(voR)

lntroduction

4 V.h.f.omnidirectional range

Prior to World War II it was realizedthat the propagation anomalies with low- and experienced medium-frequency navigation aidslimited their usefulnes3 asstandard systems for a sky which was evermore crowded. A systemcalled becoming four-course low-frequency waswidely range in the United States implenrented duringthe 1930s; this gavefour courses to or from eachgroundstation and fltted in quite nicelywith a system of fixed with the four-course airways.A problenr systemis that eachstationonly provides for two intersecting airways; a more complexjunction requires rnore The above, courses. coupledwith increased altitude of flying rnaking lineof-sightfrequencies usefulat longerranges, and the developtnent of v.h.f. comms, led to the adoptionof v.h.f.omnidirectional range ( V O R ) a ss t a n d a r d i n t h e U n i t e dS t a t e s i n 1 9 4 6a n d internationally in 1949. The competitionftrr an international was fierce,the leading standard system after VOR beingDecca contender Navigator.lt is whetherthe technically debatable superiorsvstem waschosen, but certainlyVOR wascheaper. had the advantage of a largehome market,and hasdone the job adequately eversince. The VOR system operates in the 108-l !8 MHz band with channels spiced at sO kHiffiT[ with ILS localizer shared tt. ffiing allocated to 160of the 200 available channels. Of these160 12Oareallocated cfrannels to VOR stations intended for en route navigation while the other forty are for tClrn!ryLYQR statim!_(TVORL The output porver o f a n e n r o u t es t a t i o n w i l l b e a b o u t2 0 0 W p r o v i d i n s up tL49-laulieal n,iles.itTfleouency wilf a service b e w i t h i n t l r eb a n d I l 2 - l l 8 M H z . A T V O R w i l l h a v e an output power of Ebgnl5)-t{-providing a service of up to about ]5_!sg.l[sal miles,its frequency will be

to, or departure from, a stationon a particular bearing, steering informationcanbe derivedfrom the received VOR signals.It is this latter facility which VOR so usefulin airways flying, stations can makes Victor airways alongso-called be placedstrategically of the appropriate and the pilot can then, by selection fly from stationto stationeitherby obeying radials, or by feedingthe sameto the steering commands autopilot. To obtain a position fix liom VOR one needs when usedin this stationst bearings to two separate way VOR can be considered system.If a a theta-tl-reta VOR stationis colocated with a DME stationan \ i aircraftcan obtain a fix usingthe pair asa rho-theta VOR/DME system.The system ircurrentliTil international short-range standard.ln navigation recentyearsthis systenr hasbecomeevenmore u'ith the adventof airborneequipment which versatile an existingVOR/DME caneffectivelyreposition s t a t i o nt o g i v ea ' p h a n t o mb e a c o n ' c o m p l e tw ei t h radials which can be flown usingVOR-derived steering inforrnation. This development is considered i n C h a p t e r1 2 .

Basic Principles

A sinrpleanalogyto VOR is givenby imagining a which enritsan omnidirectional pulseof lig;hthouse light everytime the beam is pointingdue north. If the speed of rotation of the beamis known, a distant observer could recordthe time intervalbetweerr the onrnidirectional seeing flashand seeing the beam, and l'rence calculate the bearing of the lighthouse. v.h.f. energy In realitya VOR stationradiates with a retbrence phase modulated signal- the light - and a variable phase omnidirectional signal of the aircraft the rotatingbeam. The bearing within the bundI9&I2_I4I&, thisbelngthe part of depends on the phasedifference betweenreference -- time difference thetotalbandshared with ILS localizer. phases between light and variable The crew of an approp.iately equippedaircraftcan a n db e a m . tune into a VOR stationwithin range and readthe The radiation frorn a qgnventionalVOR (CVOR) to the stationand the relative bearing bearing of the v.h.f.wave stationis a horizontallypolarized station. Should the flight plan call for an approach as follows: modulated

58

$el{*,!

