ASSIGNMENT NO.

1 VFH OMNIDIRECTIONAL RANGE

NAME : REYES, GIAN CARL S.. SUBMISSION DATE: AUGUST 27,, 2019
INSTRUCTOR: ENGR. ROBERTO B LONGANILLA Jr. RATING:

 WHAT IS A VOR ?

VHF OMNIDIRECTIONAL RADIO RANGE (VOR), IS AN AIRCRAFT NAVIGATION SYSTEM

OPERATING IN THE VHF BAND. VORS BROADCAST A VHF RADIO COMPOSITE SIGNAL INCLUDING
THE STATION'S MORSE CODE IDENTIFIER (AND SOMETIMES A VOICE IDENTIFIER), AND DATA
THAT ALLOWS THE AIRBORNE RECEIVING EQUIPMENT TO DERIVE THE MAGNETIC BEARING
FROM THE STATION TO THE AIRCRAFT. THIS LINE OF POSITION IS CALLED THE "RADIAL".
ALTERNATIVELY, THE VOR RADIAL MAY BE COMBINED WITH MAGNETIC HEADING FROM THE
AIRCRAFT COMPASS TO PROVIDE A BEARING RELATIVE TO THE AIRCRAFT AXIS, WHICH CN BE
USED TO HOME TO THE BEACON. VOR BEACONS ARE FREQUENTLY USED AS WAY-POINTS ON
CONVENTIONAL AIRWAY SYSTEMS, OR AS THE BASIS FOR A NON-PRECISION APPROACH.

A VHF OMNI DIRECTIONAL RANGE RADIO (VOR) IS THE MOST COMMON GROUND-BASED
NAVIGATIONAL AID (NAVAID) YOU'LL USE. VOR NAVIGATION ALLOWS YOUR TO FLY POINT TO
POINT ALONG ESTABLISHED AIRWAYS BETWEEN VORS. HERE'S WHAT A VOR STATION LOOKS
LIKE:

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WHILE SOME VORS ARE BEING SLOWLY PHASED OUT BY THE FAA, THERE ARE STILL
HUNDREDS OF VOR STATIONS AROUND THE COUNTRY. THEY'RE VALUABLE SOURCES OF
INCOMEPOSITION INFORMATION FOR CROSS COUNTRY FLIGHTS, INSTRUMENT APPROACH
PROCEDURES, AND IF YOU GET LOST, THEY CAN HELP YOU QUICKLY PINPOINT YOUR POSITION.

MOST VORS HAVE DISTANCE MEASURING EQUIPMENT (DME) OR TACTICAL AIR

NAVIGATION EQUIPMENT (TACAN) INSTALLED WITHIN THE VOR STATION. WHEN A VOR IS
COLLOCATED WITH DME, IT'S LABELED AS "VOR-DME." ON THE OTHER HAND, WHEN A VOR IS
COLLOCATED WITH A TACAN, IT'S CALLED A VORTAC. YOU CAN FIND THEM CHARTED ON VFR
SECTIONAL CHARTS, IFR LOW CHARTS, IFR HIGH CHARTS, SIDS, STARS, AND INSTRUMENT
APPROACHES. HERE'S WHAT VOR SYMBOLS LOOK LIKE:

 VHF OMNI-DIRECTIONAL RANGE/TACTICAL AIR NAVIGATION (VORTAC):

A VORTAC IS A FACILITY CONSISTING OF TWO COMPONENTS, VOR AND TACAN, WHICH
PROVIDES THREE INDIVIDUAL SERVICES AT A CENTRAL LOCATION:
 VOR AZIMUTH
 TACAN AZIMUTH
 TACAN DISTANCE (DME)
ALTHOUGH CONSISTING OF MORE THAN ONE COMPONENT, INCORPORATING MORE THAN ONE
OPERATING FREQUENCY, AND USING MORE THAN ONE ANTENNA SYSTEM, A VORTAC IS
CONSIDERED TO BE A UNIFIED NAVIGATION AIDBOTH COMPONENTS OF A VORTAC ARE
ENVISIONED AS OPERATING SIMULTANEOUSLY AND PROVIDING THE THREE SERVICES AT ALL
TIMESTRANSMITTING SIGNALS OF VOR AND TACAN ARE EACH IDENTIFIED BY THREE-LETTER
CODE TRANSMISSION AND ARE INTERLOCKED SO THAT PILOTS USING VOR AZIMUTH WITH
TACAN DISTANCE CAN BE ASSURED BOTH SIGNALS BEING RECEIVED ARE DEFINITELY FROM THE
SAME GROUND STATIONTHE FREQUENCY CHANNELS OF THE VOR AND THE TACAN AT EACH
VORTAC FACILITY ARE "PAIRED" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE NATIONAL PLAN TO SIMPLIFY
AIRBORNE OPERATION

