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Alpha, also known as RSDN-20, is a Russian system for long range radio navigation. RSDN in Russian stands for (''radiotehnicheskaya Sistema Dal'ney Navigatsii''), which translates to English as "radio-technical long-distance navigation system".
Alpha was used to determine positions of aircraft, ships, and submarines (in underwater positions). The system was developed in parallel with U.S. Omega navigational system, and also works in VLF-range. Alpha coverage is up to 10,000 km from the master station, with a position error of .
The Alpha system consists of three transmitters, placed in the proximity of
Alpha frequencies and monitoring
View of Novosibirsk Alpha station masts
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alpha (Radio Navigation) Radio navigation Science and technology in the Soviet Union Soviet inventions Communications in the Soviet Union Military equipment introduced in the 1970s
Alpha, also known as RSDN-20, is a Russian system for long range radio navigation. RSDN in Russian stands for (''radiotehnicheskaya Sistema Dal'ney Navigatsii''), which translates to English as "radio-technical long-distance navigation system".
Alpha was used to determine positions of aircraft, ships, and submarines (in underwater positions). The system was developed in parallel with U.S. Omega navigational system, and also works in VLF-range. Alpha coverage is up to 10,000 km from the master station, with a position error of .
The Alpha system consists of three transmitters, placed in the proximity of Novosibirsk
Novosibirsk (, also ; rus, Новосиби́рск, p=nəvəsʲɪˈbʲirsk, a=ru-Новосибирск.ogg) is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the 2021 Censu ...
, Krasnodar
Krasnodar (; rus, Краснода́р, p=krəsnɐˈdar; ady, Краснодар), formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southe ...
and Khabarovsk
Khabarovsk ( rus, Хабaровск, a=Хабаровск.ogg, r=Habárovsk, p=xɐˈbarəfsk) is the largest city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China–Russia border, at the confluence of ...
. Two other transmitters at Revda and Seyda are not currently operational . These transmitters radiate signals of 0.4 second duration, in a 3.6 second cycle, on the frequencies F1: 11.904761 kHz, F2: 12.648809 kHz and F3: 14.880952 kHz. A radio fix is taken by measuring the phase difference of the received signals.
Other alternative frequencies are F3p: 14.881091 kHz, F4: 12.090773 kHz, F5: 12.044270 kHz, F6: 12.500000 kHz, F7: 13.281250 kHz, F8: 15.625000 kHz, Fx: 12.700000 kHz.
Much like the antenna masts used for the U.S. Omega navigational system, the masts of Alpha must be very tall, for technical reasons. Unfortunately, no data are available for their height.
Some transmitters are being disabled as of January 2014. Several remain on the air as of November 2017.
Transmitters
* Alpha transmitter Novosibirsk: () * Alpha transmitter Krasnodar: () * Alpha transmitter Khabarovsk: () * Alpha transmitter Revda: () * Alpha transmitter Seyda: ()See also
*OMEGA
Omega (; capital: Ω, lowercase: ω; Ancient Greek ὦ, later ὦ μέγα, Modern Greek ωμέγα) is the twenty-fourth and final letter in the Greek alphabet. In the Greek numeric system/ isopsephy ( gematria), it has a value of 800. The ...
, the Western counterpart of Alpha, no longer in use.
* LORAN
LORAN, short for long range navigation, was a hyperbolic radio navigation system developed in the United States during World War II. It was similar to the UK's Gee system but operated at lower frequencies in order to provide an improved range ...
, low frequency terrestrial radio navigation system, still in use in Europe as of 2015.
* CHAYKA, the Russian counterpart of LORAN, but still in use as of 2014.
External links
Alpha frequencies and monitoring
View of Novosibirsk Alpha station masts
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alpha (Radio Navigation) Radio navigation Science and technology in the Soviet Union Soviet inventions Communications in the Soviet Union Military equipment introduced in the 1970s