Loran or GPS? What's your preference?

[jedclampit]

Loran or GPS? What's your preference?


How many locals are still using loran?

I’ve not yet made the jump to GPS for coastal cruising, but I thought that the whole “loran thing” was going to be phased out here in the states.

My old Loran still get’s me within 10 meters so I’m still saving for a great sale before switching. Just curious!

Thanks

[Poida]

G'day Jed

In Australia GPS is not a brand name. Here GPS stands for Global Positioning System.

We have two main brands Lowrance and Navman.

I have a Navman but I'm not too happy with it as I can't see it in daylight, not a drawback on a product that would be used primarily during the day.

My unit is black and white and although I have found out since I bought it that colour is more visible, I still think that the unit that I bought should still be visible in daylight.

I have a Lowrance echo sounder that also has a black and white screen and is very clear so when I replace my GPS I will definately go for a Lowrance.

Poida

[hansp77]

oops poida
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LORAN

[Mikey]

Loran...

No coverage where I would sail... Very low usage outside the US...

I am sure that it will be phased out one day but if it still working well where you sail, then I see no reason to replace it, yet... GPS units are still getting cheaper and cheaper (or offer more and more for the same money)

Mikey

[Spiderfarm]

More important than "Big Sale" for you - should be waypoint conversion and entry method - from your current loran to your anticipated GPS. If you really understand your loran, and use it. You should be concerned with translating your routes and waypoints to whatever target GPS system. Coast Guard has announced end of life for loran. They used to announce scheduled down time. Do A google serch on Navcen loran.

[yipster]

my preference?
any 100 bucks handheld gps with 12v in and nmea out to a laptop freeware chart
a radar overlay, autopilot etc be nice but havent used the stuff for years

[Poida]

Hanspp. Congratulations you have picked up my deliberate mistake.

Thank you for the Wikapedia education. I did not know what what Loran was and it appears that Loran is not used in Australia and I'm glad that I qualified my post by beginning "in Australia."

This makes everything I said in the post, dead accurate. However completely off the beaten track and now I look like a complete Dick Head in the international boat building fraternity.

By the way have you seen the "Marine Watch" website. Hails from NSW.

Hanging my head in shame
Poida

[hansp77]

Haven't seen the marine watch website.
got a link? I used to hail from NSW myself.

The only way I 'knew' about Loran was that I had read about it in a book somewhere doing research for an essay. I sorta knew it was a older radio nav system, but that was about it, so for me it was wikipedia to rescue (again). As it is not used here I don't think I have ever heard it talked about.

Chin up (dick head )
Hans.

EDIT- think I found marine watch (and if so ha ha )

[safewalrus]

Loran? does it still exist? was it ever any use (since the fifties)? Rather use a mark one eyeball, a compass, a chart and a sharp pencil! You can do other things with them too, unlike a loran set whose only other use is as a fishing weight!

[Tim B]

I see no advantage over GPS. I have a hand-held mapping GPS for my racing dinghy. Cost £120 and is about the same size as a mobile phone. for a larger yacht I think I'd prefer a GPS mouse (about £50) and some mapping software (prob. GPSDrive since it runs under Linux). It also has the advantage that you can set up a track-log and analyse the data on a PC.

Tim B.

[safewalrus]

Tim

You got a GPS for your dinghy? what sort of world girdling trips do you do in that? do you need an echo sounder to take a bath - well the water might be a little deep! Were will the electronic world end and commonsense (used to be known as the practice of good seamanship) take over?

No I won't ask about frogs and grunters and things - it's just to inpolite!

[Raggi_Thor]

I think some Europeans like the fact that Loran-C is run by "us" and not the US. But I don't think there many new sales of Loran equipment, GPS is so much cheaper, isn't it?

http://www.jan-mayen.no/loran.htm

[Raggi_Thor]

Found this quite interesting:

Loran-C transmissions are also used for sending satellite positioning differential corrections (D.GPS) and several other services to users over a wide area. Eurofix provide excellent D.GPS data (often near 1 meter accuracy).

[Man Overboard]

Hey Safewalrus,
I met I guy this summer out on the big lake(Superior) he was carrying a GPS on his windsurfer; he uses it for accurate speed calculations. There was quite a stiff wind and about a 2 foot chop. I was impressed with how well he could windsurf, and at my age, he was impressed with how many times I could get back up onto a surfboard after falling.

[Tim B]

Safewalrus,

Yep, performance estimations (got a 30 yr old 2 man racing dinghy to 8.5kts singlehanded back in the summer) and the return to home function. Very handy when you're aiming for the dark bit in the middle of the dark bit. There's also a pipe and a tower just off my club, so it helps to know where it's safe to come in.

I've been wondering if I can log the output of some wind-instruments too. Get a proper polar estimation.

Tim B.