Loran C antenna good for anything else?
 

Help, help, you electronic wizards out there. We've removed the Loran C from a 20-year-old Lord Nelson Tug we bought recently, but up on the pilothouse is a perfectly good Loran C antenna, with the antenna lead running to the nav station. Can this antenna be used for anything else? Specifically, for a GPS?, or maybe a VHF radio? Well, maybe a flagstaff.....

Any thoughts or advice will be appreciated. TIA.

Dick B.
LNVT "Annie"

"R.W. Behan" wrote in
:

Help, help, you electronic wizards out there. We've removed the Loran
C from a 20-year-old Lord Nelson Tug we bought recently, but up on the
pilothouse is a perfectly good Loran C antenna, with the antenna lead
running to the nav station. Can this antenna be used for anything
else? Specifically, for a GPS?, or maybe a VHF radio? Well, maybe a
flagstaff.....


Sorry, RW. Loran-C is on 100 Khz, far below any other band of frequencies
you'll ever use. It also, probably, has some kind of pre-amp in it and is
very sharply tuned to 100 Khz, rendering it useless to even other Loran-C
sets from different manufacturers.

It's too flimsy to be a boathook, too...(c;

I suppose the flagstaff idea might work on that beautiful tug. No danger
in planing speed bending it over. Today in the South, you could use it to
guage ice buildup!

Well, thanks anyway, Larry. But I've had one more thought. It would
probably make a pretty good buggy whip.

Dick



"Larry W4CSC" wrote in message
...
"R.W. Behan" wrote in
:

Help, help, you electronic wizards out there. We've removed the Loran
C from a 20-year-old Lord Nelson Tug we bought recently, but up on the
pilothouse is a perfectly good Loran C antenna, with the antenna lead
running to the nav station. Can this antenna be used for anything
else? Specifically, for a GPS?, or maybe a VHF radio? Well, maybe a
flagstaff.....


Sorry, RW. Loran-C is on 100 Khz, far below any other band of frequencies
you'll ever use. It also, probably, has some kind of pre-amp in it and is
very sharply tuned to 100 Khz, rendering it useless to even other Loran-C
sets from different manufacturers.

It's too flimsy to be a boathook, too...(c;

I suppose the flagstaff idea might work on that beautiful tug. No danger
in planing speed bending it over. Today in the South, you could use it to
guage ice buildup!

On Sat, 29 Jan 2005 12:51:59 -0800, "R.W. Behan"
wrote:

Help, help, you electronic wizards out there. We've removed the Loran C from a 20-year-old Lord Nelson Tug we bought recently, but up on the pilothouse is a perfectly good Loran C antenna, with the antenna lead running to the nav station. Can this antenna be used for anything else? Specifically, for a GPS?, or maybe a VHF radio? Well, maybe a flagstaff.....

Any thoughts or advice will be appreciated. TIA.

Dick B.
LNVT "Annie"

LORAN antennas come in two flavors - a whip or a long wire.
These low frequency signals at 200kHz often went through 'couplers'
then a coax to a loran connector.

The copuler is often in demand, because lorans tends to be sold
without them.
If the antenna is a whip, it may be rather long for a VHF antenna
which is about 20 inches for a 150MHz 1/4 wave.
A CB antenna is about 60 inches for a 1/4 wave at 50 MHz.

A wire antenna can be useful for HF communications. - the longer the
better.

Brian Whatcott Altus OK

Thanks, Brian--

It's a whip, with a cylindrical fixture at the base about 1-2 inches in
diameter and maybe 1 foot high. Is this a "coupler?" If so, I'd be happy
to put it in anyone's hands who could use it. Do you know of anyone?

Cheers,

Dick B.



"Brian Whatcott" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 29 Jan 2005 12:51:59 -0800, "R.W. Behan"
wrote:

Help, help, you electronic wizards out there. We've removed the Loran C
from a 20-year-old Lord Nelson Tug we bought recently, but up on the
pilothouse is a perfectly good Loran C antenna, with the antenna lead
running to the nav station. Can this antenna be used for anything else?
Specifically, for a GPS?, or maybe a VHF radio? Well, maybe a
flagstaff.....

Any thoughts or advice will be appreciated. TIA.

Dick B.
LNVT "Annie"

LORAN antennas come in two flavors - a whip or a long wire.
These low frequency signals at 200kHz often went through 'couplers'
then a coax to a loran connector.

