Loran - Keep or Sell

[bhartley]

Is there any reason to keep a Loran C? We sail on a large (but not that large) lake, have charts and carry a GPS. One day (say 10 years from now) we may take the boat (Cape Dory 25D) up to New England.

If we keep it, it has to be moved as my husband keeps banging his head on it. I'm in favor of selling it off while there is still some kind of a market for it.

Any thoughts in favor of keeping it?

Thanks in advance!

Bly

[radicalcy]

At one point last year, the Coast Guard announced that they were spending untold millions to upgrade the Loran Network. Then earlier this year, I was told that when they presented their budget to Congress for approval, that the Loran line was 0 budgeted,which would indicate that the system is headed for obselescence. So, if you can sell it, do so. If later the system IS upgraded, it's likely that you'd need to update the hardware anyway.
Larry Wilson
(I have one too)

[Figment]

Really, who would buy it?

My club's annual "tag sale" has had a handful of Loran units on the "free stuff" table for the past few years. No takers.

I'm not saying you should discard it. If it ain't junk, don't junk it.

[radicalcy]

Many of the Loran C units have chips included with detailed charts. If the loran system is up and running in your area, it's a good source for a very inexpensive chart plotter. IMHO
Larry Wilson

[Jason K]

Try to sell it. If you get nothing, then no loss.

Just get it off of the boat - it is truly obsolete.

[bhartley]

The SiTex Loran XJ-1 units are selling on Ebay for $50-100 without antenna, cables, etc. Not sure what folks are doing with them...

Bly

[Tim]

There are still some old warhorses out there who seem willing to snap up any old Loran-C with pleasure. Not sure why, but old habits die hard for some. Then there's always the paranoid worry among some types about the government suddenly and randomly shutting down or radically downgrading the accuracy of the GPS system--something that I believe is not only completely unlikely but also virtually impossible in this global economy where so many aspects of life worldwide are now tied into this GPS system. But I feel that this in part fuels the continued desire for Loran sets--"just in case", don't you know.

(Frankly, if there were a worldwide event severe enough to justify--let alone actually cause--a shutting down of the GPS system, I think that navigating our little boats around will be the least of our worries.)

Loran does have the advantage of being more accurate in terms of returning to a previously-visited location (such as a waypoint that you entered while your boat was actually there). There's a term for this that is slipping my mind at the moment. However, the increased accuracy of GPS over the years (thanks to the removal of the Selective Availability signal downgrading that was in place when the system was new a decade ago) has minimized or completely abolished this small advantage of the Loran set.

There is a lot of conflicting information on whether the Loran system is being shut down, or upgraded, or nursed for a few extra years. I haven't followed it at all, so I don't know the current status of the rumors or the reality. Really, that's irrelevant, though. GPS is clearly where everything is going.

I think you should get rid of it. You don't need it now, and are even less likely to need or want it in the future. Loran was good enough when it was the state of the art (it was never great), but it's dinosaur-like now, and it's only cluttering up your boat with wires, head-banging boxes, and big antennas.

Sell it for whatever you can get. Anthing you get for it is a gift, and you'll make the buyer very happy for whatever reasons they have for wanting the unit. If it's worth $50, great. If you give it away for free, you're not out anything either.

[dasein668]

(Frankly, if there were a worldwide event severe enough to justify--let alone actually cause--a shutting down of the GPS system, I think that navigating our little boats around will be the least of our worries.)

Or, God forbid, use a compass and chart!

;-D

[Duncan]

Here'sa post from a friend in the US Coast Guard:

Beings how I have at least ten years in Loran and am currently the Loran watch Sup at Navcen West, I should have the definitive answers on this but actually the truth is that nobody really knows if Loran will get shut off.

For what it's worth, his advice is:

...If it stays indefinitely, look for new Loran/GPS recievers to hit the market in the next year, your legacy units will still work but when we go to Time of Transmission control (TOT) the system will be able to operate independently of the chain configuration much like GPS does. This will be even more acurate and much expanded coverage will result since you are not tied to the LOP crossing thing anymore....if you have a Loran and it works, keep it and use it (back up is only good if you know how to make it work)...

[Rachel]

Just as an aside, many boaters still do use Loran on Lake Superior. I think this might be because while Loran has always worked well here, early GPS reception was poor.

I'm not saying you should keep it though!

R.

[bhartley]

I was very pleased to wake up this morning to see that someone had used "Buy-it-Now" on our Loran C for $199. Now my husband is saying I should have made the price higher. Argh.

I'm just happy to have it sold and have it be easy to ship. Much easier than the stern rail that has to go out on Monday!

Bly

[Tim]

I can't believe someone paid that. To each their own...and congratulations on your windfall!

One person's trash is another's treasure.

[Allen]

I was going to say, if you've got it, it works, it's paid for, and you have room for it, use it, but hay, $200 is a boat part. Good on ya. :) Hope the buyer has fun with it.

Although I've never had a Loran unit, (Kaholee came with an RDF) I had heard, as Tim mentioned, that they were better at returning to a previously plotted position than GPS was, although I'm not sure if this is still the case.