Good Night, Loran

An example.

First, I enjoyed the article even though it was not ham related. I am sure many hams have had experience with LORAN and enjoyed it too.
Second, I think this is another example of congress passing legislation without any research into the pros and cons. The decision was 100% financial with no consideration as to long range consequences.
Bob Pointer
N9XAW

 

There is some confusion about LORAN. Loran A transmitted just about the AM broadcast band, or from 1850Khz to 1950Khz. I'm not sure when it shut down, but it was very active in some areas in the 1980's. It transmitted one pulse.
Loran-c's carrier frequency is and was 100Khz and the slave stations transmitted 8 pulses and the master station in a chain transmitted 9 pulses.
It is a sad day for me that Loran-c is being shut down, as I spent time on three different stations when I was in the Coast Guard.

 

The only issue I have with this, or any other general radio article being in 'Ham Radio News' is the whining it ignites. Who cares if it's not ham radio related, but only falls within the "six degrees of separation" concept, such as the QRM it caused.

It's post here, read it, enjoy it. If you don't like it being in this forum, contact the admins or don't read it. But don't make everyone have to read the whining and complaining. Starting to sound like 2 meters in here.

Great article, very interesting, and THANK YOU for posting it!

-Matt, W2MJR
***"Use of the internet and internet forums should require licensing, a breathalyzer test, and a psych evaluation. " -Anonymous***

 

Well, if you look from an entirely US-centric point of view it's true that Loran-C has little effect on ham radio operators. For those whose countries do include a ham band on 136KHz it's a different story. Anyone interested in LF (which likely includes a fairly significant number of hams) will experience fewer sources of interference now that Loran is shutting down.

73,

Sean - VA5LF

 

It's all relevant to ham radio.

We might have to see if we can get that spectrum and put it to use.
Great place for digital modes and CW.

 

I see nothing wrong with the article. I like to know about other science besides ham radio. That's why I hang out with hams who come from various scientific disciplines.

By the way here is a link to the official LORAN-C website for a less political view of the situation.

http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/loran/default.htm

73,
Russ

 

Death of Loran

I am in the aircraft GPS business. Gps is great and works well most of the time. GPS can be disabled or interferd with easier than some want to admit. I am not nor have been a fan of Loran C but the decommissioning of loran and proposed decommissioning the omni range stations along with the low frequency NDBs is not a good move. NDBs have not been loved by most of the younger aviators but they are easy to build and maintain and work well although the pilots have to know how to use them. Omni range stations have been the standard since the mid 1950s and nearly all aircraft have the equipment on board. They have their limitations but still serve the aviation community well. We best keep a backup or two. I just want the opportunity to use one of the loran antennas on 160 meters just as soon as they get it shut down.

 

They should send the Russians and Canada an email.

 

This may get deleted so the whole thread doesn't have to get moved to PJ. But I can't resist: For a guy who can't find his butt with both hands you'd think BO would want all the help he could get---GPS and Loran C.

 

GPS sats make wonderfully stable reference sources at a reasonable cost if you look around. Broadcasters and Cellular operators use them world wide...

 

You can't read it all anyway

How about you just skip over what you don't want to read and nobody will have to take sides.

 

OMG
I give up on my point as is in the first posting...
you guys can just argue about some topic in a posting, arguing if it relevant or not,
the sky is still falling...

I thought my point was legit
so while we are arguing, what is, and what was, it will be to late.
now i know why the gov takes so much time deciding...

opps, did i just say that out loud

 

Loran and Electronics Technician A School

Loran was one of the pieces of equipment that we studied in Electronics A School at Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay. It was easy to troubleshoot and adjust. That was 52 years ago, but the principle was still the same today. GPS is great and it will be interesting to see how it is affected by the increase in the solar cycle this round.

 

GPS and Loran

GPS is related to amateur radio. We use it for APRS. We use it for its timing signal to make our HF rigs and our microwave transverters much more accurate. Some of us used the Loran timing signals to improve the accuracy of our signals long before GPS came into being.

Just because some are not aware of how these systems improve our operating techniques doesn't mean that they are not amateur radio related.

I feel that it is short sighted on the part of our Government and Mr. Obama in their decision to terminate the Loran system. Until recently, I owned an airplane that had a Loran system coupled to the auto pilot. It did a very good job of navigating the aircraft. To change over to GPS would have cost thousands of dollars. As for the NDB system, it is still in use and does a very good job providing instrument approach procedures to small airports that otherwise would not be available to those that cannot afford to go out and buy an instrument certified GPS system for many thousands of dollars (10 to 20 thousand last time I checked). If a solar flare takes out the GPS system while aircraft are on short final, you will read about it in the morning news.

For those that do not know how important GPS can be to amateur radio, I suggest that they read up on the various uses of GPS as it applies to amateur radio. You might find it interesting, useful and fun.

73 - W5GHZ

 

I'd like to find out if any public comments were sought by the decision makers