The copuler is often in demand, because lorans tends to be sold
without them.
If the antenna is a whip, it may be rather long for a VHF antenna
which is about 20 inches for a 150MHz 1/4 wave.
A CB antenna is about 60 inches for a 1/4 wave at 50 MHz.

A wire antenna can be useful for HF communications. - the longer the
better.

Brian Whatcott Altus OK

On Sun, 30 Jan 2005 23:18:29 -0800, "R.W. Behan"
wrote (with possible editing):

Thanks, Brian--

It's a whip, with a cylindrical fixture at the base about 1-2 inches in
diameter and maybe 1 foot high. Is this a "coupler?" If so, I'd be happy
to put it in anyone's hands who could use it. Do you know of anyone?

Cheers,

Dick B.

It sounds like a loading coil, which if properly tapped will offer
close to the 50 ohm match the receiver wants.
--

Larry
Email to rapp at lmr dot com

Thanks for the information, Larry. (There ARE some electronic wizards
around here!) If you know of anyone who could possibly use this antenna,
I'd be happy to send it to them for the cost of shipping. Otherwise I might
well use if for a flagstaff.

Cheers,

Dick


"L. M. Rappaport" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 30 Jan 2005 23:18:29 -0800, "R.W. Behan"
wrote (with possible editing):

Thanks, Brian--

It's a whip, with a cylindrical fixture at the base about 1-2 inches in
diameter and maybe 1 foot high. Is this a "coupler?" If so, I'd be happy
to put it in anyone's hands who could use it. Do you know of anyone?

Cheers,

Dick B.

It sounds like a loading coil, which if properly tapped will offer
close to the 50 ohm match the receiver wants.
--

Larry
Email to rapp at lmr dot com

In article ,
Brian Whatcott wrote:

On Sat, 29 Jan 2005 12:51:59 -0800, "R.W. Behan"
wrote:

Help, help, you electronic wizards out there. We've removed the Loran C
from a 20-year-old Lord Nelson Tug we bought recently, but up on the
pilothouse is a perfectly good Loran C antenna, with the antenna lead
running to the nav station. Can this antenna be used for anything else?
Specifically, for a GPS?, or maybe a VHF radio? Well, maybe a
flagstaff.....

Any thoughts or advice will be appreciated. TIA.

Dick B.
LNVT "Annie"

LORAN antennas come in two flavors - a whip or a long wire.
These low frequency signals at 200kHz often went through 'couplers'
then a coax to a loran connector.

The copuler is often in demand, because lorans tends to be sold
without them.
If the antenna is a whip, it may be rather long for a VHF antenna
which is about 20 inches for a 150MHz 1/4 wave.
A CB antenna is about 60 inches for a 1/4 wave at 50 MHz.

A wire antenna can be useful for HF communications. - the longer the
better.

Brian Whatcott Altus OK

Bzzzt, Nice try, would you like to try again, for what is behind Door
#1?

Locan C is at 100Khz. The Antenna Coupler is the big thing at the base
of the antenna, and it is an "ACTIVE Device", which means that it has an
amplifier and very narrow filtering inside, and is powered by the
receiver up the coax. The whip that is screwed into the top of the
coupler, in most cases will be 102" long, which is 1/4 wavelength
at 27 Mhz (CB Band). In all likelyhood the whip is a Shakespear
10-4 and caould be used for CB, when mounted on a standard CB Base
attachment designed for a 10-4 antenna.
Loran antenna couples are usually "Device Specific" so you would
need to know what Mfg and Model it came from, in order to have any
chance of selling it used. That said, there is certainly a used
market for them.

Me

Nope..Almost certainly an active preamp. Not a loading coil. See Me
comment. Jim
"R.W. Behan" wrote in message
...
Thanks for the information, Larry. (There ARE some electronic wizards
around here!) If you know of anyone who could possibly use this antenna,
I'd be happy to send it to them for the cost of shipping. Otherwise I
might well use if for a flagstaff.

Cheers,

Dick


"L. M. Rappaport" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 30 Jan 2005 23:18:29 -0800, "R.W. Behan"
wrote (with possible editing):

Thanks, Brian--

It's a whip, with a cylindrical fixture at the base about 1-2 inches in
diameter and maybe 1 foot high. Is this a "coupler?" If so, I'd be
happy
to put it in anyone's hands who could use it. Do you know of anyone?

