Space Heritage 2016
Click Here to Read Space Pioneer Biographies
USAF Space Heritage Forum 2016 Panel Discussion
Article “Bill King and the 3 Space Cadets” by Dwayne Day
When WS 117L became and ALL Air Force Program
John (Jack) Herther (August 2003 Space Pioneer Award)
Herther Pioneered a radically new three-axis active from CORONA Spy satellites:
· Over the years, hundreds of USAF, NASA, and other satellite (such as CORONA) would orbit successfully using Herther’s three-axis active stabilization
· According to Bud Wheelom, (Director of U-2 operations) “CORONA did as much to win the Cold War as breaking the ENIGMA CODE DID TO WIN WORLD WAR II!”
· According to Dwayne Day, Space Historian, Jack Herther was: “One of the Unsung Pioneers of the early space age.”
Space and Subsequent Marine Reference Documents are Available at our Dropbox:
3 Axis Spin- Off Space Craft Technology
Note: each document has underlined hyperlinks &/or bullet points for more detailed information
Automate Marine Biographies
John C. (Jack) Herther
John C. (Jack) Herther was born 3 August 1931 in Chicago, Illinois, and graduated from North Carolina State College in June 1953 with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. The Air Force Institute of Technology sent him that fall to a graduate program under the tutelage of Charles Stark Draper, whose Instrumentation Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology held contracts to develop inertial guidance for the Atlas ICBM as well as guidance and on-orbit stabilization of military satellites. In May 1955, First Lieutenants Herther and Malcolm R. Malcomson co-authored a classified thesis titled “A Transition Control System.” Their study, which proposed placing a satellite in a 300-mile, circular orbit by means of an inertial referenced computer-controlled thruster fired at apogee, would become the foundation for ascent guidance and on-orbit stabilization of Lockheed’s Agena spacecraft.
Upon receiving a Master of Science degree from MIT, Lieutenant Herther reported to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, as the guidance and control officer on the embryonic Advanced Reconnaissance System satellite project MX-2226—formerly designated Project 1115 and later WS-117L. For vertically updating gyros, he successfully tested horizon sensor designs in high-altitude balloon flights. When the satellite program transferred to Western Development Division in early 1956, Lieutenant Herther moved with it and worked initially on the Atlas booster interface. His responsibilities grew to include integration of the design of the Agena—originally referred to as the SAMOS universal payload satellite stage or Truck—with Atlas, as well as engineering of the Agena airframe, propulsion and guidance and control subsystems on WS-117L. A reduction in force (RIF), coupled with an official refusal to release him from his current duties to pursue a three-year doctorate at MIT compelled Lieutenant Herther to leave active duty on 10 December 1957.
He went to work immediately for the recently formed Itek Corporation, as its first employee, and finalized a concept using horizon sensors for gas-jet on-orbit stabilization of the proposed Corona/Discoverer reconnaissance satellite. Rejecting the CIA’s original spin stabilization concept, Mr. Herther proposed three-axis, earth-centered stabilization based on the Agena flying horizontal with horizon sensor updating of the ascent gyro control system of the WS-117L vehicle on which he had worked while in the Air Force. At a key briefing in early 1958, he convinced CIA decision makers to consider the manageable risk versus high potential of the Itek three-axis stabilized camera concept. By mid-1958, Itek had won the subcontract for the Corona camera system and Mr. Herther turned his attention to the short-lived Air Force SAMOS E-5 that evolved into the NRO’s simplified E-5 or Lanyard satellite program. He remained with Itek until February 1969 working on a variety of optics-related projects including one to develop a large mapping lens and prototype camera for NASA. Over the years, hundreds of USAF, NASA and other payloads would orbit successfully using Mr. Herther’s three-axis stabilization.
In March 1969, Mr. Herther founded Iotron Corporation specifically to develop and produce the world’s first fully automatic radar plotter for merchant ship collision avoidance. He was system engineer on the company’s DIGIPLOT ship anti-collision system and its AUTOMATE computerized radio navigation system integrating signals from Transit satellite, Loran C, and Decca with a fuel-saving adaptive autopilot. After Iotron ceased production in 1982, Mr. Herther joined MITRE Corporation in Bedford, Massachusetts, to help design and develop advanced radar, communication and intelligence systems for the military and National Security Agency.
