Radio Navigation

Formulas
 Range in km = 300.000 / (PRF x 2)
 PRF = 300.000 / (Range in km x 2)
 Max Skip distance = 1.43 x sqrt(height of ionosphere in km)
 Height of cloud above or below the aircraft (ft) = range in NM x (scanner tilt - ½ beam
width) x 100
 DME / VOR Range in NM = 1.23 x (sqrt(H1) + sqrt(H2))
 fd =(2 x (VxF)) / c (doppler shift frequency)
 1 : 60 rule  off track = (off angle x distance flown) / 60
 Pythagoras  a² + b² = c² (a / b Katheten, c Hypothnuse)
 GS x 5 = appr. ROD on a 3° glideslope (x 6 for 3.5, x 7 for 4 … )
 ROD calculation use 1:60 rule (GS x 100 as distance and the slope as angle)

Courtesy of Aviationexam.com

HF  higher frequencies for daytime, lower frequencies for night time

General
 Radio Wave consists of electrical field and  Attenuation  Weakening
magnetic field component
 Electric along the conductor
 Magnetic at right angles to the electric
 Skip zone / Skip distance between
transmitter and first point sky wave hits
surface
 The lower the frequency, the shorter the
skip distance

 Max Skip distance = 1.43 x sqrt(height of

ionosphere in km)

 D-Layer  50-100 km, E-Layer  100-

150 km, F-Layer 150-350 km

 D-Layer collapses during night

 Doppler Shift (nav system)
 based on Doppler effect
 moving transmitter send signal
 receiver receives increased (doubled)
frequency due to moving transmitter (fd =
doubled frequency)
 receiver is the aircraft again (receives
signals reflected from anything)
 fd =(2 x (VxF)) / c
 completely self contained
 Fading
 radio wave travelling two routes
 surface and sky
 if they arrive in phase  reinforce
 if they arrive anti-phase  cancel out
 especially at night LF/MF band (due to
collapsing D-Layer at night)
 otherwise HF
(high at day / low at night  )

 Measurement of relative speed by

measurement of received frequency and
determination of diff between transmitted
and received frequencies
 MTI, DVOR, ac drift and GS
measurement and ground direction finding
and GNSS
 Errors are sea movement, tidal flow and
water transport (doppler measures relative to
(fixed) ground, roll error, drift error, …
 Amplifiers are used at the receivers side
and the bandwidth is the frequency band
corresponding to maximum gain less 3 db

 Feeder lines transmit signal from

transmitter to antenna
 Twin feeder / screened pair up to 10 MHz
 Co-axial up to 3.000 MHz
 Wave guide above 3.000 MHz
 Interception
 90° for 30° or more bearing change
 45° for less 30° bearing change

 Aircraft bears from the station  QTE

 Fan Markers  75 MHz  metric

Courtesy of Aviationexam.com

Gain (of an aerial)  Measure to increase
strength and compensate for attenuation
The shorter the wavelength, the greater the
tendency for a signal to be reflected from a
target.
HF uses sky waves and therefore reflection
from ionosphere as propagation method
The longer the wavelength the greater the
tendency to bend or refract.

Amplitude modulation of a carrier wave

normally results in two mirror-image
sidebands. The signal components above the
carrier frequency constitute the upper
sideband (USB) and those below the carrier
frequency constitute the lower sideband
(LSB). In conventional AM transmission, the
carrier and both sidebands are present,
sometimes called double sideband Amplitude modulation produces a modulated
amplitude modulation (DSB-AM). Single- output signal that has twice the bandwidth of
sideband modulation (SSB) is a refinement the original baseband signal. Single-
of amplitude modulation that more sideband modulation avoids this bandwidth
efficiently uses electrical power and doubling, and the power wasted on a carrier,
bandwidth. It is closely related to vestigial at the cost of somewhat increased device
sideband modulation (VSB) (see below). complexity.

