Loran-C

P

pfmarrack

.
Oct 30, 2019
106
Hi All,
I have an Apelco DXL 6300 Loran-C that came with "Overture". The
problem is that I have no manual. Would anyone have a manual they
would be willing to share or know where I might find one.

Thanks
Paul
V2926
 
M

mocap1

.
Oct 31, 2019
96
I bought a hand held GPS from West Marine on sale a couple of years ago for
$89. there are units available in the $100-$125 range. Maybe a low cost GPS
is a better bet than an old loran. Using a GPS you can store waypoints, and
routes, get a readout of speed over the bottom, distance and bearing to a
waypoint, time to go, etc. I have to navigate in the fog on occasion, up
here in Nova Scotia, and wouldn't leave the dock without a GPS.

Mort
 
S

stevebirch2002

.
Nov 8, 2001
1,818
Hi Mort

I agree with you. I think it can now be classed as bad seamanship if you do
not
take a GPS out on sailing trips. All navigation equipment was state of the art
at some time or another and regarded as untrustworthy... Look at the compass,
depth sounder etc. The GPS is the greatest aid to navigation for the sailor.

I started sailing prior to the GPS so I know how it was pre-gps.

Regards

Steve birch

At 12:36 22/07/03 -0700, you wrote:
 
M

mocap1

.
Oct 31, 2019
96
I am almost old enough to have started sailing pre-compass. When we went
cruising in 1989 we were given as a gift what I believe was the first
commercially available hand held GPS, a Magellan. It cost $3,000, and had
less capability than the $89 unit I bought a year or two ago. All the
satellites weren't up, and coverage was considerably less than 24 hour.
However, it was the most valuable piece of equipment aboard.

Mort
 
W

wxt8981

.
Oct 31, 2019
562
Hi.:)
Nowadays one can find his/her position within a few feet- if one has
the charts and a GPS. Though I remember having a depth sounder and a
compass and listening through the fog to hear a bell or whistle and
experiencing the joy of knowing 'I found it!' Years later I owned a
(rather primitive) direction finder. Wauuuu.. I felt like 'what else
do I need'?
Now I find many skippers with all that modern equipment who ask: 'do
you know how I get to xx- island'???????
Wilhelm, V-257Morton L. Caplan wrote:
 
B

brockhaus77

.
Jul 24, 2002
149
I should resist the urge of piping up, but since I have the same
problem (a Loran installed by the previous owner but no manual) I want
to put in a plug for having MORE than just 1 single device to rely on
for finding your position. For one, I do own a handheld GPS that I use
during all my cruises (to find where I am, where I should be going, and
how fast I go over ground). It's great, but it's "handheld", which
means there is always that chance that it gets dropped overboard,
forgotten to take along, batteries go dead, etc. (On my last trip I
encountered a guy on a powerboat off the Poquoson River going north who
asked me for directions to the James River since he "had forgotten his
GPS". For people outside the Southern Chesapeake Bay - that's about a 6
hour sail off! - but no biggie for a fast powerboat, I guess.
Anyway, I hate to toss an obviously still working (and quite
sophisticated) instrument that can serve as a backup in a pinch. Plus,
while I haven't quite figured out how to operate my Loran (no
manual...), it does have an "anchor alarm" feature which my handheld
GPS doesn't and which could give me some piece of mind in a rough
anchorage. BTW, I remember reading an instructive article a few months
ago (I guess in "Sailing" magazine) about the false sense of precision
BOTH of these devices (Loran and GPS) can give you - if the map hasn't
been resurveyed in the last 20 years (many haven't if they are outside
major shipping channels), it can be easily off by much more than the
apparent precision of our fancy location finders. Plus, sand bars do
wander over time (as I and others I observed have found out the "hard"
way...)

- Sebastian
 
M

mocap1

.
Oct 31, 2019
96
Get a second GPS; they are inexpensive enough. Leave one onboard if you are
woried about forgetting it. We had three when we crossed the Pacific, plus
a sextant and sight reduction tables. Fortunately we never had to use
anything except one GPS. Regardless of what device you are using, even if
it's only your eyeballs, you should be aware of the limitations of your
charts. On some charts of remote areas you will see notations such as:
"Based on survey by HMS Pinafore, 1868." Fortunately I have never found a
serious error on a chart, but I have heard sea stories about people who
did.

Also, there are many areas outside the U.S. where there is no Loran
Coverage. Time to put old Dobbin out to pasture.

Mort
 
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