Radio Aids

Basic radio

Speed of light = 300,000,000 m/s (299792458) = 162,000nm/sec

1 cycle per second = 1 Hz 1000Hz = 1Khz 1000KHz = 1 MHz 1000Mhz = 1Ghz

Wavelength (λ) (meters) = Speed of radio waves (C) (Meters per sec)
Frequency (Hz)

Frequency (Hz) = Speed of radio waves (C) (Meters per sec)

Wavelength (λ) (meters)

Radio wave Propagation

Frequency band Abbreviation Frequency Wavelength

Extremely low Freq ELF 30 – 300Hz 10,000 – 1000 Km
Voice Freq VF 300 – 3000Hz 1000 – 100 Km
Very Low Freq VLF 3 – 30KHz 100 – 10 Km
Low Freq LF 30 – 300KHz 10,000 – 1000 M
Medium Freq MF 300 – 3000KHz 1000 – 100 M
High Freq HF 3 – 30MHz 100 – 10 M
Very High Freq VHF 30 – 300MHz 10 – 1 M
Ultra High Freq UHF 300 – 3000MHz 100 – 10 Cm
Super High Freq SHF 3 – 30GHz 10 – 1 Cm
Extremely High Freq EHF 30 – 300GHz 1 – 0.1 Cm
Radar L Band 1 – 2GHz
Radar S Band 2 – 4GHz
Radar C Band 4 – 8GHz
Radar X Band 8 – 12.5GHz

Surface Wave range (nm) = 3 x √Power (Watts)

Layer D layer E layer F layer

Height (Km) 50 – 100 Km 100 – 150 Km 150 – 350 Km

Distance to optical horizon = 1.05 √Ht AMSL

VHF range (nm) = 1.25 √ Ht AMSL of Transmitter (ft.) + 1.25 √ Ht AMSL of Receiver (ft.)
VHF range (sea level) nm = 12 √ FL (Flight level)

Direct Wave + Ground Reflected Wave = Space Wave

+
Surface Wave = Ground Wave
 Ground Direction Finding (VDF)

Freq (VHF) = 118 to 137 MHz

Emission = A3E

Bearing Class Class A Class B Class C Class D

Accuracy ± 2° ± 5° ± 10° accuracy less than Class C

Automatic Direction Finding (ADF) and Non Directional Beacons (NDB)

Freq LF/MF = 190 to 1750 KHz (250 to 450 KHz), Vertically Polarized Omnidirectional signals
Emission = N0N A1A (Carrier is broken) N0N A2A (Audio is Broken)
(BFO should be on always) (BFO should be only on for tuning)
Ident = 7 words per Min @ 10 sec spacing for ident. NO Failure warning
Designated Operational Coverage (DOC) = +/- 5° only by day (Signal/Noise 3:1)

NDB range over water (nm) = 3 x √ Wattage

NDB range over land (nm) = 2 x √ Wattage

To double the range in an NDB increase the power by 4 fold.

Frequency difference between two locator NDB should not be less than 15 KHz or more than 25 KHz.

Type of NDB Locater Homing and Holding En Route and Long range
Range 25nm 50nm 200nm by day and 70nm by night

VHF Omnidirectional Radio Range (VOR)

Freq VHF = 108 to 118 MHz (Band 108 to 112 For VOR are even fig and the ILS are odd)
Emission = A9W Horizontally Polarized Omnidirectional signals (Dipoles capable)
Ident = 3 letter, 7 words per Min @ 10 sec spacing for ident. It may be in voice Form.
ATIS broadcasts on VOR.
VOR = Freq modulated 30Hz Reference signal and Amplitude modulated 30Hz
Variable Signal. The Variable Signal is rotated clockwise.
DVOR = Amplitude modulated 30Hz Reference signal and Freq modulated 30Hz
Variable Signal. The Variable Signal is rotated anticlockwise.

Designated Operational Coverage (DOC) = +/- 1° by day and night

Off flags in view for failure warning. No ident.
Course Deviation Indicator (CDI) = 2° Dev per dot
Radio Magnetic Indicator (RMI) = Pointer nose QDM, Tail QDR

Type of Error Site Propagation Airborne Equipment Pilotage Aggregate error (Sum) i.e. √ (A²+P²)
Error +/- 1° +/- 1° +/- 3° +/- 1° 5°

Where A is aircraft receiver error and P is transmitter propagation error

The overall accuracy of the VOR should not exceed 5° on 95% occasions.
Test VOR (VOT) = When tuned should indicate 000 FROM or 180 TO. Should be within +/-4°.
 Instrument Landing System (ILS)

Freq VHF = 40 channels VHF Band 108 MHz to 112 MHz for ILS localizer are odd figures
Glideslope UHF Freq 329.15 MHz to 335 MHz
Marker Beacons 75 MHz, not separated less than 15 MHz or more than 25 MHz
Emission = A8W Horizontally Polarized Unidirectional signals
Ident = 2 or 3 letters, 7 words per Min @ 10 sec spacing for ident.
The ident will be on the localizer signal.Off flags in view for failure warning and no ident or continuous tone.