Pulse modulation sends short impulses with

different amplitudes. The sum of all the
impulses results in the modulated signal
The first letter usually indicates the type of modulation such as A for amplitude, F for
frequency and P for pulse
 Kalman Filtering is used in Navigation computers (statistical math method)

Antennas
 Most efficient length is half the wave length
 Dipole Antenna
 Vertical  Electrical component vertical  Magnetic component horizontal
 Horizontal  Electrical component horizontal  Magnetic component vertical
 Best reception if aerial is in same direction as electrical component

Decca
 Short / medium range (200-300 NM) hyperbolic nav system, operating at low frequencies
(constant wave)
 Not in use anymore

Loran-C
 Long Range Navigation / ground based /
hyperbolic
 Works on principle of differential range by
pulse technique from master and slave
stations

VDF
 VHF Direction finding (118 – 136 MHz)
 Class A +/- 2° / B +/- 5° / C +/- 10° / D worse than C
 Is likely to use when using the emergency frequency 121.5 MHz
 Fixing requires at least two VDF’s at different locations on the (same) frequency
 Range depends on power of airborne and ground equipment and aircraft altitude and
transmitter elevation, Line of sight formula and intervening high ground
 Gives bearings in true or magnetic related to the station
 Variation at station (same as for a VOR)
 Multipath signals (from the same aircraft) may result in bearing errors
 Affected by altitude and not coastal refraction

NDB
 Transmits in all directions (omni)
 Maximum signal when loop antenna is in
line with NDB aerial
 Max EMF when in line
 No EMF when 90° offset
 Reception loop is always used so that no
EMF is induced
 ADF has no failure warning system
 NDB approach +/- 5° accuracy

 Range (NM) over land  2 x sqrt(power in watts)

 Range (NM) over water  3 x sqrt(power in watts)
 To double the range the power must be increased by 4
 Range depends on frequency, power output, protection range, type of surface,
precipitation, type of emission (A1A, A2A) and noise but NOT on aircraft height
 190 – 1.750 kHz
 In Europe below 500 kHz
 NON A1A BFO ON for tuning, IDENT and monitoring
 NON A2A BFO ON for tuning, OFF otherwise (even for IDENT)
Type Power Range Emission Use
Locators 15 W 10-25 NM A2A Final approach
(LF/MF)
Low-Power 200 W up to 50 NM A2A Holding,
Approach
Long-Range (LF 5 kW > 50 NM A1A En-Route
band up to 300
kHz)

 Effects
 Static interference caused by  night effect due to insignificant D-Layer
thunderstorms or precipitation (bearing into
the TS!)
 bends around different mediums
 Coastal refraction (angle other than 90°)
 propagation slower over land
 bends toward the coast
 Use stations closer to the coast as
opposed to stations further inland.
 Use stations that produce signals
crossing the coastline as close to 90° as
possible.
 Use higher cruising altitude as the
refraction error decreases with altitude
 Bends around (physical objects)

 Nigh effect  Quadrantal error is signal bending by

NDB not reliable at distances over 70 NM aircraft metallic surfaces which differs
 During day D Layer absorbs the sky depending on the section of the aircraft
signals surface the radio waves are “arriving”
 At night sky waves develop as the D-
Layer has collapsed
 Skywave distortion of the null position
with its maximum at dawn and dusk
 Range increases, accuracy decreases
 Fluctuating indications of the needle on
the RMI
 Homing with no or constant wind 
relative bearing is zero
 Tracking with no wind  relative bearing
should be equal to the drift angle
 Homing with constant (zero) relative
bearing but heading decreases
 nose turns left
 wind from the left  right drift
 Relative bearing from station to ac

Courtesy of Aviationexam.com

DME – UHF – uses two frequencies

 960 – 1215 MHz (UHF)
 max range usually 200 NM – 300 NM
 if in range but too low  below “line of
sight altitude”
 Range (NM) = 1.23 x (sqrt(H1) +
sqrt(H2))