Cheers,

Dick B.

It sounds like a loading coil, which if properly tapped will offer
close to the 50 ohm match the receiver wants.
--

Larry
Email to rapp at lmr dot com

Hey, "Me," I don't want to sell it. Happy to pass it along to anyone who
can use it. (Well, maybe I'd hold out for shipping costs.) Spirit of
recycling, that sort of thing, eh?

Cheers,

Dick



"Me" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Brian Whatcott wrote:

On Sat, 29 Jan 2005 12:51:59 -0800, "R.W. Behan"
wrote:

Help, help, you electronic wizards out there. We've removed the Loran C
from a 20-year-old Lord Nelson Tug we bought recently, but up on the
pilothouse is a perfectly good Loran C antenna, with the antenna lead
running to the nav station. Can this antenna be used for anything else?
Specifically, for a GPS?, or maybe a VHF radio? Well, maybe a
flagstaff.....

Any thoughts or advice will be appreciated. TIA.

Dick B.
LNVT "Annie"

LORAN antennas come in two flavors - a whip or a long wire.
These low frequency signals at 200kHz often went through 'couplers'
then a coax to a loran connector.

The copuler is often in demand, because lorans tends to be sold
without them.
If the antenna is a whip, it may be rather long for a VHF antenna
which is about 20 inches for a 150MHz 1/4 wave.
A CB antenna is about 60 inches for a 1/4 wave at 50 MHz.

A wire antenna can be useful for HF communications. - the longer the
better.

Brian Whatcott Altus OK

Bzzzt, Nice try, would you like to try again, for what is behind Door
#1?

Locan C is at 100Khz. The Antenna Coupler is the big thing at the base
of the antenna, and it is an "ACTIVE Device", which means that it has an
amplifier and very narrow filtering inside, and is powered by the
receiver up the coax. The whip that is screwed into the top of the
coupler, in most cases will be 102" long, which is 1/4 wavelength
at 27 Mhz (CB Band). In all likelyhood the whip is a Shakespear
10-4 and caould be used for CB, when mounted on a standard CB Base
attachment designed for a 10-4 antenna.
Loran antenna couples are usually "Device Specific" so you would
need to know what Mfg and Model it came from, in order to have any
chance of selling it used. That said, there is certainly a used
market for them.

Me

Hi Dick
I have a Marinetek Waypointer Loran C that is missing the antenna.
If any of the electronic experts that have replied to you can tell us if
they will match up I would like to have it. That experts remark is not
sarcasm guys, just amazement.
JR Gilbreath


R.W. Behan wrote:
Hey, "Me," I don't want to sell it. Happy to pass it along to anyone who
can use it. (Well, maybe I'd hold out for shipping costs.) Spirit of
recycling, that sort of thing, eh?

Cheers,

Dick



"Me" wrote in message
...

In article ,
Brian Whatcott wrote:


On Sat, 29 Jan 2005 12:51:59 -0800, "R.W. Behan"
wrote:


Help, help, you electronic wizards out there. We've removed the Loran C

from a 20-year-old Lord Nelson Tug we bought recently, but up on the

pilothouse is a perfectly good Loran C antenna, with the antenna lead
running to the nav station. Can this antenna be used for anything else?
Specifically, for a GPS?, or maybe a VHF radio? Well, maybe a
flagstaff.....

Any thoughts or advice will be appreciated. TIA.

Dick B.
LNVT "Annie"

LORAN antennas come in two flavors - a whip or a long wire.
These low frequency signals at 200kHz often went through 'couplers'
then a coax to a loran connector.

The copuler is often in demand, because lorans tends to be sold
without them.
If the antenna is a whip, it may be rather long for a VHF antenna
which is about 20 inches for a 150MHz 1/4 wave.
A CB antenna is about 60 inches for a 1/4 wave at 50 MHz.

A wire antenna can be useful for HF communications. - the longer the
better.

Brian Whatcott Altus OK

Bzzzt, Nice try, would you like to try again, for what is behind Door
#1?

