, whichever is greater.

The most extreme case of "slant range error " occurs when the aircraft passes directly over the
station; instead of reading zero, the DME shows the altitude of the
airplane above the station (in nautical miles).

The distance displayed by the DME will be more accurate when flying at low altitude and far
from the station.

Slant range error also affects groundspeed and time‐to‐station displays when you're close to the
station.
Displayed DME groundspeed drops below actual groundspeed as you approach the station and
then climbs back to normal after you pass it.
Displayed DME time‐to‐station may not count all the way down to zero as you fly over the
station.

Figure 8: Slant Range Error [2]

● INTERROGATION AND REPLY TIMING
The DME exchanges messages with the ground stations using one of two different timing modes:

X Mode
When the DME is channelled to a frequency ending in .X0 such as 122.00 or 116.70 MHZ.
The interrogation pulse pairs spacing from aircraft to ground station is 12µsec.
The reply pulse pair spacing from ground station to aircraft is 12µsec.
The ground station delay time is 50µsec.

Y Mode
When the DME is channelled with the .X5 frequencies, such as 114.55 or 117.65MHZ.
The interrogation pulse pair spacing from aircraft to ground station is 36µsec.
The reply pulse pair spacing from ground station to aircraft is 30µsec.
The ground station delay time is 56µsec.

The purpose of the ground station delay (50µsec in "X" mode) is to eliminate the possibility of
uncoordinated operation when the aircraft is very close to the ground station.
If the ground station returned the pulse pair without a delay, then the interrogator could be still
transmitting the second pulse of the pair when the reply from the first pulse was received.With the
delay in place, a reply at zero nautical miles would occur 50µsec after the interrogation [3].
It then allows the operation of the DME in close proximity to the ground station.
● DME OPERATION MODES
The DME airborne equipment operates in several modes, described as follows:

Standby Mode
When the system is first powered up, it enters the standby mode. Transmissions are inhibited, the
receiver and audio are operative.The DME displays shows four dashes to indicate no computed data.
The receiver monitors pulse-pairs received from any local ground station.If sufficient pulse-pairs are
counted, the interrogator enters in Search mode [4].
Search Mode
The transmitter now will broadcast the maximum number of pulse pairs (up to 150 pulse-pairs/sec)
until it receives a specific number of reply pulses.
Track Mode
As the DME receives a valid reply for its own pulse-pairs, it enters in Track mode and reduces the
pulse repetition frequency to 25 pulse-pairs/sec,in order to free up band space for other airborne
DMEs. Distance to the ground station will now be showed on the DME indicator.
Memory Mode
If pulse-pairs from any station are not received after a short period of time (approx .2 seconds), the
interrogator goes into memory mode, wherebydistance is calculated from the most recently received
pulse-pairs. Memory mode expires after a short period of time (approx. 10 seconds) [4].The DME re-
enter in search mode.
An interaction involves the rate of pulse pairs per seconds (pps) sent from the various airborne DME
to the ground station.The ground station transmits at a constant pulse rate of 2700 pulse pairs per
second, no matter how many aircraft are interrogating it.If there are not enough aircraft in the vicinity
to make up the 2700 pps then the ground station will transmit randomly spaced pairs as filler pulses
for the transmitter duty cycle.This is known as SQUITTER.
A typical DME ground station can provide distance information to 100 aircraft at a time. Above this
limit the ground station avoids overload by limiting the gain of the receiver.Replies to weaker more
distant interrogations are ignored to lower the transponder load.The technical term for overload of a
DME station caused by large numbers of aircraft interrogations is Station Saturation [6].
● DME IDENT
DME also has identification. When a VOR and DME are co-located (as in a VORTAC or VOR-DME
station), the DME transmits the same Morse coded ident as the VOR,but sends it during the pause
between successive VOR idents.The DME ident is also higher-pitched: 1350 Hz compared with 1020
Hz for a VOR ident [1].
● ANTENNA
As DME uses direct wave propagation, antennas are usually located on the belly of the aircraft.Even
with the antenna on this position, banking the aircraft will sometimes shield the antenna from the
ground station with the wing.To prevent the display from indicating a malfunction during short periods
of signal loss, the Memory mode described above is used.
The antenna is a little shark fin 1/4 wave antenna.
Figure 9: DME aircraft antenna [8]
It should not be installed close to any structure, such as the landing gear, which may shield the
antenna from the ground station.Avoid mounting the DME antenna (960 – 1215 MHZ) within six feet
from the TRANSPODER antenna (1030 MHZ and 1090 MHZ), as both system works in close
frequency ranges [7].Avoid mounting the DME antenna within three feet from any ADF sense or any
COMM antenna [7].
● DME BLOCK DIAGRAM