SR  Slant Range
TR  True Range
 SR = sqrt(TR² + H²)
 TR = sqrt(SR² – H²)  Aircraft Interrogator, Ground Transponder
Keep in mind to use the same units!  Ground station modifies frequency +/- 63 MHz
 (this Is a channel) and delays 50 microseconds
Distance = Speed x Time (not milliseconds!)
Speed is speed of light  PRF of the interrogations from the aircraft
Time in seconds for reply pulse (-50 interrogator / time interval between pulses is
microseconds for the ground delay time) unique to each aircraft
Divide the result by 2 as the time is  “search-for-lock” is initial connection between
usually given for the way down and up ground and air equipment to search for
again connection and lock it as soon as the connection
1 Millisekunde = 1000 Mikrosekunden = is established.
0,001 Sekunden  PRF increases (from 5-25 to 150) and range
1 Sekunde = 1000 Millisekunden counter down from maximum
 If no response is received within the times it
Example 300.000 x 0.000975 s takes to transmit 15.000 pulse pairs the search
mode reduces to 60 pps
 Interrogation starts when pulse-pairs from
tuned station received
 Signal interruption  Memory mode for 10 to 15 seconds
 Accuracy is +/- 0.25 NM plus 1.25% of the distance measured
 Speed is determined by comparing slant ranges. It is less accurate close to the
station / or at high altitude (the speed is less the real GS)
 Ident transmits a 3 letter Morse code every 30 seconds at a higher tone (compared to
VOR).
 In a period of 40 seconds you will hear it once but not once every 30 seconds.
That’s a bit tricky
 VOR/DME (or TACAN) ident  VOR 3 times, DME once in 30 seconds  4 Morse
codes at 7.5 seconds spacing
 To determine DME slant range if impulse time is given
 Subtract 50 microseconds from the given value unless it is stated as already
factored
 Distance = Speed x Time (Speed is speed of light in m/s, time is required in s)
 EPC – echo protection circuit detects if the interrogator receiver has been locked by
reflected pulse pairs
 DME LOP – ground distance and centre is DME station

VOR (VHF band – direct wave (no sky or ground wave) 108.00 MHz – 117.95 MHz)
 Phase comparision / measurement
 Variation at the station
 Accuracy (Signal +/- 3°, Aircraft +/- 3°, Pilot +/- 2.5° - root mean square +/- 5°)
 Ground station transmits 2 signals
 30 Hz reference signal omni-directional (in alle Richtungen)
 30 Hz variable (bearing) signal as rotating pattern (clockwise – 30 revolutions/s)
 180° out of phase magnetic  south
 Limacon  polar diagram regarding the bearing signal
 CVOR  Conventional VOR
 DVOR  Doppler VOR (Doppler effect is used to create a signal which is received by the
aircrafts receiver as frequency modulated signal)
 TVOR  Terminal VOR
 Each dot is 2° deviation, Full deflection is 10° or more
 Outside of range interference from other station may be experienced
 Accuracy is affected by
 Signal bending by terrain
 Reflections from ground and obstacles
  Oscillatory deviation of transmissions (scalloping - ausbuchten) near the ground
Scalloping - because of quite normal effects of radio propagation, including
reflection from buildings, land masses, and various other matters, the VOR
signal you receive may not have travelled in a straight line. The practical effect
of this is that the apparent radials you receive in your aircraft are not perfectly
straight lines back to the beacon, but might have a wobble in them. As far as
possible, VOR beacons are installed in such a way as to minimise these
imperfections, but they inevitably exist to some extent.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b531tnQOrno)
 Airborne equipment errors
 Mit TO auf VOR zufliegen  Kommandogerät
 Mit FROM von VOR wegfliegen  Kommandogerät
 Fly along VOR radial is great circle track
 In order to obtain most accurate DME GS from a VOR/DME the ac must fly on direct on
radials (preferred 90 / 180 / 270 / 360) inbound the station

 Rho Rho fix based on information from

two DME
"Rho" steht für die Distanzmessung, "Theta" ist die
Richtungsmessung, aus diesen beiden Information wird
ein "Fix" gebildet, den man sich auf einer Karte eintragen
könnte um seine Position zu bestimmen.

 Rho Theta fix is DME and VOR based fix

 selecting one VHF frequency, information
from Terminal VOR/DME can be obtained

 TACAN civil part only DME

Indicators
 RBI – Relative Bearing Indicator  RMI – Radio Magnetic Indicator
 Bearing relative to longitudinal axis  Fully slaved compass scale (to DG) via flux
 QDM = MH + RB gate
 QDR = QDM +/- 180°  ADF – head of needle indicated MB to the
 MDI – Moving Dial Indicator station
 MH set via knob possible to direct  VOR – indicates where the ac is radially to the
read the QDM VOR station
 Needle bearing to the station (but NOT the
magnetic bearing as the variation is at the VOR)
 Tail is the radial the as is on
 HSI
 Pictorial representation of ac
deviation relative to VOR radials
 No longer “Kommando- oder
Anzeigegerät”! Always Kommando

 Cross track (XTK) is the distance

between the actual position and the
great circle track between active
waypoints – can be displayed on an HSI

 TKE – Track error angle is the diff

between actual and desired track and
can’t be displayed on an HSI!