Space Pioneer Award:
In 2003, Herther was inducted into the “Air Force Space and Missile Pioneer Hall of Fame” for contributions to the USAF and CIA recoverable film reconnaissance satellite programs. As the Aerospace historian, Dwayne Day stated, Jack Herther was “one of the unsung pioneers of the early space age” and referred to as “3-Axis Jack”.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/wjchviquuu20p50/AF Pioneer Award-Leg-Oder-w-AIAA.doc?dl=0
Briefing ILA 2006 Doc Draper SYNERGISM Principle in Notes
https://www.dropbox.com/s/a4zl9hxmqviatcb/ Briefing-ILA-2006-DocDraper-Synergism in NOTES.ppt?dl=0
Founder and President of lotron – a successful marine digital electronic company that pioneered:
- Self plotting anti-collision radar (DIGIPLOT) on 550 ships at $75,000 each ($41M in sales) and
- Loran C Synergistically combined with USN Transit Satellite for <100m accuracy, 20 years before GPS achieved an equivalent continuous accuracy when SA was removed in 2000
- Autopilot add-on achieved 2% fuel savings on 3-28 knot containerships and 17 supertankers, compliant with iMO SEEMP 4.18 Steering Efficiency-GHG reduction.
Using today’s technology Jack has developed a new Fuel Saving Improvement Annuity business model that makes it easy to ‘Get Green’ for Greenhouse Gas reduction on large/fast ships by a Quick equipment investment payback and increasing ship-owner profit
Air Force Space Pioneer Award for CORONA Recoverable Film Satellite with 3-axis stabilization.
The CORONA Program occurred on 144 flights between 1959 and 1972 but the American public did not know about the project until 1995 when President Bill Clinton ordered the declassification of the imagery. Vice President Al Gore urged the declassification of the imagery in order to assist scientists in conducting various deforestation and other environmental studies.
CORONA went on to be the CIA Project Keyhole; whose 400 miles of film was acquired by Google in its early days, and we now all enjoy Google Earth, which had its start in the algorithm 3-Axis Herther devised.
Order an official Copy Published by (AIAA) as, “Genesis of Three-Axis Spacecraft Guidance, Control, and On-Orbit Stabilization.” http://arc.aiaa.org/doi/abs/10.2514/1.25039
View Draft of AIAA “Genesis of Three-Axis Spacecraft Guidance, Control, and On-Orbit Stabilization.”
https://www.dropbox.com/s/tsl0q1l7khr5ub3/AIAA Herther-3AxisColorDraft.pdf?dl=0
Herther’s eLoran Advocacy response to a recent Federal Register request for comments:
Congressman John Garamendi (D-Fairfield, CA), the Ranking Member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, introduced the bipartisan
National Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) of 2015, H.R. 1678 requiring the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Commandant of the Coast Guard and the Secretary of Transportation, to establish and sustain a reliable, land-based positioning and navigation system that will complement and backup America’s Global Positioning System (GPS) for military and
Civilian uses. With eLoran integrated, the combination is un-jammable and CANNOT BE SPOOFED!
My complete formal Federal Register response in favor of the law and it urgent implementation, as my response to the USCG re-issuing its 1985 Final ARPA Regulations for the 1978 Law for ship accident prevention from oil spills in US waters specifying DigiPLOT with eLoran for backup GPS position and a Patented technique for an “eLoran Precision compass that is both precise and superfast yielding True North from a cold start in 10 seconds to 1-2 mr accuracy using a SINGLE Loran Transmitter (and with multiple transmitters (accuracy improves by 1/sq. root of n). Differential eLoran position potential with full corrections for narrow inland waters can produce accuracies to 5 m thus meet EU define inland water requirements totally without GPS
H.R. 1678 Restore eLoran: Action Required – My Fellow Advocates https://www.dropbox.com/s/e12tvxbwq520lrs/1-Fellow-eLoran-Advocates-7-1-2015.docx?dl=0
2015 comments received to Fed Reg about Turning on US eLoran system, in 2007 to/keep/or terminate Loran C
http://rntfnd.org/wp-content/uploads/Summary-of-Public-Comments-with-Links-to-Submissions.pdf
Decade and a Half of eLoran Advocacy for DoD to Air Force Space Command for e-GPS enhancement!
https://www.dropbox.com/s/zwu8h3gjre1fswt/Decade and a Half eLoran Advocacy.docx?dl=0
Erik johannassen, Megapulse President and CEO, Frona Vicksell-, Megapulse Chief Programmer
AutoMATE Marine Systems-Collaborating Navigation Software Engineer Consultants
Frona Vicksell-, Megapulse Chief Programmer
Frona has decades of extensive experience in real-time navigation programs, starting when she coded parts of the radar-based SAGE system at MIT’s Lincoln Lab. From 1973 at lotron, she coded the fix algorithm for the Transit SatNav receiver in the DIGINAV system, then used the results to pioneer in hybrid navigation-the infrequent 100 m accuracy satellite fixes that were used to determine in real-time the geographically and seasonally varying offsets in Loran C (using Loran C’s 30 to 90 m continuous accuracy) and the more accurate short range Decca fixes. Also at lotron, she led the development of the data link between the DIGINAV and DIGIPLOT computers, the addition of the DIGIPILOT autopilot, and the creation of shore-based systems for the high-traffic Rotterdam and Shanghai harbors. Later, at Megapulse she worked on a survey quality Loran receiver, then devised and implemented the special transmitter timing controls needed for the French Loran chain.