Sin pt coc

\
a/

Cos nt
Cos qrt

rcos I

I I

2r.3OHz 2n.1"MHz

Fig.4.l Ground station blockdiagram, v.o.r,

modulatedat 30 Hz with a deviation of 1480 Hz. The 30 Hz signalis the reference phase' 3 . l02Q Fz a'm': identification signalkeyed to providemorse code identification at least threegjnes each39-s. Wherea voR and5ffitreco-located the identificationtransmissions are synchronized (associated identity,see Chapter7). 4. Voice a.m.: the VOR systemcan be usedas a ground-to-air communicationchannelas long as this doesnot interfere with its basicnavisational function. The frequency rangeof the vo]ce modulation is limited to SQOXZ-

t . 30 Hz a.m.: the variablephasesignal. at Xo magneticbearing/roz the station the variable 2 . 9 9 6 0 H 2 a . m . : t h i s i s a z u b c a r r i e r f r e q u e n c y , p h a s e w i l l / a g t h e r e f e r " e n c e p n u t " u y i ;r.i g u r e s + . t ,
4.2 and4.3 illustrate th. b.ii" priniiples. The airborneequipmentreceives the composite signalradiatedby ihe station to which the receiver is tuned. After deiection the variousmodulatingsignals are separated by filters. The 30 Hz reference iigrul is
Variabled 3O Hz a.m.

The 30 Hz variablephaseis spacemodulated in that the necessary amplitude variation in the received signalat the aircraft is achieved by radiatinga cardioid patternrotatingat 1800 r.p.m. The frequency modulated9960 Hz sub-carrier amplitude modulates the r.f. at sourcebefore radiation. It is arransedthat an aircraft due north of the beaconrryillreceiie variableand referencesignalsin phase,for an aircraft Flg 4.2 Frequency spectrum:CVOR spacesignals

59

:l

1 ,s I PHASE SIGNAL (FM) ALL RAOIALS

REFER'{CE

V A R I A E L P H A S E S I G N A L( A M )

ib

sEcoNo

FESULI ilI PATTERil ROTATTNG

UNIO0ULATE0
ROfAT ING

I O oR A D i A L I

996otsr SU8CAnRIER FRO MOO AT 3oxt

oIPOLE PATTRI

+sEcoro -"2to'

stcono

r-f-F-1o

-rr tttono

R E f E R E T C EP H A S V O L T A G E I A F T E Rf X O E T E C T I O N )

= ' .
c < l Z a

VOLTAGESAT AIRCRAFT ON 24O' RADIAL 240"

.l
vaRrAEL IHASE VOLTIGE o TAFTERAT OETECTIOtr)

.
O F P O Sr r V E L O S E orRcTlON ATTENNA OF ROTATING

King Radio CVOR (courtesy relationships, Fig 4.3 Phase Corp.)

to the pilot' Figure 4'4 be presented variablesignal,the difference station ian the with phase compared to the stationis the bearing 'ln itfurt*t.t thatihe relative the station ohaseeivinethe bearingfrom the station' The Aiii.r.n.. betweenthe magneticbearing-to to the pilot is the bearingto actualreiding presented to.display used is RMI An .na tn. aircraftheading. in in the station ralher than from, so if the difference are considered the information. Suchinstruments 135' is signal and reference bet*een variable ohase drivenby is card the application this In 3. 'to' bearing would be 135 + 180 = 315", asshown air;;i.r at ift" reading th. .n*putt, asnormal,so that the card in -- Fig.4.4. same the At heading' lubber line is the aircraft information (heading)is combinedwith ttre liio.p*s by u pointtr is driven to a position determined titnt the of the VORderived bearingthe relativebearing 60