Courtesy of Aviationexam.com

EFIS
 PD – Primary Display
 Synonym: EADI (electronic attitude and direction indicator)
 ND – Navigation Display
 Synonym: EHSI (electronic horizontal situation indicator)
 Expanded show only half of arc
 Full or Rose shows the full arc
 Full and Plan Modes are not able to show radar returns
 Active Route and selected heading  Magenta
 P-Lan (Pfeil) also der Nordpfeil kommt nur bei PLAN vor
Mode VOR/ NAV ARPT RTE WPT WX TFC
ADF ID DATA TCAS
MAP X X X X X X X

CENTER X X X X X X X the same as MAP

MAP only in FULL mode
PLAN X X X X X

FULL- -
ROSE
NAV
EXPAND X X -
ED NAV
FULL-
ROSE
VOR/ILS

EXPAND X X
ED
VOR/ILS

Courtesy of Aviationexam.com

 VOR/DME/TACAN (and NOT TACAN only!)

FMS
 Active flight plan can be changed at any time before take-off and throughout the flight
 Pre-flight inputs are planned route, aircraft position and departure runway
 Auto Tune Stations  identify Morse code  Show station identifier
 Morse identification not possible  Shows only the frequency and does not use the station
 Navigation DB does NOT include ATC frequencies and no obstacle ALTITUDES
 Lateral and Vertical navigation, guidance and performance management
ILS
 Protection range 25 NM / 6250 ft
 Signals are monitored
 When errors are found the transmission is cut within 6 seconds for a Cat I
system and 2 seconds for Cat II or III.
 LLZ and Glideslope are amplitude modulated (90 Hz and 150 Hz)
 Principle is difference in depth of modulation
 Produces a radiation pattern
 Localizer (A8W) - VHF 108.10 MHz to 111.95 MHz at odd tenths / metric
 25 NM within +/- 10°, 17 NM within +/- 35°, upper limit 7°
 Can give reverse sense indications on the approach side and outside at any time!
 Depth of modulation increases with displacement from centerline (null if centered)
 Increases linearly with angular displacement (NOT with distance)
 If the ac strays to the right the right (the right one is the higher) tone lobe will be
received at a higher intensity than the lower tone lobe (the left one)
 150 Hz right / 90 Hz left
 Antenna 300 m behind end of runway
 Glidepath transmitter operates on 40 frequencies from 329.15 MHz to 335.00 MHz (UHF)
 0.45% - 1.75% (1.35° - 5.25° for 3° glidepath – percentage value x glidepath)
 Horizontal 8° on either side up to 10 NM
 Antenna next to touchdown point 300 m in from the threshold
 Flying down exact glide path  90 Hz and 150 Hz lobes at equal depth
 150 Hz down area / 90 Hz upper area
 Marker Beacons – VHF 75 MHz (carrier frequency), AM, horizontally polarized / different
modulated (400 …)
 OM – (- - - -) / rate of 2 per sec / 400 Hz (audio frequency) / blue /3.5 – 6 NM from
touchdown
 MM – (- . - .) / rate of 2 per sec / 1300 Hz (audio frequency) / amber / 1500 +/-150
m from touchdown (e.g. 0.6 NM)  indicates usually the DH for CAT I approaches
 IM – (….) / rate of 6 per sec / 3000 Hz (audio frequency) / white / 75 – 450 m from
touchdown
 CAT I down to 200 ft (60 m) / CAT II down to 50 ft (15m) / CAT III down to 0 ft
 Localizer measures the depth between
the 90 Hz and the 150 Hz modulation
 Locator (NDB) are identified by a two
letter code
 Capturing a glide path from above (not a
good practice) there is a danger to capture
the false glidepath. Glidepath produces false
lobes above the nominal glide path
 Localizer  0.5° per dot
 Glide slope  0.14° per dot
 5 dot indicator  5 dots on each side
 maximum safe allowed deviation below
glide slope is half scale / 2.5 dots on a 5 dot
indicator
 Back course ILS localizer gives non-
precision (as LLZ only is always non-
precision) approach guidance for the
reciprocal of the main approach runway
 ILS Scalloping is temporary and normally caused by vehicles or other aircraft, results in a
significant, often rapid deviation of the CDI needle which is too fast for aircraft automatic
systems to follow. (NOT a major change or bend)
 ILS Beam Bends are caused by permanent structures or terrain, providing predictable,
slightly curved paths which can be factored into approaches and which are capable of being
followed by "larger aircraft".
 FM immune filter makes ILS localizer less (but not without any) susceptible to interference
from commercial FM-stations (radio and television)
 Broadcasting stations below 108 MHz may interfere the LLZ but not recognized by
immune filter and therefore lead to erroneous deviation indications

