"Tom Francis - SWSports" wrote in
message ...

On Thu, 07 May 2009 23:22:53 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Thu, 7 May 2009 10:57:09 -0400, "Eisboch"
wrote:

I always liked the reliability of LORAN.



It was a huge step forward at the time but had serious limitations if
you used it a lot.

Loran was/is highly susceptible to interference from alternators,
ignition systems and thunderstorms - frequently resulting in total
loss of signal at inopportune times. I ended up installing a switch
to disable the alternator on one of my old sailboats so that I could
get a reliable position fix when I really needed it.


And if I remember correctly, there was some discussion at one time
about a new LORAN translator algorithym that was a better positioning
system, but nothing ever came of it. I wonder what happened to that?


Wayne's points are good although frankly I have never experienced any
problems with interference of the signals. I also don't (didn't) use it
as much or as often as I am sure he has, so maybe it was just luck or the
fact that my area has strong signals. As I mentioned before, most of the
commercial fishing boats in this area still use LORAN, mainly out of habit
and familiarity.

LORAN-C and OMEGA were the primary electronic navigation aids for the US
Navy for many years before SATNAV (GPS) came upon the scene.

Tom, I think you are thinking of "e-LORAN". It was a proposed major
upgrade to the LORAN system, but never got off the ground to the best of my
knowledge.

Eisboch