Prior to GPS, there was
LORAN (LOng RAnge Navigation)
Developed in the 1940's by the MIT Radiation Lab (my Dad worked there on RADAR) it went through several iterations and became the navigation standard for airplanes and ships. The plug was pulled recently as it was considered to be redundant to GPS. From the
Wikipedia article:
In November 2009, the USCG announced that LORAN-C is not needed by the U.S. for maritime navigation. This decision left the fate of LORAN and eLORAN in the U.S. to the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Per a subsequent announcement, the U.S. Coast Guard, in accordance with the DHS Appropriations Act, terminated the transmission of all U.S. LORAN-C signals on February 8, 2010. On August 1, 2010 the U.S. transmission of the Russian American signal was terminated, and on August 3, 2010 all Canadian signals were shut down by the USCG and the CCG.
A bit more:
On 7 May 2009, President Barack Obama proposed cutting funding (approx. $35 million/year) for LORAN, citing its redundancy alongside GPS. In regard to the pending Congressional bill, H.R. 2892, it was subsequently announced that "[t]he Administration supports the Committee's aim to achieve an orderly termination through a phased decommissioning beginning in January 2010, and the requirement that certifications be provided to document that the LORAN-C termination will not impair maritime safety or the development of possible GPS backup capabilities or needs."
Some members of an email list I subscribe to have noticed that some of the stations are back on the air and broadcasting stable and accurate signals. Not all of them but about a half-dozen.
Whomever knows the what and the why are not making this public...
The stations themselves are fascinating and have quite a history and high geek content as accurate clocks were essential to their operation.
Here is the website for the station at
Point Clarence, Alaska (demolished in 2010) from the wonderful
LORAN History website.
These signals could be picked up by a short-wave receiver and as a kid, I spent much time listening to their distinctive pulsing hum and imagining all the airplanes and ships using the same signal to find their way home to port...
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