MLS (SHF)
 Elevation transmitter at the approach end of the runway
 Azimuth transmitter at the upwind end of the runway (+/- 40°) in 20 NM range
 Insensitive to geographical site and can therefore be installed at sites where it is not
possible to use an ILS
 200 channels available (ILS has only 40) and nearly unlimited variations of approach types
with one ground facility (300 kHz frequency separation)
 Uses precision DME facility to determine the distance from threshold
 Can minimize multipath errors because the transmissions can be interrupted to avoid
reflection by stationary objects
 Without DME P (to obtain 3D positions) it provides basically the same approach as ILS

Primary Radar
 Primary radar is more accurate in bearing and distance than SSR
 Double range  power increase 16 (range in NM = sqrt4(power in watts)
 Maximum range depends on PRF or PRR (pulse repetition/recurrence frequency / rate)
 Pulse Recurrence Interval (PRI)  time interval between two successive pulses
 Best Range with long pulse length and low PRF (long “silent” phase to receive)
 Min covered distance is determined by pulse length
 To discriminate targets in azimuth  Basic factor is the beam width
 Both transmitting and receiving antenna (usually the same) are directional antennas
 One directional antenna both for transmitting and receiving
 Pulse length / Pulse Width
 The longer the pulse the greater the
energy, the greater the range
 Longer pulse allows selection of a lower
frequency
 Higher Range  Lower PRF
 Higher Range  Longer pulse length (to
prevent attenuation in long range)
 Just remember the range formula for the
relationship

 PRF
 Transmitter must remain silent while the
receiver is listening for echoes
 Lower PRF enables a longer max range
 Range in km = 300.000 / (PRF x 2)
 Long Range Radar (Enroute surveillance)  Terminal Surveillance Radar
600 MHz 1200 MHz
200 – 300 NM Range 80 NM Range
5 RPM (low revolutions – longer silent 8 RPM
phase)
 Aerodrome Surveillance Radar  Airfield Surface Movement Radar
3000 MHz 15 GHz
25 NM Range 6 NM Range
15 RPM 60-75 RPM
 In order to penetrate clouds, rain drops, snow etc. the wave length must have a long
wavelength. Otherwise it would reflect on these objects.
 Slotted or flat scanner antennas produces a much narrower beam and eliminates most of
the lateral lobes  more energy into the main beam and thus improving resolution
 MTI Moving target indicator eliminates echoes which does not change in distance from the
antenna (Doppler application)

SSR
 Transmitter / Interrogator (Ground) 1030 MHz and Receiver / Transponder (Air) 1090 MHz
 Primary radar is more accurate in bearing and distance than SSR
 Ground sends pulses with different kind of spacing between pulses  Mode (A / C)
 Mode A - 8 microseconds
 Mode C – 21 microseconds
 AC responds with a stream of pulses framed by two frame pulses (20.6 microseconds
spacing between the frame pulses)
 Up to 4 pulses P1 to P4 are used (P4 for Mode S all call only)
 SPI – Special Identification Pulse - Ident knob
 ALT selected reply in modes A, C and S can be transmitted (but altitude transmission
requires at least mode C)
 Fruiting if aircraft responds to two interrogators but the reply may be for the wrong station
 Garbling if two or more ac on the same bearing from interrogator close together (1.7 NM)
they may produce overlapping replies
 Mode C - altitude reporting
 Accuracy is +/- 50 ft
 Informations are in 100 ft increments
 Mode S transponder (24 bit address code)
 Reduce RT traffic and provide Datalink facility
 Callsign, AC identification, Altitude information (25 ft increments / 100 ft mode C)
 Mode S all call 4th pulse to get reply from all Mode S transponders and not A / C
 Mode S broadcast will transmit information to all mode S transponders
 Clouds not affected from SSR signals as sender and receiver uses different frequencies
 SSR displays squawk, FL, GS, callsign (no heading!)
 Required power of transmission from the ground equipment is reduced. (Compared to
primary radar)

