I am NOT superstitious

In a previous article, said:
Paul Tomblin wrote:

Our club's Lance has a Loran in it that as far as I know, only one person
ever used. And I'm not too sure about him because he always complained
that it couldn't lock on "if somebody flew the plane without turning it
on". Yeah, I laughed when I read that too.

Don't laugh. He's only missing one step in there. If you turn the LORAN off,
fly the plane more than a few miles, and turn it back on again at a different
location, it won't lock in. All it would take is for somebody to take the plane,

It couldn't lock on AT ALL? Or it would take a little while? I thought
LORAN was an absolute positioner (like GPS) not just a relative positioner
like INS.

Are you going to tell me that all those LORANs in people's boats have to
be on all the time the boat is being trailered?

--
Paul Tomblin http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
"It's free they say, if you can get it to run, the geeks say `hey, that's half
the fun', but I've got a girlfriend and things to get done, the Linux OS sucks"
- Three Dead Trolls In A Baggie, "Every OS Sucks" http://www.deadtroll.com/

Paul Tomblin wrote:

It couldn't lock on AT ALL? Or it would take a little while? I thought
LORAN was an absolute positioner (like GPS) not just a relative positioner
like INS.

It won't lock on at all - it has to be initialized (you have to input the
latitude and longitude).

Are you going to tell me that all those LORANs in people's boats have to
be on all the time the boat is being trailered?

I don't know about boats, but that would not be the case with aircraft, either.
I can cut my LORAN off, fly from 3N6 to anywhere, return to 3N6, and the LORAN
will work fine when I cut it back on again. What I *can't* do is cut it off,
fly from 3N6 to, say, FDK, turn the LORAN on and expect it to lock in.

The problem is that the LORAN determines your position by timing signals from
three transmitters. This group of transmitters is called a "chain". The box
can figure out, for example, that you are 30 miles from transmitter #1, 35 from
#2, and 15 from #3. The problem is that there are two places on Earth that are
these distances from those transmitters. If you happen to be very close to the
last place you shut down when you turn the box on, it figures that you haven't
moved.

If you moved the plane since you shut the LORAN down, it won't know which of
those two positions to use when you turn it back on. If you are at a location
at which any two of the transmitters are nearly in line, you don't have to move
the box far to confuse it.

There's also usually a battery on the board to allow the LORAN to remember where
you were the last time you turned it off. My LORAN will not work at all if this
battery dies.

George Patterson
A diplomat is a person who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that
you look forward to the trip.

A little birdie told me that battery can be replaced in about 20 minutes with a
little bit of laying on of the hands, and a hot soldering iron. He also told me
that digikey has the exact replacement battery. 3N6 holds a special place in my
heart. It is where I met my metal mistress. Mine usually will find itself after
being moved with power off, but can take upwards of 5 minutes, as long as it is far
from one of the two chain loci. I had lots of problems with it when I took it down
to New Mexico though, because it didn't have the mid continent chain. I've since
replaced it with a later serial number one that has it. For now, I'm keeping it
since it is hooked into my autopilot.

"G.R. Patterson III" wrote:

Paul Tomblin wrote:

It couldn't lock on AT ALL? Or it would take a little while? I thought
LORAN was an absolute positioner (like GPS) not just a relative positioner
like INS.

It won't lock on at all - it has to be initialized (you have to input the
latitude and longitude).

Are you going to tell me that all those LORANs in people's boats have to
be on all the time the boat is being trailered?

I don't know about boats, but that would not be the case with aircraft, either.
I can cut my LORAN off, fly from 3N6 to anywhere, return to 3N6, and the LORAN
will work fine when I cut it back on again. What I *can't* do is cut it off,
fly from 3N6 to, say, FDK, turn the LORAN on and expect it to lock in.

The problem is that the LORAN determines your position by timing signals from
three transmitters. This group of transmitters is called a "chain". The box
can figure out, for example, that you are 30 miles from transmitter #1, 35 from
#2, and 15 from #3. The problem is that there are two places on Earth that are
these distances from those transmitters. If you happen to be very close to the
last place you shut down when you turn the box on, it figures that you haven't
moved.

If you moved the plane since you shut the LORAN down, it won't know which of
those two positions to use when you turn it back on. If you are at a location
at which any two of the transmitters are nearly in line, you don't have to move
the box far to confuse it.

There's also usually a battery on the board to allow the LORAN to remember where
you were the last time you turned it off. My LORAN will not work at all if this
battery dies.

George Patterson
A diplomat is a person who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that
you look forward to the trip.

--
--Ray Andraka, P.E.
President, the Andraka Consulting Group, Inc.
401/884-7930 Fax 401/884-7950
email
http://www.andraka.com

"They that give up essential liberty to obtain a little
temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
-Benjamin Franklin, 1759

Ray Andraka wrote:

A little birdie told me that battery can be replaced in about 20 minutes with a
little bit of laying on of the hands, and a hot soldering iron.

That's about what it takes to replace mine, and, yes, you can usually find one
at a good electronics shop.

George Patterson
A diplomat is a person who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that
you look forward to the trip.

In article ,
G.R. Patterson III wrote:

It won't lock on at all - it has to be initialized (you have to input the
latitude and longitude).

Heh, this started as a joke about my broken LORAN and ends with a hint
about how to get it working. I read the manual and printed the quickref
but I only remember setup involving the GRI (which I have tried enough
times I have the Pacific Northwest GRI memorized -- 9940!).

Perhaps the little battery is dead.

--
Ben Jackson

http://www.ben.com/

"G.R. Patterson III" wrote:

The problem is that there are two places on Earth that are
these distances from those transmitters.

Well, this is obviously wrong, so I have to admit that I don't know why my LORAN
can't figure out where it is if you move it. The manual doesn't say why, either.

George Patterson
A diplomat is a person who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that
you look forward to the trip.