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Wayne.B

On Mon, 05 Apr 2010 17:01:20 -0400, wrote:

On Mon, 05 Apr 2010 16:32:36 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Sun, 4 Apr 2010 19:28:15 -0400, "Eisboch" wrote:

Now, President Obama simply decides to shut it down. No discussion that I
know of. Decision was made pretty much unilaterally it appears because *he*
doesn't think it's necessary and a waste of money.

Interesting.

Actually, I think it was the right decision. It has been almost
imppossible to buy new Loran-C equipment, or get old equipment
serviced, for quite a few years now. The market for it has
disappeared because no one really wants it. I was a big Loran-C user
for a while starting in the early to mid 80s. It was a huge
improvement over Loran-A, aircraft VOR, and radio direction finders in
general, but hardly perfect, or perfectly reliable. Loran-C
frequently became worthless in thunderstorms when you sometimes needed
it most, and it was susceptible to a variety of systemic problems
based on the geometry of transmitting stations. I've been using GPS
exclusively now for over 15 years and have never looked back.

The military have a variety of backup systems they can use when
needed. Digital electronics have also brought the cost of inertial
systems down out of the stratosphere, needing only a mass market to
make them widely affordable.

What is going on with E-LORAN?
After Harry mentioned it I found a glossy web page that seemed to be
saying this was the follow on program but it sounds like a product
without a market.

I think it's DOA. Land based hyperbolic nav technology is totally
passe unless something weird happens to GPS. Who needs it? I
wouldn't be surprised however if the military had some sort of similar
capability hidden away in case it was needed but perhaps I give them
too much credit.