Airborne Weather Radar

 AWR / SHF / centimetric / 9375 MHz
 The frequency used is to prevent reflections from large droplets and to detect them and
not to detect small droplets such as fog.
 Parabolic dish OR
 Phases array (flat plate)
 Mounted in the nose
 Employ a sector scan
 Pitch and roll stabilization axis (by inputs from aircrafts attitude system)
 Side lobe vertically produces “height ring”  indication for operating AWR
 Can not detect fog, (dry) snow, or very thin clouds as well as CAT
 Colors
Color Concentration Turbulence
Green Light Slight
Yellow Moderate Light
Red Heavy Medium / Severe
Magenta Heavy with large drops Severe
 Severe turb in areas where concentration of droplets decreases rapidly (color zones being
close together)
 Heaviest turb where the area of heaviest precipitation is closest to the edge of the TS cell
 A reduction of range (e.g. from 100 NM to 50 NM) increases the area of a return and
moves it (e.g. to the top if located at 50 NM)
 Tilt is the adjustment in vertical
 Modes
 Mapping / Cosec Beam  Contour / Monochrome
 For short range (50-60 NM)  ISO Echo Mode
 Vertical fan shape beam  Cancels returns above ISO level
 For ground observation  Echoes above a pre selected level are
inverted

 for greater range beyond 50-60 NM use

pencil shape beam in MANUAL mode
 WX / NORM  GAIN
 Narrow conical beam with AGC  Increase Strength and Range
AGC – automatic gain control (automatische  adjust receiver sensitivity
Größenanpassung auf dem Monitor abhg.
von der Entfernung)
 Slotted scanner (flat plate) reduces
side lobes and directs more energy into
the main lobe due to a narrower beam

 Height of cloud base = range (NM) x

(scanner tilt – ½ beam width) x 100

 Mapping mode in Polar Regions  risk of mistaking the edge of coastal ice off shore for
the real coastline

RNAV
 Routes are specified by waypoints defined as positions in lat / long based on WGS84
 Permits any desired flight path within coverage of station referenced nav-aids or within the
limits of the capability of self-contained aids or a combination of these
 P-RNAV - Precision - +/- 1 NM in 95% of flight time
 B-RNAV – Basic - +/- 5 NM in 95% of flight time
 Inputs are Nav-Aids, INS, FMC database
 Basic outputs are Crosstrack distance, alongtrack distance and angular deviation
 Cross track (XTK) is the distance between the actual position (not air position) and
the great circle track between active waypoints – can be displayed on an HSI
 TKE – Track error angle is the diff between actual and desired track and can’t be
displayed on an HSI!
 In order to compute wind, Heading and TAS are required
 Nav tuner usually tunes automatically DME stations providing the most accurate position
 Fixed published routes are for RNP-5 or better equipped ac
 Contingency published routes
 Random RNAV – allow ac to follow own preferred route
 Erratic indication expected when operating at low altitudes close to the limit of the
reference station
 Course Line Computer transfers information given by VOR/DME into tracking and
distance indications to any chosen Phantom Station
 Minimum input for phantom station is radial and distance from VOR/DME to the
waypoint or phantom station
 2D (distance and radial) most basic form uses VOR / DME only
 3D (distance, radial and altitude) in horizontal and vertical plane
 DOC –Designated Operational Coverage
 2D may significantly downgraded as the computer can not determine if ac is in DOC
 Phantom / Ghost stations are self defined waypoints defined by radials / ranges from
VOR/DME facilities
 As minimum input Radial and Distance from VOR/DME station is required
 Requirements for equipment
 Continuous indication of ac position
 Display distance, bearing and GS to active waypoint
 Nav Data Storage function
 In-flight changes must be possible and failure indication for nav-aids
 ETO gives best information about progress between 2 waypoints
 DR / Dead Reckoning mode is a kind of fallback while trying to search for signals. It uses
TAS / Heading and the last computed W/V

