In article , "RB" wrote:
Got a question on LORAN sets. I don't want to get into the desireability of
GPS as the nav mode of choice today. I'm fiddling around with LORAN and
trying to get going with it.

1. What is/are LORAN operating frequencies?

2. Marine LORANS are found with external couplers (pre-amps) which go at
the base of the fiberglass/whip antenna. Can marine LORANs which are made
for use with external couplers give reasonably good performance without the
coupler? Or, is lack of the coupler a "killer"?

2. Are there marine LORAN receivers which don't require external couplers
(i.e., that hook direct to the antenna)?

3. If you have a marine LORAN which does in fact need an external coupler
to get enough signal through and you don't have the companion coupler unit,
are any commonly available pre-amp boards for the LORAN frequencies
available? If so, where find?



Man, I had to do a little searching. We used to track Loran to check long term timming
stability of atomic clocks. 100 kHz seems the right frequency. A loran signal
is probably best received using a loop antenna, but for receiving multiple direction
signals a whip is needed I'm sure.
All you need is a 100kHz amplifier, probably low passed and preferably
bandpassed matched to the antenna, and to the receiver input.

greg