LORAN C

By Farhan Saeed
 Loran C
 Loran-C is a hyperbolic radio navigation system.
 The systems operate on the principle that the difference
in the time of arrival of signals from two or more stations,
observed at a point in the coverage area, is a measure
of the difference in distance from the point of observation
to each of the stations.
 Loran-C employs time difference measurements of
signals received from at least three fixed transmitting
stations. The stations are grouped to form a 'chain' of
which one stations is labelled the master (designated M)
and the others are called secondary stations (designated
W, X, Y, or Z).
 Loran C
 For a given master-secondary pair of
stations, a constant difference in the time
of arrival of signals defines a hyperbolic
Line Of Position (LOP).
 Second master-secondary pair results in a
second LOP.
 The position fix is achieved by observing
the intersections of the two LOPs on
specially latticed Loran-C charts.
 Master / Slave
W

M  M is the master
Z
station.
 W, X, Y and Z are
Y
known as secondary
stations (or slaves).
 Master / Slave
 The master transmits a set of 8 plus 1 pulses.
 The pulses are received at the ship and at W, X, Y and
Z.
 When the ship receives the first master pulse, it starts a
timing clock.
 When the secondary stations receive the first master
pulse, they wait for a short time known as a coding
delay and then each transmits a similar set of 8 pulses.
 The ship receives the pulses from W, X, Y and Z and
times the interval between receiving the master pulse
and receiving each of the four secondary pulses.
 Coding Delay
 The coding delay is such that the ship will
always receive the master station pulse first,
then W pulse, then X pulse then Y pulse and
finally Z pulse.
 The coding delay also is such that the pulses do
not overlap as they are received.
 After a short interval of between one twentieth to
one tenth of a second, the master station
transmits another set of pulses and the cycle
repeats.
 Time Difference
 The position of the ship determines the
time differences
 If we know the time differences, we know
the ship’s position.
 Ninth Pulse
 It enables the Loran receiver to identify the
master station.
 It is used to transmit warnings if any
station is not transmitting correctly. The
warnings trigger alarms in the Loran
receiver.
 Time Difference Measurement
 Pulse matching
 Cycle matching
 Group Repetition Interval
 Each chain sends its pulses at a specified
Group Repetition Interval (GRI).
 There are several different intervals. Each
is a few hundreds of microseconds less
than 50,000, 60,000, 80,000, 90,000 or
100,000  seconds.
 Examples;
 49900  sec known as Station 4990
 59300  sec known as Station 5930
 Time Difference Measurement
 Uses the third cycle of the received pulse
because;
 The start of the received pulse may be too weak to be
heard
 The master and secondary signals may not be
received at the same strength.
 It is possible to accurately identify the time when the
third cycle ends and time this point.
 This part of the pulse arrives at the ship before there
can be any sky wave interference.
 Accuracy
 The accuracy of the Loran system
depends upon:
 The accuracy of measuring the timing delays
(0.1  sec).
 The angle between the Loran lines of position
(LOP).
 The position of the ship in the Loran coverage
area, that is whether the position is near the
base line or the base line extension.
Additional Secondary Factor (ASF)
 The Latitude/Longitude computation in many
receivers is based upon a pure seawater
propagation path.
 Over land distances signals travels at a slower
speed.
 For those receivers that accommodate the
correction it is called an Additional Secondary
Factor (ASF) correction, and this is applied
automatically when the receiver computes the
latitude and longitude.
 eLoran
 Enhanced Loran, or eLoran, is independent of
GPS but fully compatible in its positioning and
timing information, and its failure modes are very
different.
 eLoran is based on the existing low frequency
Loran-C infrastructures that exist today in the
United States, Europe, and Far East, and in fact
throughout much of the northern hemisphere.
 It is an internationally recognized positioning and
timing service, the latest evolution of the low
frequency long-range navigation (Loran-C)
radionavigation system.
 eLoran
 Why eLoran?
 GPS is vulnerable to disruption, and it doesn't
work everywhere - entering a tunnel or parking
garage or even traveling down a narrow city
street: the navigation system generally alerts to
"loss of satellite reception."
 Some interruptions of cell-phone operations or
losses of other services for no apparent reason
have been the result of GNSS interference.
 eLoran
 Perhaps the most exciting changes from Loran-C to
eLoran are the new operating concepts.
 All transmitters are timed directly to UTC, so that a user
may use all eLoran signals in view and may combine
them with GNSS signals for robust position and time
solutions.
 Each transmitter includes a messaging channel; this is
an in-band signaling channel that allows the eLoran
signal to also carry information to improve the user's
solution.
 Very much like GPS this messaging channel provides
transmitter identification, time of transmission, differential
corrections, and authentication and integrity signals.
 Any Questions ?