handheld Loran

[leon7877]

Since I know that the error rate on conversion from Loran C to GPS is high, I am looking on e-bay for a cheap Loran to correlate. Are handhelds as accurate? Do non-handhelds require anything else other than an antenna to work? Any other ideas to find wrecks--evry book and website I found list loran coordinates rather than GPS.

 

[Wreck Rider]

Re: handheld Loran

I don't know anything about the loran hardware but here's a thought, you could correlate with printed charts that have the loran lines overprinted on them (if available). Here in Ontario lots of wrecks are privately bouyed and those bouy locations (in lat/lon) are published by our equivalent to the USCG in regular "notice to mariner" updates that are available on-line or as automatic e-mail notifications if you let them know which areas (chart #s) you're interested in. Maybe the USCG does something similar? There's always asking the local dive charter operations too, sometimes they'll share information.

 

[airman]

Re: handheld Loran

I can't imagine that a handheld would be as accurate as a fixed mount unit because a good antenna and ground is required for the loran. Personally I think the most accurrate way to go would be to look around for some older charts with the TD lines on them. A fixed mount loran would be my second choice.

 

[Boatist]

Re: handheld Loran

Leon<br />All GPS units I have seen you can put in the Loran C TD's and convert to LAT/LON.<br /><br />Loran C is not that accurate at finding a point on the Earth. Even with ASF (aditional secondary factors) can be off as much as 1/4 mile. With out ASF can be over 1 mile. Loran C is very good at going back to the same place (About 50 Feet).<br />I have not seen a Handheld Loran C.<br /><br />For me today I would not put money into a old technolgy, I would just buy the GPS I want and put in the Loran C TD's and let the GPS convert to LAT/LON.

 

[SeaDawg]

Re: handheld Loran

My Garmin GPSMAP 76 even allows me to put in an offset, which means that I took a LORAN waypoint (a boat ramp) that I could go EXACTLY to, and I put my Garmin in LORAN TD mode. I then entered the offsets to make the TDs match my waypoint chart that I had made.<br /><br />Then, when I went to my favorite wrecks, I hit them perfectly (or pretty darn close anyway), and I resave them as LAT/LONG numbers if they are off any at all.<br /><br />NOTE - the GPSMAP 76 has WAAS, and it has been accurate to +/- 6 feet for 3 years, as I have a waypoint called "MY MAILBOX", and I check it about 3 or 4 times a year.<br /><br />They are unbelievably accurate.

 

[sloopy]

Re: handheld Loran

ANy GPS will let you change the map datum, my 76s has over 100.

 

[Drowned Rat]

Re: handheld Loran

I used to have an old, 15 years ago, Ray Jefferson handheld loran and it was a piece of S***. It never worked right and was never more accurate than a mile or so. Time Delay lines on a chart do correlate to Lat and Long, but charting them with a slide rule is impossible because the TD lines are actually curved on the chart to account for the curvature of the earth. Longitude lines are also curved, but at these latitudes it is almost impercetible. Buy a hand held GPS. Found easily on Ebay for under $100.

 

[JB]

Re: handheld Loran

Moving to Electronics.