fly-left or fly-right signalsare derived and presentedto the pilot. A complicationis that radial information depends 135"(Froml only on the phasedifferencebetweenmodulating and is independent ofheading; hencethe signals fly-right or fly-left information may sendthe aircraft 'long way the round'. Further, when an aircraft is on commandis nulled, the course,i.e. the steering aircraft may be headingeither toward or away from radial. A TO/FROM the station on the selected the ambiguity. With the aircraft indication removes heading,roughly, towards(away from) the station and the TO/FROM indicator indicatingTO (FROM), the steeringinformation givesthe most direct path in radial. order to intercept the selected (R) is phaseshiftedby the phase If the reference with the selected course(C) and then compared bearing Fig.4.4 To/frommagnetic bearings andrelative variablephase,a fly-right indicationwill be givenif R + C lagsV, while if R + C leadsV, the command will be fly-left. If we now add 180 to the the differencebtweenthe bearingto the station and phase we haveR + C + 180 phase-shifted relbrence is used the heading. A differentialsynchroor resolver either cancelV, partially or will, addition, which on to give the requiredangulardifference. Figure4.5 indicationwill be whict a TO in case completely, to the strows the RMI presentation corresponding situationdiagramshownin Fig.4.4. Only one pointer given,or reinforceV, partially or completely,in which casea FROM indication will be given. is shown,for clarity. 'automatic' situations. ln both Figure4.6 showstwo possible The previoustwo paragraphs refer to the selected courseis 042,i.e. the pilot wishes cases VOR, so calledsincethe pilot needdo no more than to fly towardsthe station on the 222 radial or away svitch on and tune in to an in-range station in order 'Manual'VOR from the station on the 042 radial. With aircraft A to obtainbearing information. we havea fly-left and a TO indication;with aircraft B requires the pilot to selecta particularradial on which we havea fly-right and a FROM indication. Note that he wants to positionhis aircraft. The actual radial on the of the aircraft were reversed, if the headings with the which the aircraft is flying is compared the them so sending be the satne, would indications desiredradial. If the two are different the appropriate 'long way round'. Figure4.7 showsan electronic to aircraft B. The deviationindicator corresponding to be on the aircraft shows the top right at indication 022 radialfrom a secondVOR station.

VOR (DVOR) Doppler

site errors The useof CVOR leadsto considerable where the station is installedin the vicinity of obstructionsor where aircraft are requiredto fly over mountainousterrain while usingthe station. The by multi-path receptiondue to error is caused and givesrise to reflectionsfrom the obstructions, and/or bendswhen the roughness coursescalloping, commands.The aircraft is flown to follow steering these under the course terms useddescribing conditionsrefer to the nature of the departurefrom a to straightline course. DVOR is relativelyinsensitive siting effectswhich would renderCVOR unusable. Although the method of modulationis completely different DVOR is compatiblewith CVOR in that

Fig. 4.5 RMI presentation

61

Flv right
O42 (Froml

Fly left

From

R+420

v.From fly right (R + 42' lags V) R+1800t42'

R+42'

il, :;ii ,'i'

O42 (To)

To fly left (R + 42' leads V)

R+1800+42" Fig' 4.6 Fly'left/flv-right and'to/from' situation diagram

,i*: aroundthe ring of antennas. at 30 Hz anticlockwise airbome equipment will give the correct indications asif the the site,it appears from remote a receiver, To when usedwith stationsof either type. In the DVOR receding, and and are approaching sources signal the variable while Hz a.m. is 30 sigrral the reference hencethe receivedsigral suffers a Doppler shift sigrral is 30 Hz f.m. on a 9960 Hz sub-carrier.Since (see Chapter l0). -With a diameterof l3'5 m and with respect the rolesof the a.m. and f.m. are reversed of 30 r.p.s.the tangentialspeedat the speed rotation the to CVOR the variablephaseis arrangedto lead X l3'5 X 30 = 1272m.p.s. At the is n periphery X" magtetic at an aircraft phase X" for by reference centrefrequencyof the v.h.f. band, I l3 MHz, one bearingfrom the station (cf. CVOR). approximately2'65 m, thus the rycle occupies In a double sidebandDVOR (DSB'DVOR) the = 480 Hz. shift is 127212'65 Doppler maximum carrier,/", with 30 Hz (and identification)a.m. is mix with the the sidebands ln the airbornereceiver antenna. Two radiatedfrom an omnidirectional sigrals,one 9960 Hz above carrierat /. to produce9960 t 480 Hz. Single unmodulatedr.f. sideband DVOR are possible, and altematesideband sideband /c, the other 9960 Hz below /", are radiatedfrom performance of the the they compromise since but of about in a ring diametricallyopposite antennas systemthey will not be discussed. fifty antennas. Theselatter sigtals are commutated 62

Fig.4.7 IN-2014electronic course deviationindicator (courtesy BendixAvionicsDivision) ry' Reference 30 Hz a.m.

