Radio navigation or radionavigation is the application of radio frequencies to determining a position on the Earth. Like radiolocation, it is a type of radiodetermination. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 602 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (800 × 797 pixel, file size: 67 KB, MIME type: image/png) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... This article is about Earth as a planet. ... Radiolocation is the process of finding the location of something through the use of radio waves. ... As defined by FS-1037C, radiodetermination is the determination of the position, velocity and/or other characteristics of an object, or the obtaining of information relating to these parameters, by means of the propagation properties of radio waves. ...

RDF / ADF / NDB

The first system of radio navigation was the Radio Direction Finder, or RDF. By tuning in a radio station and then using a directional antenna to find the direction to the broadcasting antenna, radio sources replaced the stars and planets of celestial navigation with a system that could be used in all weather and times of day. By using triangulation, two such measurements can be plotted on a map where their intersection is the position. Commercial AM radio stations can be used for this task due to their long range and high power, but strings of low-power radio beacons were also set up specifically for this task. Early systems used a loop antenna that was rotated by hand to find the angle to the signal, while modern systems use a much more directional solenoid that is rotated rapidly by a motor, with electronics calculating the angle. These later systems were also called Automatic Direction Finders, or ADF. A radio direction finder, or RDF, is a device for finding the direction to a radio source. ... A radio station is an audio (sound) broadcasting service, traditionally broadcast through the air as radio waves (a form of electromagnetic radiation) from a transmitter to an antenna and a thus to a receiving device. ... Log-periodic dipole array A directional antenna is an antenna which transmits or receives maximum power in a particular direction. ... STAR is an acronym for: Organizations Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers], the self-regulatory body for the entertainment ticket industry in the UK. Society for Telescopy, Astronomy, and Radio, a non-profit New Jersey astronomy club. ... The eight planets and three dwarf planets of the Solar System. ... For the episode of The West Wing, see Celestial Navigation (The West Wing). ... For the geological process, see Weathering or Erosion. ... Triangulation can be used to find the distance from the shore to the ship. ... The term intersection can mean: a road junction, where two roads intersect each other, such as a roundabout intersection; in mathematics, the set in which two or more other sets intersect each other; see intersection (set theory); a movie; see Intersection (movie). ... Mediumwave radio transmissions (sometimes called Medium frequency or MF) are those between the frequencies of 300 kHz and 3000 kHz. ... Radio Tower of NKR Leimen-Ochsenbach, Germany A Non-Directional Beacon (NDB) is a radio broadcast station in a known location, used as an aviation or marine navigational aid. ... Aerial redirects here. ... Various solenoid actuators from Trombetta Motion Technologies A solenoid is a loop of wire, often wrapped around a metallic core, which produces a magnetic field when an electrical current is passed through it. ... For other kinds of motors, see motor. ... A Non-directional Beacon, or NDB, is a radio broadcast station in a known location, used as a navigational aid by aircraft pilots. ...

Lorenz

Main article: Lorenz (navigation)

In the 1930s German radio engineers developed a new system, called the "Ultrakurzwellen-Landefunkfeuer" (LFF), or simply "Leitstrahl" (guiding beam) but referred to outside Germany as Lorenz, the name of the company manufacturing the equipments. In Lorenz two signals were broadcast on the same frequencies from highly directional antennas with beams a few degrees wide. One was pointed slightly to the left of the other, with a small angle in the middle where they overlapped. The signals were chosen as dots and dashes, timed so that when the aircraft was in the small area in the middle the sound was continuous. Planes would fly into the beams by listening to the signal to identify which side of middle they were on, and then corrected until they were in the center. Prior to the World War II the Germans had deployed the Lorenz blind-landing aid at many airports and equipped most of their bombers with the radio equipment needed to use it. ... Face The 1930s (years from 1930–1939) were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression, also known in Europe as the World Depression. ... Prior to the World War II the Germans had deployed the Lorenz blind-landing aid at many airports and equipped most of their bombers with the radio equipment needed to use it. ... This article describes the unit of angle. ...

Originally developed as a night and bad-weather landing system, in the late 1930s they also started developing long-range versions for night bombing. In this case a second set of signals were broadcast at right angles to the first, and indicated the point at which to drop the bombs. The system was highly accurate and a battle of the beams broke out when United Kingdom intelligence services attempted, and then succeeded, in rendering the system useless. This article is about explosive devices. ... The Battle of the Beams was a period in early World War II when Luftwaffe bombers started using radio navigation for night bombing. ... The following is a partial list of intelligence agencies, past and present. ...

In the post-war era similar systems were widely deployed, notably in the United States where a system of long range "airways" was created spanning the country with stations about 200 miles (320km) apart. The signals were chosen as the A and N letters form morse code, dot-dash and dash-dot respectively. However, new developments soon rendered these systems obsolete. 1922 Chart of the Morse Code Letters and Numerals Morse code is a method for transmitting telegraphic information, using standardized sequences of short and long elements to represent the letters, numerals, punctuation and special characters of a message. ... Obsolescence is when a person or object is no longer wanted even though it is still in good working order. ...