Locan C is at 100Khz. The Antenna Coupler is the big thing at the base
of the antenna, and it is an "ACTIVE Device", which means that it has an
amplifier and very narrow filtering inside, and is powered by the
receiver up the coax. The whip that is screwed into the top of the
coupler, in most cases will be 102" long, which is 1/4 wavelength
at 27 Mhz (CB Band). In all likelyhood the whip is a Shakespear
10-4 and caould be used for CB, when mounted on a standard CB Base
attachment designed for a 10-4 antenna.
Loran antenna couples are usually "Device Specific" so you would
need to know what Mfg and Model it came from, in order to have any
chance of selling it used. That said, there is certainly a used
market for them.

Me

JR, you're more than welcome to the antenna if it will work for you. Hope
we can get some help from these gentlemen--experts, indeed.

Dick


"JR Gilbreath" wrote in message
...
Hi Dick
I have a Marinetek Waypointer Loran C that is missing the antenna. If
any of the electronic experts that have replied to you can tell us if they
will match up I would like to have it. That experts remark is not sarcasm
guys, just amazement.
JR Gilbreath


R.W. Behan wrote:
Hey, "Me," I don't want to sell it. Happy to pass it along to anyone who
can use it. (Well, maybe I'd hold out for shipping costs.) Spirit of
recycling, that sort of thing, eh?

Cheers,

Dick



"Me" wrote in message
...

In article ,
Brian Whatcott wrote:


On Sat, 29 Jan 2005 12:51:59 -0800, "R.W. Behan"
wrote:


Help, help, you electronic wizards out there. We've removed the Loran
C

from a 20-year-old Lord Nelson Tug we bought recently, but up on the

pilothouse is a perfectly good Loran C antenna, with the antenna lead
running to the nav station. Can this antenna be used for anything
else?
Specifically, for a GPS?, or maybe a VHF radio? Well, maybe a
flagstaff.....

Any thoughts or advice will be appreciated. TIA.

Dick B.
LNVT "Annie"

LORAN antennas come in two flavors - a whip or a long wire.
These low frequency signals at 200kHz often went through 'couplers'
then a coax to a loran connector.

The copuler is often in demand, because lorans tends to be sold
without them.
If the antenna is a whip, it may be rather long for a VHF antenna
which is about 20 inches for a 150MHz 1/4 wave.
A CB antenna is about 60 inches for a 1/4 wave at 50 MHz.

A wire antenna can be useful for HF communications. - the longer the
better.

Brian Whatcott Altus OK

Bzzzt, Nice try, would you like to try again, for what is behind Door
#1?

Locan C is at 100Khz. The Antenna Coupler is the big thing at the base
of the antenna, and it is an "ACTIVE Device", which means that it has an
amplifier and very narrow filtering inside, and is powered by the
receiver up the coax. The whip that is screwed into the top of the
coupler, in most cases will be 102" long, which is 1/4 wavelength
at 27 Mhz (CB Band). In all likelyhood the whip is a Shakespear
10-4 and caould be used for CB, when mounted on a standard CB Base
attachment designed for a 10-4 antenna.
Loran antenna couples are usually "Device Specific" so you would
need to know what Mfg and Model it came from, in order to have any
chance of selling it used. That said, there is certainly a used
market for them.

Me

"Jim Donohue" wrote in
news:vJwLd.740$Tt.247@fed1read05:

Nope..Almost certainly an active preamp. Not a loading coil. See Me
comment. Jim

Probably both....at 100Khz, Loran C's freq, a 1/4 wavelength whip is 2,460'
high....Probably wouldn't survive going under those big powerlines...(c;

JR Gilbreath wrote in
:

Hi Dick
I have a Marinetek Waypointer Loran C that is missing the antenna.
If any of the electronic experts that have replied to you can tell us
if they will match up I would like to have it. That experts remark is
not sarcasm guys, just amazement.
JR Gilbreath


Sorry, JR. In our proprietary marine electronics world, nothing is
standardized but NMEA's dataport. Even that is suspect most of the time.
Nobody's proprietary antenna, like this one, plugs into anyone else's
proprietary antenna connector to keep the customer loyal to the brand, the
only place he can come for a replacement antenna/coupler/preamp.

Note - GPS units are all exactly made this way for the same exact
reasons....Don't ever plug a Garmin antenna into a Lowrance GPS, etc.

Nope...does not compute. A loading coil of a sort might be a component on a
preamp board. But a preamp board is never a component on a loading coil.

If some version of a balun or loading coil is present it will be narrow
tuned and unsuited for use at other than the LORAN frequency.

