Future of Loran

[trake]

N4373B,
Do you like the GX55? Its IFR certifiable [except for approaches] right? It uses the same tray as the flybuddy? I might upgrade eventually.

[N4373B]

Yep, I do like the GX55. I had it installed just prior to flying from Pa to Alaska. We took along the Garmin 195 also. It was comforting to look at the two GPS units to confirm position when it was over 100 miles in any direction to an airport. Before taking off, I could quickly set up the GX55 for the flight while it would be several minutes later that the Garmin 195 was readied by my copilot, also a licensed pilot. The GX55 is really user friendly and easy to use. I rarely use a "route" feature but rather simply use a "direct" to mode. The GX55 has a good moving map showing all aviation features but not names of geographic features. It is now a discontinued model.
It's not worthwhile for me to pay to keep the GX55 current. I don't fly IFR. The database is sold directly by Jeppesen, expensive as I indicated.
I did find the database for the Garmin 195 at $35: http://shop.garmin.com/aviation/databas ... GPSMAP+195
Dave

[GAHorn]

From Aviation Int'l News: (What'd I tell ya?)

Loran Gets Reprieve; Solar Flares Interrupt GPS
Although the decision has not yet been officially announced, AIN has learned the Departments of Transportation and Homeland Security have agreed that loran should continue operating for the foreseeable future. Key influences were the unanimous endorsement by an independent panel of experts convened by the agencies, plus the overwhelming positive response to an earlier public survey regarding the system’s continuance. Possibly cementing the program’s future were two intense, but unforecast, solar eruptions in December. Scientists at last month’s Space Weather Enterprise Forum in Washington, D.C. said one of them “produced 20,000 times more radio emissions than the entire rest of the sun, enough to swamp GPS receivers over the entire sunlit side of Earth.” Unusually, even the more robust WAAS signals were affected. Loran advocates have long proposed the system as a necessary backup during GPS outages.

[jrenwick]

Hmmm.... I'll be looking for a Garmin IFR certified GPS receiver with LORAN backup to replace my Trimble 3000 GPS/LORAN receiver!

John

[GAHorn]

I'll be buying an updated database for my KLN-88!

[wa4jr]

Great news for us LORAN users! I might just keep my KLN-88 in the bottom of my stack. George, can you give a short tutorial on the VOR radial/distance method of entering a fix if it is not currently in the database? I can't find the info in my manual. I have a database from 2004, and have not found any gaps yet as far as airports, VOR, or intersections are concerned. I'd like to be prepared though. On another note, knowing how the VLF is affected by atmospheric noise, I would think LORAN receivers would be the first to feel the effects of a sunspot, wiping out acceptable signal-to-noise ratios

[GAHorn]

I think I can give a short-course on that, but I'll need to refresh myself so I don't teach it wrong! Let me get home in a couple days and I'll post it. It's pretty easy, tho' as I recall. (Try putting an identifier into a flt pln, and when it replies "unknown" it'll give you the option of inputting "lat/lon?", and you can rotate the inner knob to select rad/dist from another location. Don't forget to press "enter" when finished or you'll not save it in the User database.) I'll confirm this procedure when I get home.