Localizer :-
300m upwind from the end of the runway.
Sector Left Yellow Lobe 90Hz (LYN) Right Blue Lobe 150Hz
Coverage in Horizontal From center to From 10° to 35° @17 nm From 35° to 90° @10 nm
10° @25 nm
Coverage in Vertical above ground 7°

Glidepath :-
300m upwind from runway threshold, 150m on either side of the runway centerline.
Sector Upper Yellow lobe 90Hz Lower Blue lobe 150Hz
Coverage in Horizontal From centerline 8° @10 nm
Coverage in Vertical above ground lower end = 0.45 x G.P angle Upper end = 1.75 x G.P angle

Category Decision Height DH Runway Visual Range Controlling RVR

1 Not less than 200 ft. RVR not less than 550m 550m Touchdown Zone
2 Not less than 100 ft. RVR not less than 300m Touchdown and 125m Mid Zone
3a Not less than 100 ft. or no DH RVR not less than 175m Touchdown, 125m Mid and Rollout Zone
3b Not less than 50 ft. or no DH RVR not less than 50m Touchdown, 75/50m Mid and Rollout Zone
3c No DH No RVR NA

Course Deviation Indicator (CDI) = 0.5° Dev per dot localizer 0.14° Dev per dot glideslope
Reverse sensing on CDI and Artificial Horizon but not on Horizontal situation indicator (HSI)

Marker Distance Transmission Tone Light

Outer 3 -6 nm, avg 4nm 400Hz 2 low pitch dashes Blue
Middle 3500 Ft 1300Hz Alternate dots and dashes Amber
Inner 250 – 1500 ft 3000Hz 6 high pitch dots White

Localizer Type Directional Aid (LDA)

The Localizer course is 3° to 6° offset on either side of the runway centerline due to terrain.
It is a non-precision approach but is precision like approach with Glideslope

Simplified Directional Facility (SDF)

The Localizer course is 6° to 12° offset on either side of the runway centerline due to terrain.
It is a non-precision approach
 Basic Radar

Pulse Recurring Frequency (PRF) or Pulse Recurring Rate (PRR) = Pulses send in 1 sec
Pulse Recurring period (PRP) or Pulse Recurring interval (PRI) = Time waited to send 2nd pulse

PRP = 1000,000 µS PRF = 1000,000 µS

PRF PRP

PRP = Range (nm) x 2 Range (nm) = PRP x Speed (0.166 nm per µS)
Speed (0.166 nm per µS) 2

To double the range in primary radar increase the power by 16 fold.

Airborne weather Radar

Freq SHF = 9375 MHz, +/- 30MHz, 3.2cm wavelength covers 320 nm range

Beamwidth° = 70 x Wavelength (cms)

Antenna diameter (cms)

Height (ft) = Tilt ° - Beamwidth ° x range (nm) x 100 ft

2

Colour Returns
Black Very light or no returns
Green Light returns
Yellow Medium returns
Red Strong returns
Magenta Turbulence

Switch Function
POWER / STAB ON mode To stabilize the antenna in pitch and roll axis
STANDBY mode When Weather radar is not in use.
STAB off mode Antenna locked to aircrafts axis
RANGE Gives ranges up to 150 nm
TILT Gives 15° up or down from horizontal tilt up or down.
MAP mode Produces fan shaped cosecant mapping beam for min 15 nm and max of 70 nm.
MAN mode Produces conical pencil shaped beam for range between 70 to 150 nm.
WEA mode Produces conical pencil shaped beam and operates up to 25nm, it will
automatically adjust the gain to give better picture.
CONT mode Gives iso echo display to show strong returns in black and white radar
TEST mode Self-test for colours about 60sec.
HOLD mode Freezes the display to examine.
TGT ALERT mode If no contouring clouds are present then it will display yellow T in red square, if
contouring clouds are present within 60 to 160 nm and +/- 15° the red square
flashes on and off once every 1 sec and replaces the T
FAULT mode Fault flashes on screen if there is power or transmitter failure
 Secondary surveillance Radar

Freq UHF = Ground station Transmits / interrogates @ 1030MHZ

Ground station Receives @ 1090MHZ
Aircraft Transmits / interrogates @ 1090MHZ
Aircraft Receives @ 1030MHZ