And you know better. Don't play technical one up for the hell of it.

Jim


"Larry W4CSC" wrote in message
...
"Jim Donohue" wrote in
news:vJwLd.740$Tt.247@fed1read05:

Nope..Almost certainly an active preamp. Not a loading coil. See Me
comment. Jim

Probably both....at 100Khz, Loran C's freq, a 1/4 wavelength whip is
2,460'
high....Probably wouldn't survive going under those big powerlines...(c;

Well, rats, JR.

FWIW, my Loran C unit is a Ratheon Raynav 550, and I still have the business
end, the display and control unit I removed from the nav station. Same
deal holds for the whole outfit: anyone who can use it can have it.

Cheers, smooth sailing.

Dick B.


"Larry W4CSC" wrote in message
...
JR Gilbreath wrote in
:

Hi Dick
I have a Marinetek Waypointer Loran C that is missing the antenna.
If any of the electronic experts that have replied to you can tell us
if they will match up I would like to have it. That experts remark is
not sarcasm guys, just amazement.
JR Gilbreath


Sorry, JR. In our proprietary marine electronics world, nothing is
standardized but NMEA's dataport. Even that is suspect most of the time.
Nobody's proprietary antenna, like this one, plugs into anyone else's
proprietary antenna connector to keep the customer loyal to the brand, the
only place he can come for a replacement antenna/coupler/preamp.

Note - GPS units are all exactly made this way for the same exact
reasons....Don't ever plug a Garmin antenna into a Lowrance GPS, etc.

eBay still shows a steady stream of Lorans for sale - often without
couplers. Put it there

Brian

On Sun, 30 Jan 2005 23:18:29 -0800, "R.W. Behan"
wrote:

Thanks, Brian--

It's a whip, with a cylindrical fixture at the base about 1-2 inches in
diameter and maybe 1 foot high. Is this a "coupler?" If so, I'd be happy
to put it in anyone's hands who could use it. Do you know of anyone?

Cheers,

Dick B.



"Brian Whatcott" wrote in message
.. .
On Sat, 29 Jan 2005 12:51:59 -0800, "R.W. Behan"
wrote:

Help, help, you electronic wizards out there. We've removed the Loran C
from a 20-year-old Lord Nelson Tug we bought recently, but up on the
pilothouse is a perfectly good Loran C antenna, with the antenna lead
running to the nav station. Can this antenna be used for anything else?
Specifically, for a GPS?, or maybe a VHF radio? Well, maybe a
flagstaff.....

Any thoughts or advice will be appreciated. TIA.

Dick B.
LNVT "Annie"

LORAN antennas come in two flavors - a whip or a long wire.
These low frequency signals at 200kHz often went through 'couplers'
then a coax to a loran connector.

The copuler is often in demand, because lorans tends to be sold
without them.
If the antenna is a whip, it may be rather long for a VHF antenna
which is about 20 inches for a 150MHz 1/4 wave.
A CB antenna is about 60 inches for a 1/4 wave at 50 MHz.

A wire antenna can be useful for HF communications. - the longer the
better.

Brian Whatcott Altus OK

Hi Dick
I cannot tell you how disappointed I am. I was looking forward to
trading my Satnav for it. Oh well, I will just have two holes in my
instrument panel to fill.
Cheers
JR

R.W. Behan wrote:
Well, rats, JR.

FWIW, my Loran C unit is a Ratheon Raynav 550, and I still have the business
end, the display and control unit I removed from the nav station. Same
deal holds for the whole outfit: anyone who can use it can have it.

Cheers, smooth sailing.

Dick B.


"Larry W4CSC" wrote in message
...

JR Gilbreath wrote in
:


Hi Dick
I have a Marinetek Waypointer Loran C that is missing the antenna.
If any of the electronic experts that have replied to you can tell us
if they will match up I would like to have it. That experts remark is
not sarcasm guys, just amazement.
JR Gilbreath


Sorry, JR. In our proprietary marine electronics world, nothing is
standardized but NMEA's dataport. Even that is suspect most of the time.
Nobody's proprietary antenna, like this one, plugs into anyone else's
proprietary antenna connector to keep the customer loyal to the brand, the
only place he can come for a replacement antenna/coupler/preamp.

Note - GPS units are all exactly made this way for the same exact
reasons....Don't ever plug a Garmin antenna into a Lowrance GPS, etc.