[time-nuts] End of Loran-C in Europe confirmed.

Iain Young iain at g7iii.net
Thu Dec 17 22:09:16 UTC 2015


On 17/12/15 15:21, Wojciech Owczarek wrote:

> I have a memo / stakeholder briefing document from the General
> Lighthouse Authorities UK/Ireland (can't see any confidentiality notes
> on it), that states:
>
> ""
> 4. Effect if France Terminates eLoran
> It is hoped that the RNTF [http://rntfnd.org] commercial initiative
> can maintain the continuity of eLoran transmissions from France beyond
> the end of 2015. However, in the event that the French and Norwegian
> transmissions were to cease, all maritime eLoran Navigation capability
> in UK waters would be lost immediately. In addition, the UTC basis of
> precise Timing of the Anthorn eLoran transmissions would also be lost,
> unless an alternative link to a source of UTC in the UK could be
> provided. The Loran transmissions from Anthorn could be continued to
> provide precise Timing (with intervention to synchronise transmissions
> to UTC) for the benefit of UK and Irish CNI, but the maritime mandate
> of the GLA does not cover this intervention. Without French
> transmissions and hence with no maritime benefit, the GLA have no
> mandate to maintain any eLoran capability in the UK and would plan to
> close the service down.
> ""
>
> Chronos in the UK have partnered with UrsaNAV to form this:
> http://taviga.com . The various UK government bodies support eLORAN
> and the people involved say they have the capacity to make Anthorn a
> master station. They need a UTC reference, but given that the NPL are
> transmitting MSF from Anthorn, I would assume that traceable UTC is
> already there. All that's left to do is wait to see what actually
> comes out of this, but things are looking bleak for now; for
> positioning you can't do much with Anthorn alone.

Well quite, MSF is next door (or more likely the next field, but
close enough!)

I found the last words of the UK announcement to provide just the
hint of a little hope ("until further notice")

http://www.rin.org.uk/newsitem/4273/eLoran-to-become-commercial?
also provides at least a little hope for the future even if, as you
say, the immediate future looks bleak.

I suspect Chronos are not going to want to lose their eLORAN revenue
stream - they have what look like some very nice devices.

With the various UK Government bodies supporing eLORAN, and the amount
invested already, I hope that a solution can be found before too long.


Iain





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