Beam Systems
Beam systems broadcast narrow signals in the sky, and navigation is accomplished by keeping the aircraft centred in the beam. A number of stations are used to create an airway, with the navigator tuning in different stations along the direction of travel. These systems were common in the era when electronics were large and expensive, as they placed minimum requirements on the receivers - they were simply voice radio sets tuned to the selected frequencies. However, they did not provide navigation outside of the beams, and were thus less flexible in use. The rapid miniaturization of electronics during and after WWII made systems like VOR practical, and most beam systems rapidly disappeared.
Read more about this topic: Radio Navigation
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