GPS
 Geometric shape is an ellipsoid
 Inclination (55°) is the angle between the orbital plane (of the satellite) and the equatorial
plane
 Maximum ground tack is 55° N/S
 Mask angle to deny the receiver the use of GPS satellites with an elevation less than the
mask angle
 Space segment transmits signals
 Each satellite transmits signals on a common frequency with a Pseudo Random
Noise code – Satellites does not have own frequencies
 Control Segment monitors and controls
 Ensure the transmitted data of the satellites is controlled and updated from time to
time by ground stations
 Detect malfunction
 Determine and send new ephemeris and new satellite clock error data to the GPS
satellites
 User segment tracks (receives)
 A satellite travels 2 times a day around the earth at an appr. height of 20.200 km
 Position line is obtained by timing the period that is taken for the satellites transmission to
reach the aicrafts receiver
 Primary position in form of spheres with the satellites in the centre
 Accuracy of +/- 13 m horizontally for raw signals in 95% of time
 3 satellites required for 2D position (LAT / LONG / TIME)
 4 satellites required for 3D position (LAT / LONG / ALTITUDE / TIME)
 6 satellites required for 3D position using RAIM (with discard facility of 1 satellite)
 Continuous tracking / multi-channel receiver
 Most advanced / all available GPS signals are simultaneous tracked
 All in view mode  selects and tracks all (in view) satellites
 Is tracking of all currently visible satellites above the receivers mask angle…
 Search the sky mode
 If no stored satellite data / almanac available after start-up
 Search for available satellites in view and download / update almanac
 Full Operational Capability (FOC)
 24 satellites required (21 in use + 3 spare units)
 Distributed between 6 operational paths (4 on each / inclined 55° to equator)
 Almanac contains
 Orbital information about satellites (incl. paths)
 Download 12.5 minutes (25 data frames, 30 seconds each)
 Single channel receiver
 Obtain data sequentially one by one (not for aviation usage)
 PRN – pseudo random noise (UHF)
 Used to carry messages (binary which appears to be random – but isn’t)
 C/A – Course / acquisition code
 P – Precision code
 Measured distance is called Pseudo Range as the calculated range includes the
receiver clock error
 C/A code for civilian use, transmitted only on L1 (1575 MHz) (transmits C/A and P code)
 L2 (1227 MHz) for military use only (transmits P code only)
 Pseudo range
 GPS suffers several errors which all can be corrected except the internal receiver
clock error
 The resultant range is the pseudo range
 To correct the internal clock error  clock bias
 Use 3 for 2D or 4 for 3D fix and mathematically correct the clock error using a
cocked hat as every fix from satellite must contain the same clock error
 Fixes are most accurate when 3 satellites are at low elevation above horizon and an
azimuth of 120° from each other together with a fourth directly overhead
 Errors are Atmospheric effects, Ephemeris (gravitational effects) and clock errors,
multipath effects (reflections from terrain, obstacles, …) and dilution of precision
 Ionosphere errors are minimized by the receivers using a model of the atmosphere and
comparing signals transmitted by the satellites
 If used for IFR operations the prescribed IFR equipment must be installed and operational
(IFR operation in traditional style must be possible)
 BAROMETRIC altitude is used in IFR operation even with usage of GPS and even during
approach
 D-GPS uses fixed ground stations which compute position errors and transmit correction
data to suitable receiver on the aircraft
 Ground stations measure pseudo ranges and transmits them to the ac receivers
which can correct for the errors
 More accurate close to the ground stations
 LAAS  local area augmentation system
 Local reference receivers around an airport
 Onboard equipment compares signal calculated from ref station with the one from
satellite
 Supply by Datalink on ILS/VOR frequency (VHF)
  +/- 16 m horizontally / +/- 4 m vertically accurate
 Transmitting on two signals (L1 and L2) can correct for atmospheric errors as the path
delay of both signals is different and proportional to the inverse of the carrier frequency
squared
 GNSS receiver uses Doppler shift to measure aeroplane velocity
 Selective availability  degrade accuracy by dithering the satellite clock and manipulating
the satellite signals
 EGNOS – European geostationary navigation overlay system is a wide area differential
GPS (WADGPS)
 RAIM (Integrity monitoring of the receiver)
 Barometric altitude as augmentation to RAIM (output of Mode S transponder)
 Altitude Barometric and GPS are compared

Detailed database of exam questions is available from www.aviationexam.com