VOR

Main article: VHF omnidirectional range

The next major advance in "beam based" navigation system was the use of two signals that varied not in sound, but in phase. In these systems, known as VHF omnidirectional range, or VOR, a single master signal is sent out continually from the station, and a highly directional second signal is sent out that varies in phase 30 times a second compared to the master. This signal is timed so that the phase varies as the secondary antenna spins, such that when the antenna is 90 degrees from north, the signal is 90 degrees out of phase of the master. By comparing the phase of the secondary signal to the master, the angle can be determined without any physical motion in the receiver. This angle is then displayed in the cockpit of the aircraft, and can be used to take a fix just like the earlier RDF systems, although it is, in theory, easier to use and more accurate. D-VOR (Doppler VOR) ground station, co-located with DME. VOR, short for VHF Omni-directional Radio Range, is a type of radio navigation system for aircraft. ... D-VOR (Doppler VOR) ground station, co-located with DME. VOR, short for VHF Omni-directional Radio Range, is a type of radio navigation system for aircraft. ... This article is about a portion of a periodic process. ... Cockpit of a light aircraft, showing instrumentation dials and dual control yokes. ... “Flying Machine” redirects here. ... Position fixing is the branch of navigation concerned with the use of a variety of visual and electronic methods to determine the position of a ship, aircraft or person on the surface of the Earth. ...

Hyperbolic Systems

Systems based on the measurement the difference of signal arrival times from two or more locations are called hyperbolic systems due to the shape of the lines of position on the chart. These include:

GEE

The British GEE system was developed during World War II. GEE used a series of transmitters sending out precisely timed signals, and the aircraft using GEE, RAF Bomber Command's heavy bombers, examined the time of arrival on an oscilloscope at the navigator's station. If the signal from two stations arrived at the same time, the aircraft must be an equal distance from both transmitters, allowing the navigator to determine a line of position on his chart of all the positions at that distance from both stations. By making similar measurements with other stations, additional lines of position can be produced, leading to a fix. GEE was accurate to about 165 yards (150m) at short ranges, and up to a mile (1.6km) at longer ranges over Germany. Used after WWII as late as the 1960s in the RAF (approx freq was by then 68MHZ). ×GEE or AMES Type 7000 was a British radio navigation system used by the Royal Air Force during World War II. GEE was designed to improve aircraft navigation accuracy, thereby increasing the destructiveness of raids by Avro Lancasters and various other bombers. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Bomber Command badge RAF Bomber Command was the organisation that controlled the RAFs bomber forces. ... For other uses, see Bomber (disambiguation). ... Illustration showing the interior of a cathode-ray tube for use in an oscilloscope. ... A yard (abbreviation: yd) is the name of a unit of length in a number of different systems, including English units, Imperial units, and United States customary units. ...

LORAN

Other "time based" radio navigation systems were developed from the basic GEE principle. Most capable of these was LORAN, for "LOng-range RAdio Navigation", originally developed for navigation over the Atlantic. In LORAN a single "master" station broadcast a series of short pulses, which were picked up and re-broadcast by a series of "slave" stations, together making a "chain". Since the time between the reception and re-broadcast of the pulses by the slaves was tightly controlled, the time it took for the radio signal to travel from station to station could be measured by listening to the signals. Since the time for the re-broadcasts to reach a remote receiver varies with its distance from the slaves, the distance to each slave could be determined. By plotting the circles representing the ranges on a map, the area where they overlapped formed a fix. LORAN (LOng RAnge Navigation) is a terrestrial navigation system using low frequency radio transmitters that use the time interval between radio signals received from three or more stations to determine the position of a ship or aircraft. ...

At first the electronics needed to make these accurate measurements was expensive, and using it was difficult. As the sophistication of computer systems grew to the point where they could be placed on a single chip, LORAN suddenly became very simple to use, and quickly appeared in civilian systems intended for use on boats starting in the 1980s. However, like the beam systems before it, civilian use of LORAN was short-lived when newer technology quickly drove it from the market.

Other Hyperbolic Systems

Similar hyperbolic systems included the British/US Decca Navigator System used in the English Channel area, the US global-wide VLF/Omega Navigation System, and the similar Alpha deployed by the USSR. The expensive to maintain Omega system was shutdown in 1997 as the US military migrated to using GPS, while Alpha is still in use. Decca Navigator Mk 12 The Decca Navigator System was a hyperbolic low frequency radio navigation system (also known as multilateration) that was first deployed during World War II when the Allied forces needed a system which could be used to achieve accurate landings. ... Satellite view of the English Channel The English Channel (French: , the sleeve) is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates the island of Great Britain from northern France and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. ... Very low frequency or VLF refers to radio frequencies (RF) in the range of 3 to 30 kHz. ... Omega is the name for the first truly global radionavigation system for aircraft operated by the United States of America in cooperation with six partner nations. ... Alpha (also called RSDN-20 ) is a Russian system for long range radio navigation. ... Over fifty GPS satellites such as this NAVSTAR have been launched since 1978. ...