 HOW DOES VOR WORK ?

THE FREQUENCY RANGE FOR A VOR IS BETWEEN 108.0 MHZ AND 117.95 MHZ.
EVERY VOR IS ORIENTED TO MAGNETIC NORTH (MORE ON THIS IN A BIT), AND
EMITS 360 RADIALS FROM THE STATION. THE VOR SENDS OUT ONE STATIONARY

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MASTER SIGNAL, AND ONE ROTATING VARIABLE SIGNAL. THESE ARE ALSO
CALLED "REFERENCE" AND "VARIABLE" PHASES.
AN AIRCRAFT'S VOR ANTENNA, WHICH IS USUALLY LOCATED ON THE TAIL,
PICKS UP THIS SIGNAL AND TRANSFERS IT TO THE RECEIVER IN THE COCKPIT.
THE AIRCRAFT'S VOR RECEIVER COMPARES THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE
VOR'S VARIABLE AND REFERENCE PHASE, AND DETERMINES THE AIRCRAFT'S
BEARING FROM THE STATION. THIS BEARING IS THE RADIAL THAT THE
AIRCRAFT IS CURRENTLY ON.

 WHAT ARE THE VOR EQUIPMENT ?

COMPONENTS
A VOR SYSTEM IS MADE UP OF A GROUND COMPONENT AND AN AIRCRAFT RECEIVER
COMPONENT.GROUND STATIONS ARE LOCATED BOTH ON AND OFF AIRPORTS TO PROVIDE
GUIDANCE INFORMATION TO PILOTS BOTH EN ROUTE AND DURING ARRIVAL AND
DEPARTURE.AIRCRAFT EQUIPMENT INCLUDES A VOR ANTENNA, A VOR FREQUENCY SELECTOR,
AND A COCKPIT INSTRUMENT. THE INSTRUMENT TYPE VARIES BUT CONSISTS OF ONE OF THE
FOLLOWING: AN OMNI-BEARING INDICATOR (OBI), HORIZONTAL SITUATION INDICATOR (HSI)
OR A RADIO MAGNETIC INDICATOR (RMI), OR A COMBINATION OF TWO DIFFERENT
KINDS.DISTANCE MEASURING EQUIPMENT (DME) OFTEN IS COLLOCATED WITH A VOR TO GIVE
PILOTS A PRECISE INDICATION OF THE AIRCRAFT'S DISTANCE FROM THE VOR STATION.VORS
HAVE AM VOICE BROADCAST ABILITY, AND EACH VOR HAS ITS OWN MORSE CODE IDENTIFIER
THAT IT BROADCASTS TO PILOTS. IT ENSURES THAT PILOTS ARE NAVIGATING FROM THE
CORRECT VOR STATION, AS THERE OFTEN ARE MANY VOR FACILITIES WITHIN RANGE OF A
SINGLE AIRCRAFT.

