Radio Navigation

Avionics Systems supports emulating radio navigation using VOR, NDB, DME, and ILS.

Using Radio Navigation

TODO: More details. But not a full-on tutorial on how to navigate using radio navigation systems. Just how to use navaids in MAS.

MAS assumes that all radio navigation beacon frequencies are in MHz for simplification of the design.

MAS also assumes that there is an infinite number of radio units on board. The IVA maker could set any arbitrary radio to any frequency - if the radio navigation prop allows the user to set "radio 7", MAS will set radio 7.

Radio Navigation Beacons

MAS includes a number of radio navigation beacons in GameData/MOARdV/AvionicsSystems/MAS-NavAid.cfg by default. Additional beacons may be added using the format described below. MAS will automatically add each navaid to the stock custom waypoints system, which makes those beacons available as waypoints for other mods that use KSP's custom waypoint mechanics, such as Waypoint Manager. MAS will attempt to avoid duplicating existing beacons by comparing their names with the names of waypoints already stored in the stock waypoints manager.

Configuring Beacons

All beacons must be placed in a config file, under a top-level node of MAS_NAVAID. Each beacon is in its own NAVAID config node, as shown below. Note that all nodes are required.

MAS_NAVAID
{
  NAVAID
  {
    name = CENTER
    id = KST
    celestialName = Kerbin
    frequency = 113.30
    latitude = -0.050277777
    longitude = -74.5175
    altitude = 160
    type = VOR DME
  }
}

• name: The name of the navaid station.
• id: A three letter code used to identify the station. It is also used to generate a Morse code audio signal.
• celestialName: The name of the body where the station is placed. Yes, you can put radio nav beacons on the Mun if you really want to.
• frequency: The frequency of the station. Nav beacons are selected by setting a nav radio to a specified frequency.
• latitude, longitude: The latitude and longitude of the beacon, in decimal degrees (eg, 10* 30'N is 10.5).
• altitude: The ASL (or Altitude above Datum for oceanless worlds) of the transmitter.
• type: The type of the transmitter. The type must be exactly one of the following:

Supported Beacon Types

• NDB - Non-directional beacon.
• NDB DME - Non-directional beacon with co-located Distance Measuring Equipment.
• VOR - VHF Omni-directional Range beacon.
• VOR DME- VHF Omni-directional Range beacon with co-located Distance Measuring Equipment.
• ILS - Instrument Landing System.
• ILS DME - Instrument Landing System with co-located Distance Measuring Equipment.