Navigation and Seamanship

6.3.4.1. Parts of loran unit

A LORAN Unit consists of the following parts,

1. SIGNAL PROCESSOR - receives the signals, process and calculate the difference between the time of arrival of each secondary station pulse group and the master station pulse group. The time difference is depend on the location of the receiver on the vessel in relation to the three or more transmitters. Each time difference value is measured to a precision of about 0.1 microseconds.

2. NAVIGATION COMPUTER - converts time difference values to location corresponding latitude and longitude.

3. CONTROL and DISPLAY –displays the readings

LORAN-C is applied in the following fields,

1. As an electronic aid to marine navigation( Position in terms of Latitude-Longitude, Bearing and distance, Ground speed and Course deviation Indicator)

2. Used in airborne and land position fixing

3. Used in determination of atmospheric winds. For this application, meteorological probes, in the form of balloon-borne radiosondes, retransmit narrow-band Loran C signals to be processed at the tracking facility.

4. Used for radiolocation, automatic vehicle monitoring in both rural and urban environments on land.