[time-nuts] LORAN-C Programmatic environmental Impact Statement (PEIS)?

[Peter Vince]

	The situation in Europe is just as uncertain. Germany, 
Denmark and Norway announced a couple of years ago that they intend 
to turn off their stations, leaving just France (2 stations) and the 
UK (no stations at the time) committed - which was not good since at 
least 3 stations are needed to form a Loran-C chain. I believe France 
has agreed to pay for the operation of the German station, Sylt, and 
to keep Loran going until at least 2015. However, it is not clear 
what their opinion will be when (if?) Galileo is fully operational.

	The General Lighthouse Authority ("GLA") in Great Britain is 
keen that LORAN should continue, particularly as the Straights of 
Dover (the narrow channel between the south-east corner of England 
and France) is a very busy shipping lane, and loss of GPS could be 
disastrous if there were no alternative back-up navigation aid.  They 
commissioned a trial addition to the Lessay chain from a transmitter 
at Rugby in England, on the same site that transmitted our 60 KHz 
time signal "MSF".  The time signal transmitter has now moved to a 
new site in northern England (more central to the whole British 
Isles, so giving far better reception in Scotland).  It has recently 
been announced that the LORAN trial was successful, and a permanent 
(well, until 2015 at least) transmitter will be installed at the same 
site as MSF - Anthorn in Cumbria, Northern England.

	On the following link there is a Press Release from the GLA:

http://www.trinityhouse.co.uk/media_centre/press_releases/press_releas 
e.html?id=15001

and here is a "Notice to Mariners"

http://www.cruising.org.uk/info/31%20of%202007%20eLORAN.pdf

The new site will transmit the Enhanced specification of LORAN, so 
finally (belatedly!) it will carry UTC.

	Peter Vince  (London, England)