LORAN-C IN THE EYES OF THE GERMAN HYDROGRAPHIC INSTITUTE (DHI)

U. Hammerschmidt

Peer Reviewed

Abstract:	Until the development of a new generation of automatic shipbourne receivers, Loran-C was of no importance in the maritime world of Western Europe. This old and very expensive automatic system of high accuracy was only used on board special purpose vessels. Loran-A was employed in those cases where more accurate systems were not available due to their prohibitive prices. So, only the German fishing vessels operating in the North Atlantic are making use of this system to date. The combined Loran-A/C receivers were not very useful because theLoran-C chains in the vicinity of Europe have very long base-lines. Very seldom more than two stations could be picked up with a sufficient S/N ratio. The situation has now thoroughly changed due to the new low-cost automatic receivers which-with regard to their accuracy and sensitivity-more than matched the former automatic equipment, and due to the US plan for phase-out of the Loran-A chains. In Germany, for example, the ocean going fishing vessels have to change their navigation facilities from Loran-A to Loran-C, because their normal working area is the North Atlantic around Iceland and near the North American coast. I believe they will very soon come to appreciate the advantages of Loran-C. I also believe that the German and other merchant fleets of Western Europe sailing to North and Central America will increasingly make use of the Loran-C system, because these areas will be better and more accurately covered with LOPS than ever before, and because the prices for receivers are now reasonable. The aforementioned development has its influences on the work of the German Hydrographic Institute, too. Previously, we made type tests of Loran-A only, but in the future we will also have to type test the automatic Loran-C receivers. We also consider the possible technical and economic advantages of an extension of the planned Loran-C coverage and its connection to the Soviet Loran-C system as a big step towards a standardisation in maritime radionavigation.
Published in:	NAVIGATION: Journal of the Institute of Navigation, Volume 23, Number 3
Pages:	206 - 208
Cite this article:	Hammerschmidt, U., "LORAN-C IN THE EYES OF THE GERMAN HYDROGRAPHIC INSTITUTE (DHI)", NAVIGATION: Journal of The Institute of Navigation, Vol. 23, No. 3, Fall 1976, pp. 206-208.
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