instrumentson which VOR information is displayed aremulti-function hencequite complexswitching arrangements are involved. Figure4.9 showsone VOR/ILS systemof a typical dual instatlation;only thoseoutputs from VOR are shown. The antennamay serve ILS aswell asVOR but someaircraft haveseparate particularlyif antennas, all-weather landingis a requirement when the. optimum position for the localizerantennamay not suit VOR. If separate antennas are usedwith a common r.f. feed to the receiver the switchinglogic will be derivedfrom the channelselectionmadeat the control unit. The VOR antenna employs horizontal polarizationwith an omnidirectional radiationpattern. A horizontal dipole is often used with the dipole elements forming a 'V' shapeto givea more nearly omnidirectionalpattern. Sincethe dipole is a balanced load and the co-ax.feederis (with respect unbalanced to earth) a balun (balanced to unbalanced line transformer) is used. The dipole may be mounted on the verticalstabilizeror on a stand-offmast, top-mountedon the fuselage. The VOR/ILS receivercontainsa conventional superhet, a filter for separation of signiils and a converterto providethe requiredoutputs which aro l. 2. 3. 4. 5. audioto AIS; bearinginformation to two RMIs; deviationfrom selected radial; TO/FROMsignal; flag or,warningsignal.

The RMI feed is the result of the automaticVOR operation. Sincethe pointer on the RMI movesto a position givingrelativebearingwith respect to the lubber line the magneticbearing(omnibearing) must be combinedwith headinginformation aspreviously 9960 t +8oHz described.The necessary differentialsynchroor resolver will be in the receiver or, in the caseof Fig.4.8 Frequency spectrum- DVOR space signals equipmentconformingwith ARINC 579,in the RMl. ln the former case magneticbearing(mag.)is required by the receiver, this beingobtainedfrom the compass Aircraft lnstallation systemvia the RMI. The necessary switchingfor VOR as opposed to ADF information, on displaying SinceVOR and ILS localizers occupythe same either or both of the pointers,is on the RMI. band of frequencies they invariablyshare the samereceiver are the result The deviationand TO/FROM signals which will alsocontain the necessary circuits to of manualVOR operation. Thesesteering commands extractthe required information. It is not aredisplayedon a coursedeviationindicator(CDI) an uncommonfor v.h.f. comm. and v.h.f. nav. to share electronicversionof which is shownin Fig.4.7. The the samereceiver, particularlywith general aviation CDI, however,may not be a stand-alone unit; it is equipment.It is expected that the 'all v.h.f.in one likely to be part of a multi-function indicator known box' trendwill continueby a variety of namessuchashorizontal situation A largeairliner,and indeedmost aircraft from indicator(HSl) or pictorial navigation indicator PNL twins up, hasa dual v.h.f. nav.installation. The In the installationshownin Fis. 4.9 an HSI is used

63

Captain'scontrol panel

DME1 Comprss

l1lo
Power

Norm S/byt ) Test DME

RF
-----f

Captain RMI

-:-|
F----------,-----

N o .1 V O R / I L S R x

Audio ,.
Fl

ight interohone

FlO RMI

To From

DEV

Flag

I J

transfer relay

oBs

Captain'sVOR/ILS transfer relay lentral nstrumenl rarning panel

rNs

Captain'sRAD/INS relay

Captain'sHSI

Fig 4.9 TypicalVOR installation

indicator Fig.4.l0 KPI 552 pictorialnavigation (courtesy King RadioCorp.) il

(o.b.s.- omnibearing with remote courseselection director fitted, say,on an autopilot/flight selection) the panel. Figure4.10 illustrates mode select King KPI 552 PNI wherethe built-ino.b:s., knob),hasbeensetto 335", a iniolporated(course fly-right commandis beinggivenby the deviationbar and we havea TO indication(largearrow'headabove aircraft symbol). those arepossible; arrangements Variousswitching choiceof VOR/lLS I ' the captain's shownillustrate (lNS) system VOR/lLS2 or inertialnavigation HSI. Switching on his displayed informationbeing of the by means VOR/lLS I or 2 is achieved between relay(TFR/RLY) while VOR/lLS or INS transfer of the radio/lNS(R.AD/lNS) is by means switching (F/O) hasa similar first officer relay. The from at his disposal.Deviationsignals arrangement to F/O'sHSI and from number2 numberI system systemto captain'sHSI may be via isolation amplifiers. The flag signalis of vital importance since it gives

.ir*

warningof unreliabledata from the VOR/ILS receiver. It will be fed to all instruments selected to displayVOR/ILS information and often to a central instrument warningsystem (CIWS). Shouldthe deviationsignalbe fed to the automatic flight control system (AFCS),then obviouslyso must the flag or warningsignal.

