LORAN

[GordMay]

The fate of LORAN-C
Comments are due by February 7, 2007.
For more info, call 1-800-368-5647.
Goto: U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Center

[Vasco]

From what I've read in, all probability , Loran will survive as eLoran (enhanced Loran). They say that it's potentially the best available backup provider to GPS as a reference source for precise time synchronization and frequency control.

What surprised me is that they don't really need it for navigation as much as for precise timing for telecommunications,banking and electric power systems. Presently GPS is used and eLoran will be the backup.

What will probably not survive is Natonwide Differential GPS (NDGPS), the radio beacon augmentation system. I guess WAAS took care of this.

[Connemara]

Maybe a bitt off this topic, but ...

Connemara now has LORAN and GPS (which can be interfaced with PC-based charting, if I can figure out what software to use; previous owner did wiring.)

Is it worthwhile to keep the LORAN or it is just taking up space? Opinions?

Connemara

[btrayfors]

Keep it. Loran is an excellent backup system and, for the present, is alive and well.

Who knows what the future will bring :-)

Bill

[defjef]

Imagine if the GPS system went serious offline for a few days.

I suspect that there would be a lot of chaos, not only on the high seas... but all over the place.

What say you?

Jef
sv Shiva
Contest 36s

[btrayfors]

Jef,

Yep. Total pandemonium.

And, we don't have total control over the GPS satellite system. Though it is maintained extremely well, outages can and do occur due to equipment failure, solar storms, etc. And, though it seems very unlikely, there's always the possibility of the system being disrupted by a hostile group or government.

As someone said, the Mark I Eyeball is the very best and most reliable navigational instrument. And GPS is the best thing since sliced bread. But it's always a good idea to have a Plan B to fix your position electronically when out of sight or radar range. No other system available to yachtsmen gives the same precision and, especially, repeatability as Loran.

That's why I carry two independent Lorans onboard, in addition to the four GPS's, two RDFs, and other navigational systems.

Bill

[GordMay]

Gee Bill - all that nav' gear, and the best location you can give us is:
"Chesapeake Region".

[mike d.]

hey bill is there any room left for you-all on the boat. watch out it could become self-reliant and not need you any more. you must have to stand on the other side of the boat to be able to yse all those toys (just kidding)?!!!!

[btrayfors]

Gord and mikeD,

OK, OK, so I'm a navigation nut. It's true!

Re: the boat becoming "self-reliant and not needing [me] anymore", your remark hits very close to home.

Last year, after sailing this boat for some 16 years with a very cranky and very unreliable autopilot, I put a REAL autopilot aboard. When bringing the boat back from the Chesapeake to Washington, DC -- about a 140 mile trip from where the pilot was installed -- I in fact DID begin to wonder what it was I used to do on the boat!

The new autopilot maintains an accurate heading within a degree or so, requiring only that I monitor progress and look out for flotsam and traffic. This leaves me with an unfamiliar sense of having virtually nothing to do on watch. Unsettling :-))

Bill

[jim lee]

I remeber going out on my boat testing its first autopilot. The difference between driving and riding was amazing!

Another "first" was the first time during a race we used our fancy new Loran for showing us the course made good to the finish line. It was a scuddy low visability night. That little box was telling us to go waaaay away from the course the fleet was heading. It was tough to trust, but we gave it the benifit of the doubt and sailed off and away into the night..

We were already tucking into the burgers & beer before the rest of the fleet made it back to the club. Seeing we had nearly the slowest boat out that night, we were instant belivers in electronic black box navigation from then on!

-jim lee

[encore]

LORAN Operaton Guide
Inherited an old Vector II Loran and am wondering if anyone might have an operation guide that they could copy for me. I used Loran on airplanes a long time ago but the cobwebs are too thick to make any sense out of the key identifiers.
Ellis

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by btrayfors

The new autopilot maintains an accurate heading within a degree or so, requiring only that I monitor progress and look out for flotsam and traffic. This leaves me with an unfamiliar sense of having virtually nothing to do on watch. Unsettling :-))

Bill

I spend a lot of the time relaxing up on the bow pulpit watching the water and creatures go by. Just plan relaxing like what I meant to do in the first place............................................. ...._/)

[GordMay]

The LORAN-C User's Handbook provides an overview of LORAN-C, use of LORAN-C receivers, interference to LORAN-C and its effects, nautical charts and tables containing LORAN-C information, in addition to other applicable topics.
Goto: LORAN-C User's Handbook - USCG Navigation Center

[svHyLyte]

Bennett Marine has an instructional video for the WMP Vector LORAN. Although we actually have 5 different GPS devices on our boat, we also keep the LORAN on with a waypoint set at a prominent feature to give us range and bearing data as a cross-check on the GPS. I have found that once adjusted, our LORAN gives us very accurate LL positional data, usually within .01 min of our WASS GPS positions, verified by 3 point cross bearings. While GPS signals are easily blocked by even home-built ECM, LORAN is not and, accordingly, seems more reliable. Frankly, however, I do miss the days when we would cross a morning sun-line with an RDF bearing for a running fix. It seemed we never had crowded anchorages and the few people we did encounter from time-to-time actually knew what they were doing on the water. s/v HyLyte

[Captain Mark]

I am happy to hear that LORAN will be around a bit londer and I agree with the notion of LORAN C as backup, heck I must because I have moved my LORAN unit from boat to boat three (3) times. Actually, when I was much younger and in the US Coast Guard, my one and only year spent on land was at a LORAN C station in of all God forsaken places, Baudette, MN where the average temperature was much the same as the population. Although, I was fascinated by the technology. We used to walk out to the area near the 720' tower and hold up flouresent light tubes and they would illuminate immediately. Ok, I was eaasily impressed! I like Bill's setup! So Bill, how many redundant comm systems do you have?