DISTANCE MEASURING

EQUIPMENT
DME
PRINCIPLES
Unlike VOR and ADF which are passive
systems, DME is an active system.
The aircraft equipment transmits UHF
pulses. (interrogating signal)
The ground station replies with its own
UHF pulses.
The aircraft equipment measures the
time difference between signal sent and
signal received. Radio waves travel at a
constant speed, allowing a distance to
be computed.
In order for this process to occur both
ground station and aircraft are equipped
with a transmitter and receiver.
(transceiver)
A DME ground station must be able to
differentiate between multiple
interrogation signals. (numerous aircraft
in the area)
This is accomplished by the aircraft
transmitting two pulses spaced in a
pattern unique to the unit. (jitter)
The ground station responds with a pulse
pair that matches.
The aircraft unit scans all replies until it
locates the one matching its own pulse
signature.
Once located it ignores all other signals and
concentrates on the match.
This Lock On process creates a delay from
the time the DME frequency is tuned until
information is displayed to the pilot.(1-3sec)
OPERATION
DME is possibly the easiest of all navigation
equipment to use.
Basic units must be tuned separately, while other
units are paired to the VOR receiver.
Most DME ground stations are collocated with a VOR
facility.
Most DMEs automatically tune to the DME frequency
associated with the VOR.
Simply set the VOR receiver to the required
frequency and the DME will tune itself.
Note: the DME ident must still be identified
seperately in order to test ground and airborne DME
equipment.
If more than one VOR receiver is installed
NAV 1 or NAV 2 must be selected on the
DME.
A HOLD function allows DME information to
be retained when the VOR receiver is reset
to a facility without DME.
Caution: it is easy to lose track of what
distance information is being displayed; NAV
1, NAV 2, or a previously held frequency.
Descending or turning based on the wrong
distance information could have catastrophic
results.
SLANT-RANGE DISTANCE
The distance displayed by a DME is subject
to slant-range error.
DME measures the straight line distance
(slant-range) between the aircraft and the
ground facility; not ground distance.
The altitude of the aircraft has an effect on
the distance information.
An aircraft directly over the DME ground
facility would display a DME equal to aircraft
altitude in nm.
This error is negligible when the slant range
is more than the altitude in 1000s of feet.
Slant-range can be converted to ground
distance by this formula: ground
distance=(S-A)
S=slant range nm, A=altitude nm
As a rule of thumb slant-range error can be
disregarded when the aircraft is more than a
mile away for every thousand feet AGL. Ex:
more than 5 miles away at 5000 feet AGL.
DME system accuracy is +/-0.5NM or 3% of
the distance whichever is greater.
DERIVATIVE INFORMATION
Although DME only provides distance
directly, it can also derive groundspeed and
time to station.
The DME computes groundspeed by timing
the interval between distance changes.
Time to station is calculated from
groundspeed and distance.
This derivative information is limited by the
way the information is obtained. It is
accurate only when the aircraft is traveling
directly towards or away from the station.
If an aircraft were to fly a constant
DME arc around a ground facility the
DME would determine the aircraft is
standing still, because the distance
from the station remains constant.
This is an important concept to
understand when utilizing DME derived
groundspeed or time to station.
AUTO-STANDBY MODE
DME is subject to line-of-sight reception.
An aircraft below the horizon (out of line-of-
sight range) will not receive any signals from
the ground facility.
Whenever the aircraft DME is not receiving
ground signals it enters auto-standby mode
and stops transmitting. (saves electricity and
wear and tear on unit)
As soon as the aircraft is in range of a ground
facilities signal it returns to normal
operation and begins to transmit once again.
COLLOCATED FACILITIES
DME facilities can exist alone but they are
usually collocated with a VOR.
Although VOR and DME operate on different
frequencies, the two are integrated through
paired frequencies.
Only one frequency must be selected (VOR)
and the other (DME) is automatically
selected.
Care must be taken to ensure the two
facilities are actually collocated, separately
located facilities will result in distance
discrepancies.
VOR/DME, VORTAC, TACAN
VOR/DME: collocated facilities only useable
by civilian aircraft.
TACAN: a military installation giving azimuth
information on a UHF frequency as well as
DME information.
The DME may be used by civilian aircraft,
however any apparent track information
must be ignored.
VORTAC: a civilian VOR collocated with a
TACAN, civilian aircraft receive track
information from the VOR and DME from the
TACAN.