Controls and Operation The controller is not particularly complicated. Frequency selection is achievetl by roiation of two knobs,mountedco-axially or separately, so determining the appropriate2/5 code fed to the receiver.It is normal for DME frequencyselection to be madefrom the sarne controller with DMg standby,normal and test switchingalsoprovided (s-ee Chapter7). Self-testswitchingfaciities for the YOR/ILSareprovided. Additiona]controls,other than thoseshown in Fig. 4.9, may be provided, namelyVOR/lLS on-off and audio vo-lume. The locationof displayswitches and the course . selector hasbeentnentioned previously, ashas the interpretationof indicationsgiven to itre pilot.

Simplified Block Diagram Operation Received signals are selected, amplified and detected by a conventional singleor doubie superhetreceiver. The detectedoutput is a compositesignalwhich must be separated into its cornponent partsby means of appropriate filtering circuits. The audiosignal,1020Hz identification, is routed . via an amplifier and possiblya volume contiol on the v.h.f. nav.controller to the flight interphone sub-system of the AIS. The associated audio filter may be switchable to give a passband of 300-3000Hz when the VOR systemis being usedas a ground-to-air communication link. phasechannel(CVOR) consistsof a ^^ lh9_reference 9960 Hz filter, a discriminatorto deteci the 30 Hz not shown, amplifier circuits. Limiting of l.m. and,the signaltakesplace before the discriminatorto remove unwantedamplitude variatipns. The 30 Hz reference signal(R) then undergoes variousphaseshifts. For manualVOR operation,as previously mentioned, we need to shift R by the selectld course.This is achieved by the phase-strift resolver, the rotor of which is coupledtqthe courseor OBS knob. A digital readoutof the selected courseis provided. The phase-shifted R is now comparedwith the variablephasesigrral. If they are in phaseor lg0"

out of phasethere is no lateralmovementof the deviationbar. Sinceit is simplerto determinewhen two signals are in phasequadrature (at 90.) a 90" phaseshifter may be inclutledin the reference channel prior to feedingthe phasecomparatorwhere detectionof phasequadrature will giveno movement ofthe deviation bar. In the absenci ofeither or both of the signals the flag will be in view. 'To'or 'from' informationis derived by comparing the variablephasewith the reference phaseshifted bi the OBSsettingplus l80o It follows-thar if the reference phasehas beenshifted by 90o before feedingthe deviationphasecomparatorwe only reqrrirea further 90" phaseshift before feedingthe 'to/from'phase comparator ratherthan a lgOdphase shift asillustrated in Fig. 4.1l. If the inputs to the 'to/from' phase comparator arewithin, say,+ g0o of beingin phasethen a TO indicationis given;if within t 80'of being in anri-phase a FROM intication is given;otherwiseneither a TO nor a FROM indication is given. For automaticVOR operationthe reference channelis phase-shifted and compared with the variable phase.If the two inputsarein phase quadraturethere is no drive to the motor, otherwise the motor will turn, changing the amount by which the reference phaseis shifted until phasequadrature is achieved.The motor connections are arranged so that the stablenull of the loop givesthe requirei shaft position which represents the magneticbearingto the station. Compass informationis fed to a differential synchro,the rotor of which is turned by the motor following station magneticbearing. ThL difference signalrepresents relativebearingwhich positionsthe appropriateRMI pointer via.asynchrorepeater. The RMI card is positionedby compass information.

Characteristics The following characteristics are selected and summarized from ARINC characteristic 579-1 . li shouldbe noted that there are radicaldifferences in outputs,between ARII{C 579-l and the older ARINC 547 with which many in-servicesystems conform. Frequency Selection 160 channels, 50 kHz spacing, range108-117.95MHz. Standard2/5 selectionsystem. Channelling time lessthan 60 ms. Receiver Satisfactory operationwith 1.5 pV sigral.

