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Don’t discard that Loran C unit just yet!

Have you turned on your Loran C unit lately? Notice any difference?  Try it.  You are likely to find that the performance is better than ever.  Why? Because despite past rumors that Loran C would be discontinued in favor of GPS, the government discovered that GPS is not the end all be all.  In fact, GPS has several “issues”, including potential interference from some boat-mounted TV antennas, the possibility of interference with the satellites upon which it depends, and the displeasure of special interest groups especially fisherman over having to replace their equipment and “special secret” information about their  favorite fishing grounds.  So, after a feasibility study, the government decided to upgrade the Loran C system rather than replace it, and to interface it with GPS data.

The upgrade is almost complete in the continental US and plans are underway for Alaska . The new equipment boosts the signal into the range of 400-1600 kw (which compares to 50 kw maximum for AM radio).  For a complete progress report, view this pdf. For an important notice about scheduled testing of the Loran C system (one comping up on July 19-20), click here.

The new system has spurred development of combined Loran C and GPS receivers into an integrated system that provides a highly accurate fix, right down to directional information for vessels standing still.   Si-Tex e-Loran is the first of such receivers, claiming heading accuracy of better than 1 percent.  If you’re lucky and diligent, you can find old Loran units for sale very inexpensively online. For a complete downloadable Loran C user handbook, visit the USCG navcen. USCG also offers a DOS based program for conversion of Loran C coordinates to lat-long. You can download it from a special website.

For more information, visit the USCG Navigation Center.