Several years ago, one could argue that LORAN was almost as good as GPS. This was because
the GPS signal was deliberately downgraded (SA), and the circuitry to decode the signal
was not that advanced.

Now that SA is gone (hopefully for good) and new units have WAAS (a special signal that
gives extra correction in US waters) and more potent onboard circuits, GPS is vastly
superior to LORAN. If you're the "belt and suspenders" type, you might want to keep both,
but I'd bet that within a few days after getting a GPS you'd never turn the LORAN on
again.

BTW, in the recent Solar Mass Ejection (one of the biggest solar flares on record) most
GPS units were still much more accurate than LORAN.


"Dennis Vogel" wrote in message
link.net...
Thanks Jeff, that's the kind of information I'm looking for.

I need something to race with, but sometimes I have been caught in fog
coming home late at night and the Loran got me home safely. I just retraced
my path.

I'm assuming Loran is now very old hat. My new Flyer has a Loran and I'm not
sure it even works (won't know for about a week when the boat gets in the
water and I put a battery in it). Am I right in assuming GPS is much better?
The Loran was not very good at speed over the bottom unless you averaged out
over several minutes, which is useless when trying to determine the
currents.

Dennis



I would advise against using a computer as the primary GPS. And a
"plug-in" GPS (one
that can't work alone) is even worse. At the very least, get a small
handheld that can
stand alone, and connect it to the computer with a data cable.

Although I have a number of computer charting programs loaded, and my boat
is wired
appropriately, I hardly ever use the computer underway. A small mapping
handheld (I have
an older GPSMAP 175, today I'd get a 76 or 176) plus a chartkit suits my
need much better.
I have friends that like using the computer, and have it wired to the
autopilot, so the
boat will "follow the mouse," but they have an enclosed center cockpit 41
foot ketch, and
the computer is right down the companionway. Plus they have another GPS
at the helm.

The last time I researched low end GPS units, I decided the Garmin GPS 72
was the "best
buy" because it came with the cables that would be needed. I don't think
this is still
true - whatever you get, consider the "total cost" of all the accessories
you'll want.
The 72 is nice because it has a large display, its waterproof and floats,
and has a navaid
and tide database.


"Dennis Vogel" wrote in message
hlink.net...
I have a nice laptop running Windows XP with a nice big screen.

Can anyone recommend a GPS plug-in for my laptop that comes with sailors
software? It should have all the good stuff like VMG.

I've been away from sailing for several years. If this is not a good
choice
then can someone recommend a reasonable cost handheld or deck-mounted
GPS
system?

Thanks,

Dennis
Pearson Flyer #168