Mode Spacing Purpose

A 8 µS apart
4096 codes
B 17 µS apart
C 21 µS apart
D 25 µS apart
S 3.5µS apart
16 million codes
Identification only
Altitude reporting from 1013.2 mb only
Experimental
(Multipurpose) High accuracy of data:-
Level 1 – No data link , min features for Mode S
Level 2 – Standard data link between air to ground and ground to air
Level 3 – Extended data link between ground to air only
Level 4 – Extended data link between ground to air and air to ground

7500 - First hijack 7600 - then switch of radios 7700 - Which will cause emergency
2000 - No SSR coverage 0000 – Transponder failure

Distance Measuring Equipment (DME)

Freq UHF = 962 to 1212 MHz with 1 MHz spacing,

+/-63MHz difference in interrogation and receiver
Emission = P0N
Ident = 3 letter callsign every 30 sec usually associated with VOR, no signals during
ident for DME but the memory lasts for 10 sec.
Accuracy = +/-0.2nm, coverage of 200 nm @ 30,000ft.No greater than +- 0.5nm or
+- 3% of the distance measured.
Off flags in view for failure warning. It will go in memory mode

DME interrogator will transmit 150pps for 15,000 pulse pair for 100 sec to achieve rapid lock.
IF lock on is not achieved then it will reduce to 60pps until lock on.
Once locked on it will operate at 25pps.
100 aircraft (2700pps) will saturate the beacon and the weak signals will be rejected.
The DME will indicate 0 @ runway threshold when coupled with ILS.

Position Frequency Ident

Associated:-Both transmitters of
DME and VOR are co located.
They are max 100 ft apart in TMA
They are max 2000 ft apart in TMA
Not associated but serve the same
location.(7 nm apart)
Widely separated more than 7 nm
Both transmit the same callsign, 4 ident every
30 sec of which 3 are of VOR and the 4th is of
DME.
Paired
Both VOR and DME will identify separately,
DME will have the last letter Z in the callsign.
May or may not be Totally different ident
paired
 Radio Altimeters

Freq SHF = 4200 to 4400 MHz, mean 4300 MHz, varies @ start + 60 MHz with 1MHz increment
Frequency modulated, continuous wave send vertically downward.

Difference in frequency = Rate of change of frequency x Time taken

Will activate below 2500 ft and gives main wheel height, off flags above 2500ft.
Accuracy = down to 20ft with +/- 2ft or 2% up to 500ft

Doppler

Freq SHF = 8800 and 13500 MHz Janus Array has 2 front and 2 back Ariel’s
Continuous wave, vertically polarised signals
Accuracy = 0.1% of the true Groundspeed, 0.1% of the Drift
ICAO Max error on 95% occasion = 0.5% for both Groundspeed and Drift
Doppler derived position (DDP) = Within 1% of total distance position and drift
Best tilt angle of the aerial is 60° from the horizontal.
Land sea switch when operated to sea the Groundspeed increases by 1%.

Freq Shift or Doppler Shift (Hz) = Velocity (V)(m/s) x Frequency (f)(Hz)

Speed of radio waves (C) (Meters/ sec)

Cos Ө = Angle of depression of the beam from the horizontal

Cos Ф = Angle from the nose sideways

Single beam:-
Doppler shift = 2 x Velocity (V)(m/s) x Frequency (f)(Hz) x Cos Ө
Speed of radio waves (C) (Meters/ sec)

Four beam:-
Doppler shift = 4 x Velocity (V)(m/s) x Frequency (f)(Hz) x Cos Ө x Cos Ф
Speed of radio waves (C) (Meters/ sec)

Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) / Airborne Collison avoidance system (ACAS)

Symbol Envelope Colour

Within 30 nm Empty Cyan or White diamond / Lozenge (no real threat)

Within 6 nm Full Cyan or White diamond / Lozenge (Proximate Traffic) Within +- 1200Ft.
NA Full yellow circle (Traffic advisory) TA
NA Full red Square (Resolution advisory) RA

The Arrow will also be there besides the symbol in same colour when there is a relative change of 500 ft. or
more between the other aircraft and indicates up or down in the direction of change.
TCAS (Resolution advisory) RA Messages :-

Traffic, Traffic Identify traffic and prepare for possible RA

Maintain Vertical Speed Maintain Maintain Existing rate of climb or descent
Climb, Climb Climb at 1500 ft./min
Descend, Descend Descend at 1500 ft./min
Increase Climb Climb at 2500 ft./min
Increase Descend Descend at 2500 ft./min
Climb, Climb now Initiate change from descend to climb
Descend, Descend now Initiate change from climb to descend
Climb, Crossing climb Climb at 1500 ft./min through the intruder’s altitude
Descend, Crossing Descend Descend at 1500 ft./min through the intruder’s altitude
Adjust Vertical Speed Adjust Reduce climb or descend to the rate indicated
Monitor Vertical speed No Maneuvers required, keep out of red area
Maintain Vertical Speed Crossing Maintain Maintain rate of climb or descend while passing through the
intruder’s altitude
Clear of Conflict Resume normal flight, return to cleared altitude if under ATC
control

TCAS 1 - 40 sec before the alert will come. It will not have RA
TCAS 2 - 40 sec before the alert will come. It will track 45 aircraft but display 30 of them .It will give RA
to miss 3 aircraft one after the other. No RA below 1000ft.