65

To AIS

Ref. channel

Deviation bar

Flag

cDt/oBS
To/From
-------l

Compass

VOR blockdiagram' Fig.4.lI Simplified

Nomorethan6dBattanuationat/.i|7kiz;atanaloguesigralprooortionaltoperpendicularlinear

'5kHz' nat f "t 31 attenuatio dB 60 reast

"

"t:mmfll i"pr1""l'it'-i: fri?:n|;Tfii:"' requtrt is station

outputs . ^^n .nn Q , of 200-500 Audio:at least100mWinto a load "' per ..nt'lt -:30 t:: I modulated from a 3 pV input ,ignuirnoaututed it 1000Hz. blli:'fo'*

of the of whichis ananalogue 'Tt;digh-leutl o*'' the spaiing give2 V across should output ffiil; within adjustable i ziio ii r*a.fo'?"ou'* deviation corresponding rhe miles' ;;;; t s to t lb nautical

infractional ouJput digital omni-bearing:

io*i'u'r ":f:;.'lfi1.Ti;:'%tti\;b"o*;l*"

:J"'i,*:::i1!";;;;;:;r'.'^'n3-n1 flightcontrolsystem by the automatic #:'fi:iJffift,:ft1,;Tlsts":lT{:: i;;; ;t used ""'"' bearing, the of of lossof -ih. event the In proportiori?,rr."rt. one voltages, moi.iocprt'
Gat-l 19 .nulogu.ou,puti, DMEthe deviation theotherto its cosine. iistanctinfotmationfrom the t*o ;i;l''"'*irnu*'of OBS revertto an angular to feed"t automatically desiened 'r^6-*-'- o;tp"t should. uigruute lnt"r.t not friiJn'.;. v for 10" off nr'" purau.lconnected er-vi1g^z atui'tion *"d;;'f;;;;'n outputs 547' ARINC deviation 579 with . used ARINC to Wts *i*, "out"' (Note:iti"i voltage d'c' ani'f-.*-i**f a trigh-levef Deviation: 66

Fig.4.l2 Ttc T-308VOR/ILS testset(courtesy Tel-lnstrument Electronics Corp.)

represented angular displacenrent.) TO/FROM:groundreferenced providing2 mA for eachof two 200 Q loadsin parallel. In additiona lowlevel output of 200 gA may be provided to feed olderinstruments. Warning:high level,28 V d.c. valid, absentinvalid. low level,between300 and 900 rnV valid, lessthan 100 mV invalid. The low level signalshould be capable of driving frorn one to five 1000 Sl parallel loads. The VOR digital output should also include warningbits. Ramp Testing Testing of VOR shouldalways be carriedout with a ramp test set capableof being tuned to any VOR frequency,radiatingsufficient energyto allow satisfactory operationof the VOR and providing a means of simulatingvariousVOR radials. Most test setsincludeprovisionfor testingILS aswell as VOR. Among thoseavailable are the CossorCRM 555. IFR NAV4OIL.

The CRM 555 operates on any of the 160 VOR channels with a frequencyaccuracy of 10.0035 per cent(--10'C to +30oC).Modulationof the carrieris suchthat the simulatedbearingmay be set to any readingbetween0 and 360o with a calibrationaccuracvof t l" or mav be switchedin 45o steps with an u..uru.y of t 0.3". Carrierpower canbe attenuated in I dB steps between 0 dBm and -120 dBm (0 dBm corresponds to an output of I mW). A self-testfacility is provided. The NAV-401L offers similarfacilitiesbut is more 'state of the art' and so offersStighttymore in the way of performance. The TIC T-278 is part of the T-308 test set illustrated in Fig.4.12. The facilities arenot as 'extensive as either of the previouslymentionedtest setsbut it has the advantage ofeaseof operationand less cost. It is FCCtype accepted. Operation is on 108'00MHz radiatedfrom a telescopic antenna. Bearings of 0,90, 180 and 270" canbesimulated both TO and FROM, alternately variation, 90-l l0' 'to' or270-290o'from', is available. A J lo switch

6'

*:;

givesa usefulsticky needlecheck. Actual testingshouldbe carriedout in accordance with the procedures laid down, but briefly it would involvecorrectly positioningthe test set antennaand radiatingon sufficient frequencies to test frequency selection of the VOR. Sensitivitymay be checkedby reducingthe r.f. levelreceived either by use of the test

set attenuatoror moving the test set antennafurther shouldbe simulated(check away. Various bearings 'to'or 'from' whether they are station), the appropriatereadingshouldbe checkedon the RMI and the OBS operatedso as to check the manual mode of VOR.

68