VOR

Very High Frequency

Omni-directional Radio
range
Check the course
guide for references

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Lets look at
The principles of VOR operation
Identify the component parts
Explain the operation of VOR to block

diagram
Describe the operation of controls and
interpretation of indicators
Identify specialised teast equipment to test
VOR
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VOR system
the ground transmitting equipment
the airborne receiving equipment
the instrumentation used to present VOR

deviation information to flight crews.

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How VOR works?

The VOR ground station transmits two VHF
radio signals:
The reference phase, which is omnidirectional
Beamed emission that changes phase as it
rotates clockwise like beam of a light house.

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Light House analogy

Imagining a light house emits an
omnidirectional flash of light every time the
beam is pointing due north. If the speed of
rotation is known, and if a distant observer
could record the time interval between
seeing omni-directional flash and seeing the
beam, bearing of the light house can be
calculated.
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VOR purposes:
Orientation and position fixing;
Tracking to or from a VOR ground station;
holding (for delaying or manoeuvring
action); and
instrument approaches to land

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VOR Very High Frequency

Omni-directional Radio range
Comprising of a ground based transmitters and an

airborne installation
Automatically and continuously provides the operator

with the magnetic bearing of the aircraft from the

beacon
VOR ground station transmits on a specific frequency

between 108.00 and 117.95 MHz.[50 kHz channels]

Short range navigation system

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System

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Two signals from ground station

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Bearing to transmitting station

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Relative bearing

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VOR - Radials
VOR ground transmitter radiates signals in

all directions
360 different tracks away from the VOR are

used each separated by 1 deg called radials

Short range navigation system
VHF range in nm = (1.5 x altitude in feet)
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 The aerial of the VOR aircraft receiver

picks up the signals, whose phase

difference (between the wave peaks) is
measured, this difference depending on
the bearing of the aeroplane from the
ground station.

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VOR Signals
The demodulated output of the receiver

contains:
1020 Hz Audio signal
a Variable phase 30 Hz signal
a Reference 30 Hz signal in the form of
frequency modulation on a 9960 Hz.

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VOR components
the antenna
the receiver
the control unit
indicator/s.

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Antenna

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Receiver
The receiver contains all the circuits necessary to
receive, decode and provide outputs of aircraft
bearing information from transmitted VOR signal.
In addition, the receiver contains self-monitoring
circuits which validate the signals received and the
accuracy of the bearing information sent to the
indicator.
Most commercial aircraft carry two complete
VOR/ILS receivers.
Typically, receivers are black box units mounted in
the aircraft radio equipment racks.
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Control

The control unit provides all necessary control of

frequency selection for VOR and ILS operation.
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HIS Horizontal situation indicator

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VOR Indicators
The output of VOR receiver:
Audio to headsets[1020 Hz]
Bearing information
Deviation from selected radial
TO/FROM signal
Flag or warning signal
Manual VOR requires the pilot to select a

particular radial on which he wants to position

his aircraft. The actual radial on which the
aircraft is flying is compared with the desired
radial.
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Pilot selects 75 degree (magnetic) this is what he

would see on the indicator

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VOR block diagram

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VOR controller

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Monitoring and self test

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Test equipment
VOR ramp test set
Used for installed testing

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VOR ramp test setup

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Questions
From a pilots viewpoint, how does ADF differ from VOR?
List the airborne components of a VOR system.
What is meant by the cone of confusion?
Explain the function of the TO/FROM flags in the HSI.
True or false? VOR ramp test sets must be connected to

mains power. Explain you answer.

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Reference
The Air Pilots Manual Radio Navigation
and Instrument Flying; Vol 5, Trevor Thom

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