[time-nuts] The Demise of LORAN (was Re: Reference oscillator accuracy)

[bg at lysator.liu.se]

John,

> If a LORAN transmitter were destroyed by a terrorist team, a backup could
> be in operation in hours. A damaged GPS system could easily take many
> months or even years to fix.
>
> -John

A LORAN site, with a several hundred meter high mast, a small house full
of transmitter, signal generation and Cs clock(s?)... on a remote
Norwegian island... would not be back online within a few hours after an
attack.

GPS is supposed to work without _any_ terrestrial support for days or
weeks. I doubt that anyone can get something lethal for the SVs up in
orbit without making it very obvious who they are. GPS now has lots of hot
spare birds in orbit, that a instantly online with one or a few satellites
going bust.

That said, I think LORAN should be kept running as a backup, also with a
firm commitment that it WILL KEEP running for 10+ years, giving vendors a
reason to develop modern receivers.

--

   Björn