DISTANCE MEASURING

EQUIPMENT
DME
INTRODUCTION
Distance Measuring Equipment (DME) is a secondary radar system that enables an aircraft to
establish its range from a ground station. A pilot obtains accurate magnetic bearings from a VHF
Omni-range (VOR) beacon and accurate slant ranges from a DME. The two facilities are normally
co-sited.
FREQUENCIES

DME operates in the frequency between 960MHz to 1215MHz in the ULTRA HIGH
FREQUENCY (UHF) band.

Emission designator - P0N

P - Sequence of unmodulated pulses

0 - No modulating signal

N - No information transmitted

There is a di erence of +/- 63MHz between the intrrogation and the transponder
frequencies.
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 DME paired with ILS Localizer Transmitter
DME is also frequency paired with the ILS localizer frequencies. These DME supplement or replace
the range information provided by the Marker Beacons. The range information is zero referenced
to the ILS runway threshold. DME is obtained by selecting the ILS frequency.

Principle of Operation
Pulse technique
DME is a secondary radar system providing slant range by pulse technique.

Interrogator at the aircraft transmits omni directional pulse on the carrier frequency of the ground
transponder. Simultaneously the interrogator’s receiver starts a Range Search. At the transponder
on the ground the received interrogation pulses are re-transmitted, after a delay of 50 μs, at a
frequency that is +/- 63 MHz removed from the interrogation frequency

The airborne system identi es its own unique stream of pulses and measures the time interval,
electronically, between the start of the interrogation and the reception of the response from the
transponder using the speed and time information the distance is calculated. A modern DME has an
accuracy of +/- 0.2NM
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To achieve an unambiguous slant range measurement and overcome the problem
identi cation:

• Each aircraft’s interrogator is programmed to transmit its paired pulses at random intervals i.e.
the transmission sequence of pulses is irregular or jittered. This differentiates its pulses from all the
others.
• At the instant of transmission, the receiver of an interrogator sets up gates to match the random
PRF of the transmitted twin pulses.
• The receiving equipment of an aircraft is designed so that only the responses which match its
randomized PRF are allowed through the gates.
• DME system uses twin pulses to ensure that the receiver never accepts matching randomized
single pulses.
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Range Search
To achieve a rapid lock-on during the range search, the DME interrogator transmits at 150 pulse
pairs per second (ppps) for 15 000 pulse pairs (100 seconds).
If lock-on is not achieved, it will then reduce the rate to 60 ppps and maintains this rate until there is
a range lock-on. At lock-on the system operates at a random PRF of 27 ppps .

Beacon Saturation
The output of a modern ground beacon is a constant 2700 pulse pairs per second which, in the
absence of any aircraft interrogations, are generated at random intervals. When a ground beacon
is receiving 2700 ppps it becomes saturated and it then reduces its receiver gain. The effect of
this is to exclude the transmissions from aircraft whose interrogation pulses are weaker. This
equates to about 100 aircraft using the DME at the same time.
Station Identi cation:

A 3-letter call sign is transmitted every 30 seconds, typically with an associated VOR.
During this ident period, random pulses are replaced by regular pulses keyed with the
station ID letters, temporarily disabling range information. However, aircraft equipment
has a 10-second memory circuit to maintain the last range displayed. The DME
identi cation uses a di erent tone, usually higher than the VOR's.
VOR/DME Frequency Paring
VORs may be frequency paired with a DME or a military TACAN installation. This means that the
aircraft’s DME circuits are automatically activated when the appropriate VHF VOR frequency is
selected. Ideally, VOR and DME or TACAN beacons should be co-sited to provide range and bearing
from the same source, but this isn't always possible. The table explains the siting, frequency pairing,
and call sign arrangements of VOR/DME or VOR/TACAN facilities.
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RELATIVE POSITIONS OF VOR/DME OR FREQUENCIES IDENTIFICATION
TACAN

Associated: Both transmit the same call sign

(i) both transmitters co-located, or Paired There are four idents every 30 sec period

(ii) the maximum distance between both Paired The VOR transmits 3 of the four
transmitters is 30 m/100 ft in TMAs, or

(iii) the maximum distance between both Paired The DME transmits the fourth
transmitters is 600 m/2000 ft, for use
elsewhere
Not associated but serve the same Paired First two letters are the same; last letter
location for DME is ‘Z’

VOR/DME-TACAN widely separated i.e. > May or may not be paired Totally different identi cations
6 NM
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Range measurements for ILS

since clearly the ground installation cannot be placed at the threshold, the transponder measure the
time taken for the interrogation signal to travel from the runway threshold to the transponder, plus the
delay at the transponder, plus the time taken for the reply to travel from the transponder to the runway
threshold is 50 microseconds.

example: if the transponder is 1500 m from the runway threshold, the time for the interrogation and
reply pulses to travel between the threshold and transponder will be 5 microseconds each way, so the
delay at the transponder must be reduced to 40 microseconds to give a range to the threshold .
 Range and coverage

• DME transmissions obey the ‘line of sight’ rule. Thus the higher the aircraft, and the ground
beacon, the greater the theoretical reception distance. Intervening high ground will block the line
of sight range.
• The effects of bank angle is to hide the antenna from the transponder form the ground. However
the memory circuit ensures there is no disruptions in the range measurement.

• To overcome range errors which may be caused by mutual interference between two or more
facilities sharing the same frequencies, a Designated Operational Coverage is published for
each DME. The use of DME beyond its DOC may result in range errors.
• To eliminate errors arising from re ections from the earth’s surface, buildings or mountainous
terrain, the aircraft receiver incorporates an Echo Protection Circuit.
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 Accuracy
System accuracy: Based on a 95% probability, the system accuracy for DME used
for navigation (DME/N) should not exceed a total system error of ±0.25 NM ±1.25%
of range. Precision systems (DME/P) are accurate to ±100 feet on Final Approach.
Slant range/ ground range accuracy: The di erence between computed slant range
and actual ground distance increases the higher and closer an aircraft gets in relation to
the DME.When the aircraft is directly over the DME (0 NM ground distance), it will
indicate the aircraft’s height in nautical miles. There is a small cone of confusion over a
DME, plus range indications continue to be computed as the equipment has a 10
second memory circuit.

Accuracy of Ground speed calculation: The equipment’s indicated ground speed,