Ground Proximity Warning System

Mode Flight Hazard Warning Envelope Alert Warning

1 Excessive descent rate with respect to 50 – 2450 ft SINK RATE WHOOP WHOOP
terrain PULL UP + FLASHING
LIGHT (4 times)
2a Excessive rate of terrain closure (not in 50 – 1800 ft TERRAIN As mode 1
landing config) TERRAIN
2b Excessive rate of terrain closure (in 220 – 790 ft TERRAIN As mode 1
landing config) TERRAIN
3 Negative rate of climb after take-off or 50 – 700 ft DON’T SINK NA
go-around
4a Unsafe terrain clearance (aircraft not in 50 – 500 ft TOO LOW - As mode 1
landing config- gear up) GEAR
4b Unsafe terrain clearance (aircraft not in 50 – 500 ft TOO LOW - TOO LOW -TERRAIN
landing config- flaps up) FLAPS
5 Excessive glideslope deviation ILS(half 100 – 500 ft GLIDESLOPE NA
full scale deviation)
6a Descent below minimums (DH) NA MINIMUMS NA
6b Bank angle only for EGPWS NA BANK ANGLE NA
7 Wind shear (EGPWS) 50 – 1500 ft WIND SHEAR NA
Enhanced ground proximity warning system (EGPWS) / Ground Collision Avoidance System (GCAS) – Detects
the terrain by using the FMS (Flight Management System) as it has the GPS and Map database to compute the
safe distance and gives alert 1 min before and a warning 30 sec earlier before impact. Also has the Runway
alert and advisory system (RAAS)
Predictive windshear (Prediction): It works by analyzing the liquid precipitation pattern using Doppler shift
from the weather radar returns to detect windshear ahead. Windshear warning of upto 1min before.

Reactive windshear: It takes in to account the vertical acceleration detected from the (INS/IRS/ADIRU) and
airspeed from the air data computer to determine if the aircraft is in windshear conditions.

Synthetic voice warning prioritization: Stall then Windshear then GPWS then TCAS

Satellite Assisted Navigation (Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS))

A GNSS receiver calculates its position by precisely timing the signals sent by GPS satellites high above the
Earth. Each satellite continually transmits messages that include the time the message was transmitted,
Satellite position at the time of message transmission, then these signals are compared by the receiver to give
the spheres which intersect each other to give a fix of position and then displayed on the moving map

Freq UHF = GPS L band 1575.42 (L1) MHz and 1227.6 MHz (L2)
GLONASS L band 1602 (L1) MHz and 1246 MHz (L2)

GPS have 24 Sat in 6 orbital planes with 12hr orbit period inclined 55° to the equator of which 21 are active
and 3 are backup
GLONASS have 24 Sat in orbit of which 21 are active and 3 are backup

Only some WAAS satellites are geo-stationary in GPS system

3 Satellites are required to obtain a 2d fix, 4 are required to obtain 3d fix, 4 Satellites + time correction from
the GPS receiver onboard gives 4d fix

Receiver autonomous integrity monitoring (RAIM)

Needs atleast 5 satellites or needs 4 satellite with a barometric altitude to detect any error
from the gps signal as it continuously monitors the gps signals and will notify of any error in them.

Local Area Augmentation System (LAAS) or Local area differential GNSS (LADGNSS)
An all-weather aircraft landing system in which the ground station situated at the airport sends
the corrected GPS signals by VHF datalink to the capable gps receiver onboard of the aircraft for the accurate
guidance to landing with vertical as well as horizontal guidance.

Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) or Satellite based Augmentation System (SBAS)
The ground reference station measures the signal for accuracy and then sends the corrected
signals to the geo-stationary WAAS or SBAS satellites which then sends the corrected signals back to the WAAS
/ SBAS capable GPS receiver on board of the aircraft.

GPS approaches:
LNav: GPS approach with only lateral guidance only where the minimums are higher.
LNav +V: GPS approach with lateral as well as advisory vertical guidance where u can fly only to Lnav
Minimums.
LNav/VNav: GPS approach with lateral as well as vertical guidance where satellite, other LAAS / WAAS /SBAS
or Baro-Vnav (Barometric vertical Navigation) generated glideslope is used for the approach
LPV: Localizer performance with vertical guidance which requires WAAS / SBAS capable receiver and
proper Approach lighting system installed on the runway