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The Homeland Security Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2010 allows for termination of the LORAN-C signal on January 4, 2010, after certification from the Commandant of the Coast Guard that it is not needed for navigation and from the Secretary of DHS that it is not needed as a backup for GPS. Full details are contained in Section 559 of this act which can be found at the Government Printing Office website (clicking on the link will open a new window).
Also heard the 11th
Sent in by Finchaser:
The end of the LORAN is January 11, 2010. According to comments made by Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, LORAN is not needed for navigational purposes. I thought if GPS went down, LORAN would be the back-up.
Apparently from what I've read this was designated by Obama's head of Homeland Security as a cost-cutting move. It will allegedly save $35 million. That's a decent amount of savings in an era when we waste millions on programs out there. It also begs the question:
Why was this program the one where costs were decided to be cut from?
If anyone has any different info please post up.
I rarely fish in a boat, but can understand the significance of 2 systems existing side by side out on the water.
You want to have some redundancy in case a system fails.
When I used to go out on boat fishin trips, I made it my business to learn the compass headings. A lot of guys today rely on electronics. My motivation was..how would you get back if the electronics failed, and you took an offshore trip? :don't know why:
Everyone relies on GPS right now. What happens if the system was disabled by terrorists jamming satellites?
While I'm all for cutting costs, I don't know if this was the smartest move. Anyone who can help to clear this up is welcome to comment.
The Obama administration has deemed no back up needed to GPS kind of scary with all the planes in the air if GPS went out
Finchaser, Dark, it's not a big enough concern for them to be worried about. There were warnings for about a year, so they feel they have done their job. With all the waste in gov't, I can't see why they targeted this program to cut. :don't know why:It sux. A guy on another site went and spoke with Lieutenant Commander Bob Manning in Washington, this is what he said -Quote:
Originally Posted by DarkSkies
"I first called the main headquarters of the Coast Guard in New York City. They in turn told me in order to get the absolutely best information I should call Washington DC and the main commander in charge who is Lieutenant Commander Bob Manning.
I did speak to him, and no doubt- Loran is being discontinued on February 8th 2010 at 1500 hrs. Eastern Standard Time-that is the end. He told me it has been an on-again off-again debate, but this time it is final.
Bob Manning and I had a long conversation about the need of a duplicate form of global positioning besides GPS-and while he totally agreed, he said this order to close the Loran network came directly from the United States Congress.
He further said there were many objections to it being discontinued, but there is no more debate-and this is it. He also told me if anyone has any Loran numbers that are important, they better find those positions with the Loran now and get the GPS coordinates before February 8th.
I asked him about Phantom Loran working as an alternative and he said while it is an approximation, it is not dead-on, and for wreck fishing or exact location you might not find what you are looking for.
I also called Northstar corporate headquarters about Phantom Loran and got a top technician-and he also said sometimes Phantom Loran numbers are close, and sometimes they can be off one quarter of a mile or more, depending upon the GPS being used, and the accuracy of the original numbers. He did say those numbers usually are "consistently off" with most GPS units-and that if you find out in which direction it is off in the Phantom Loran unit you are using-you can make a note of it and it will help you in locations going from Phantom Loran to actual GPS with all locations.
Hard to believe but it is the end of an era. "