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HOW IT WORKS :
THE GROUND STATION IS ALIGNED WITH MAGNETIC NORTH AND EMITS TWO SIGNALS—A 360-
DEGREE SWEEPING VARIABLE SIGNAL AND AN OMNI-DIRECTIONAL REFERENCE SIGNAL. THE
SIGNALS ARE COMPARED BY THE AIRCRAFT'S RECEIVER, AND A PHASE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
THEM IS MEASURED, GIVING A PRECISE RADIAL POSITION OF THE AIRCRAFT AND DISPLAYING IT
ON THE OBI, HSI, OR RMI.
VORS COME WITH HIGH, LOW, AND TERMINAL SERVICE VOLUMES AND DIMENSIONS. HIGH-
ALTITUDE VORS CAN BE USED UP TO 60,000 FEET AND 130 NAUTICAL MILES WIDE. LOW-
ALTITUDE VORS SERVICE AIRCRAFT UP TO 18,000 FEET AND UP TO 40 NAUTICAL MILES WIDE.
TERMINAL VORS GO UP TO 12,000 FEET AND 25 NAUTICAL MILES. THE NETWORK OF VORS
TYPICALLY PROVIDES THOROUGH COVERAGE ALONG PUBLISHED VISUAL FLIGHT RULES (VFR)
AND INSTRUMENT FLIGHT RULES (IFR) ROUTES.
ERRORS
AS WITH ANY SYSTEM, VORS COME WITH SOME POTENTIAL PROBLEMS. WHILE MORE
ACCURATE AND USABLE THAN THE OLD NONDIRECTIONAL BEACON (NDB) SYSTEM, VORS ARE
STILL A LINE-OF-SIGHT INSTRUMENT. PILOTS FLYING IN LOW OR MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN MAY
FIND IT DIFFICULT TO SUCCESSFULLY IDENTIFY A VOR FACILITY. ALSO, THERE EXISTS A "CONE OF
CONFUSION" WHEN FLYING NEAR A VOR. FOR A BRIEF PERIOD WHEN AN AIRCRAFT FLIES NEAR
OR OVER THE TOP OF A VOR STATION, THE AIRCRAFT INSTRUMENT WILL GIVE ERRONEOUS
READINGS

 WHAT ARE VOR LIMITATIONS ?

VORS ARE LIMITED TO LINE-OF-SIGHT. OBSTACLES, TERRAIN, AND EVEN THE SLOPE OF THE
EARTH INTERFERE WITH VOR SIGNALS. THERE'S NO RESTRICTION ON HOW MANY AIRPLANES
CAN USE A SINGLE VOR SIMULTANEOUSLY. THERE ARE THREE CLASSES OF VORS: TERMINAL (T),

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LOW (L), AND HIGH (H). YOU CAN LOOK YOUR VOR UP IN THE FAA CHART SUPPLEMENT TO
DETERMINE WHAT CATEGORY IT IS.
THE FARTHER AWAY YOU ARE FROM A VOR, THE HIGHER YOU NEED TO FLY TO GET SIGNAL
RECEPTION. THIS IS WHY VOR SERVICE VOLUMES HAVE A SLOPE AT THE LOWEST ALTITUDE, TO
ACCOUNT FOR TERRAIN AND CURVATURE OF THE EARTH.
LIMITATIONS:
LINE-OF-SIGHT:
 THE RANGE VARIES PROPORTIONALLY TO THE ALTITUDE OF THE RECEIVING EQUIPMENT
 THIS MEANS THE FARTHER FROM THE STATION, THE HIGHER YOU MUST BE
 SEE STANDARD SERVICE VOLUME (SSV) FOR MORE RANGE RESTRICTIONS
MISINTERPRETATION:
 RECEIVING TWO SIGNALS ON SAME FREQUENCY
REVERSE SENSING:
 REVERSE SENSING FLYING TO A STATION WITH A FROM
 INDICATION OR A FROM WITH A TO INDICATION
BENDING & SCALLOPING:
 BUILT TO PROVIDE MAXIMUM ERROR OF 2.5°
 SIGNAL REFLECTS OFF TERRAIN AND BUILDINGS
POLARIZATION:
 ERROR UP TO 10°
 CONE OF CONFUSION
 CDI STICKING
 OBS CALIBRATION
 ERROR BETWEEN RADIAL SELECTED AND THE ONE SHOWN IN THE COURSE SELECTION
WINDOW

PROPELLER MODULATION:
 IF SIGNAL PASSES THROUGH PROP, ARC MODULATION CAN BE CHANGED
 CDI NEEDLE MAY FLUCTUATE AS MUCH AS PLUS OR MINUS

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