GPS

Main article: Global Navigation Satellite System

The most recent are satellite navigation systems. From early Transit (satellite) (doppler effect) systems, where one satellite provided a fix of varying quality dependent on a number of factors (one being altitude of the observer), we now see the Global Positioning System's constellation of satellites providing high quality positions based on high frequency signals providing near constant highly accurate positions in three dimensions. Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) is the standard generic term for satellite navigation systems that provide autonomous geo-spatial positioning with global coverage. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Global Navigation Satellite System. ... Operational Transit satellite The TRANSIT system, also known as NAVSAT (for Navy Navigation Satellite System), was the first satellite navigation system to be used operationally. ... A source of waves moving to the left. ... GPS redirects here. ...

See also

Nautical Portal

• Multilateration

Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Multilateration, also known as hyperbolic positioning, is the process of locating an object by accurately computing the time difference of arrival (TDOA) of a signal emitted from the object to three or more receivers. ...

Radio navigation systems

• VHF Omni-directional Range (VOR)
• Distance Measuring Equipment (DME)
• Tactical Air Navigation (TACAN)
• Non-Directional Beacon (NDB)
• Instrument Landing System (ILS)
• Transponder Landing System (TLS)
• Microwave Landing System (MLS)
• Long Range Navigation (LORAN)
• Global Positioning System (GPS)
• Local Area Augmentation System (LAAS)
• Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS)
• Differential GPS (DGPS)
• Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS)
• Galileo positioning system (GALILEO)
• Space Integrated GPS/INS (SIGI) or (SIGI) for short.
• RAIM
• American Practical Navigator

D-VOR (Doppler VOR) ground station, co-located with DME. VOR, short for VHF Omni-directional Radio Range, is a type of radio navigation system for aircraft. ... D-VOR/DME ground station Distance Measuring Equipment (DME) is a transponder-based radio navigation technology that measures distance by timing the propagation delay of VHF or UHF radio signals. ... VORTAC TGO (TANGO) Germany TACAN is a contraction of Tactical Air Navigation, which is a navigation system employed by the military of the United States. ... Radio Tower of NKR Leimen-Ochsenbach, Germany A Non-Directional Beacon (NDB) is a radio broadcast station in a known location, used as an aviation or marine navigational aid. ... The Localizer station at Hanover/Langenhagen International Airport in Hanover, Germany. ... KRYV - Watertown Municipal Airport, Watertown, WI TLS Building (Right) and elevation receive antenna (left) The Transponder Landing System (TLS) is an all-weather, precision landing system that uses existing airborne transponder and ILS equipment to create a precision approach at a location where an ILS would normally not be available. ... The NASA 737 research aircraft on the Wallops runway in 1987 with the Microwave Landing System equipment in the foreground. ... LORAN (LOng RAnge Navigation) is a terrestrial navigation system using low frequency radio transmitters that use the time interval between radio signals received from three or more stations to determine the position of a ship or aircraft. ... GPS redirects here. ... LAAS Architecture The Local Area Augmentation System (LAAS) is an all-weather landing system based on real-time differential correction of the GPS signal. ... WAAS System Overview The Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) is an extremely accurate navigation system developed for civil aviation by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), a division of the United States Department of Transportation (DOT). ... Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) is an enhancement to Global Positioning System that uses a network of fixed ground based reference stations to broadcast the difference between the positions indicated by the satellite systems and the known fixed positions. ... GLONASS GLONASS (Russian ГЛОНАСС; ГЛОбальная НАвигационная Спутниковая Система; Globalnaya Navigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema. ... The Galileo positioning system, referred to simply as Galileo, is a planned Global Navigation Satellite System, to be built by the European Satellite Navigation Industries for the European Union (EU) and European Space Agency (ESA) as an alternative to the United States operated Global Positioning System (GPS) and the Russian... SIGI - Front View Space Integrated GPS/INS (SIGI) is a strapdown Inertial Navigation Unit (INU) developed and built by Honeywell International to control and stabilize spacecraft during missions. ... In Norse Mythology, Sigi is a one of the sons of Odin. ... Raum the Old. ... The American Practical Navigator , written by Nathaniel Bowditch, is an encyclopedia of navigation, a valuable handbook on oceanography and meteorology, and contains useful tables and a maritime glossary. ...

External links

• Department of Transportation and Department of Defense (March 25, 2002). 2001 Federal Radionavigation Systems (PDF). Retrieved on November 27, 2005.

is the 331st day of the year (332nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

History

• Some historical and technical aspects of radio navigation in Germany over the period 1907 to 1945
• UK Navaids Gallery with detailed Technical Descriptions of their operation