Old GPS

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Scatman38

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Hi: I bought a 1972 Starcraft. It has a Ray Jefferson L400 GPS on it. I am told it works off of TV Towers instead of satelites. It has a screen and beside it there is a panel of buttons. Does anyone have any info on the operation of this GPS? Any help would be appreciated.
scatman38
 
If it works off TV towers, it isn't a GPS. GPS units work strickly off satelites.

I'm guessing you have LORAN, which is still in use but isn't anywhere as easy to use as a new GPS unit, or as accurate.
You would be better off with just a cheap, handheld, basic GPS unit than trying to use what you have.
 
Well, first things first:

If it is a GPS, it works off of satellites.

If it is LORAN, it works off of towers.

From the description, it seems to be an old LORAN unit, NOT a GPS. Some LORAN units had a screen so the time delay could bee seen to be measured.

--

As far as help is concerned, all I can suggest is that you shop for a new GPS from Boatfix.
 
You's are right it is a Loran. It does say that across the screen when you start it.
 
GPS easier to use than LoRAN? Not a chance. Maybe for playing the chartplotter video game consoles, but plotting TD's and running down TD lines is MUCH easer and faster.
 
Mike is one of our resident Coasties. He knows what he is talking about! Many of us have never used Loran, myself included. At any point in the future Congress may choose to stop funding support of Loran. At that time, GPS and paper charts will be your only options.
 
Somebody took a STARCRAFT far enough offshore to need a NAV system?
Brave soul there!
Tell us more about your new boat.
 
I have a LORAN unit on my boat that I do turn on just for the heck of it. But use it as it was intended to be used? No Way. You should see the manual that came with it. I looked at it and thought to myself I had easier textbooks in college.
 
You fellows make me chuckle. I grew up in the Sextant Navy. Taught that type nav at USNA and navigated two ships 'round the world using Time/Sextant altitudes/HO214 and Nautical Almanac to do it.

Amazing what some drill and math experience can do! Then we got Loran. First unit I used was encsed in a large box about 30-in square with a 5-in CRT for use to manipulate signal waves. Magic! Then those units shrank to shoebox size and smaller. All very useful and helpful gear for the mariner.

The GPS units started out the size of shoeboxes and gradually became smaller with increased funtionality. Isn't progress wonderful.

But dummies still run aground,sink at their slips and get lost. The people factor needs some work!

Have a Great 4th !
 
The Ray Jefferson L 400 is a mid 70's Loran unit. Not sure I agree with NC about ease of use. Loran charts are not as easy to come by these days. You will not find any chart chips or built in maps--probably just TD's--and perhaps some conversion to Lat Lon, which will not be as accurate as GPS in areas where the Loran signal has to travel over land (Loran is based on time delays from the various transmitters, and the time of travel of the radio waves is different over land and sea).

I like Bill have done a lot of voyaging with a sextant, then Omega, Loran, and sat nav--Sat nav, where you got a lat lon every 4 to 6 hours was an upgrade from Loran for accuracy (in many areas). The repeatability of Loran is excellent, it is just accuracy of position in some areas which can be off.

My advice is to learn to use it--and keep it as a back up--but get a good inexpensive GPS chart plotter, and learn to navigate using paper charts, which everyone needs to know...

Have fun!
 
My preference is a GPS because it uses the lat long grid as do paper charts. The conversion from one to the other is a lot easier for the average boater than trying to plot TD line intersections. And, of course, virtually every GPS sold today is WAAS capable providing far greater accuracy than Loran. Of course, when I started, all we had were stars and an hour glass. A noon shot was about rum, not a sextant.
 
One's ancestry always comes to the fore, especially that of Old Salts.
 
I agree with you saltysam, But, didn't you ever get to play with the "wondrous" OMEGA? Complete with nixie tubes displaying the digits. What a beast!
 
Cdn Coast Guard tried to shut down Loran C in 2002 but there was a big backlash from the commercial fishers. They still had viable (and expensive) equipment. They also customized their own charts with their own TD encoding to keep their "sweet spots" secret. Almost all Cdn Loran transponders are also DGPS ground stations. We're about 2 miles from one here and our ancient Haicom GPS receiver gets us about a meter resolution.
 
Not really getting too deep into the LORAN vs GPS issue, but frankly, LORAN is near the end of it's useful life. ( Note: I did not say it was no good. It IS good. )

The problem is that as far as I can tell, LORAN units are no longer manufactured for recreational use, and congress has repeatedly tried to get rid of the LORAN stations. They are currently supported, but for how long?

GPS, on the other hand, is currently manufactured, readily available ( you can likely get a GPS unit at the nearest Truck Stop! ) and it's output is easily used by the rest of the electronics aboard ( anyone got a recreational DSC VHF or EPIRB that accepts TD's? )

So, sure, the unit may still perform it's functions as designed. The problem is that in the current environment, it does not fit in very well, if at all.
 
Bill

As to OMEGA and DECCA, we navy types passed that stuff by. I once tried o rent a DECCA set for use during a summer Northern Europe assignment but was turned down by the Fleet staff. Some bunnies who never tried to run around the Noth Sea with its summer fog banks extending a hundred miles or so! No Loran coverage, lots of DR plots and use of fathometer.
 
Thanks for all the input guys, I think I'll start shopping for a new fishfinder/ GPS.

Matt
 
Aye, Bill. There are a few Nova Scotia whaling captains on my mother's side, I'm told. That, of course, just goes to prove the BoaterEd Medical Research Team's theory about reversed DNA.
 
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