In 2008, the FAA’s above humorous DR. Zeus cartoon description simply described the differences of Loran over GPS thus the value of GPS/Loran integration problem solution needed for Frona to be the first to solve the software engineering for eLoran’s contribution to the SYNERGISTIC combination. It even recognized the obvious value that GPS is worldwide, even though its very weak distant signal can’t be received all over the earth’s surface: (not downtown, not underground, not indoors) but Loran’s particular low frequency ground wave transmission means that it is not subject to blockage due to low elevation GPS LOS (line of sight) SV azimuth angles whose asymmetry significantly reduces accuracy.
After joining Megapulse, Frona successfully wrote the software for SYNERGISTICALLY combining the USN Transit Navigation satellite with the much more repeatable Loran C to achieved 100 m continuously, it was obvious that an improved Loran could be a GPS backup but since Loran wasn’t available world wide the combination would have the advantages of each and more. Loran now only covers the Northern Hemisphere, but as needed, sttions can then be economically added to cover the southern hemisphere.
See details and performance improvement comparison of her concept in the reference links:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/m3q2pcmz67s17bx/Combining Pseudoranges From GPS and Loran-C .pdf?dl=0
At Megapulse, the world’s Loran developer and manufacturer of almost all of the 100 or so world’s Loran stations (excluding a few in China and Russia). Similar to the needed Transit/Loran combination for ship’s traffic separation charted lines to aid in maneuver avoidance at the 100 m level. While working with Erik Johannessen, Megapulse President), Frona researched the anticipated US nationwide performance of weighted least square fixes from combining Loran and GPS pseudo ranges that resulted in a combined much higher signal availability performance than from either radio navigation system alone!
Because of GPS extremely low power; it is extremely vulnerable to jamming and spoofing, even without detection. eLoran not only tells that GPS is being spoofed (recently it has been acknowledged that GPS on a ship can be spoofed with it even being detected on board. but continues to work accurately for minutes if slow or long term not moving. Therefore Loran should be the world’s Primary PAT (true azimuth is inherently added in eLoran radio navigation) with the normal GPS PNT available for non-critical users all over the world where there is currently no eLoran coverage. This is adequate for most for almost all of time to meet the most non-critical PNT needs, and the military can have transportable transmitters to provide coverage.
Eric Johanneaaen, Megapulse President & Advisor
Megapulse, Inc.-1970-designs and manufactures navigation and communication products. It offers solid state Transmitters for the Loran system. The company also provides commercial marine eLoran receivers, survey receivers, timing and monitor receivers, display systems, navigation simulators and signal generators, data channel products, and GPS integration products. Its products also include transmitters that are built on units, such as transmitter control subsystems, pulse generator assembly products, coupling network, output network, switch network, and prime power distribution units; transmitter control subsystems; timer subsystems; and remote control workstations. The company also offered systems.
Breakthrough eLoran Precision Compass Technology-Proof 1 mr vs. magnetic compass 20 mr
https://www.dropbox.com/s/u89uo8pyx7675q1/Merrimack-Riverbank-Tests.pdf?dl=0
The Use of Loran/eLoran for True North Azimuth Determination-Megapulse 2006 Briefing
Combat/Civil Situations where eLoran works–GPS Doesn’t
Army Science Board states: Army uses 86% GPS receivers
An Overview of Loran/eLoran –Benefitting the Warfighter
https://www.dropbox.com/s/aztqjzfv497ulk7/Loran Benefitting Warfighter.ppt?dl=0
PAT for Near Real Time position & 1 mr True Azimuth “Loran Augmented GPS”
as Breakthrough sensor advance needed for ALL TERRAIN availability for:
Military
- Army TTFF, AJ, and Complex Terrain
- More Precise Forward Air Controller Laser Range Finder Targeting
- More Jam resistant downed pilot and search and rescue receivers
- JDAM/SDB Kill Chain-High Probability of Hit CEP
Civil State of the Art Needs
- “Self Driving Cars” Safety Standards (e.g. Tesla AutoPILOT)
- DigiPLOT e-chart and Adaptive Fuel Saving Autopilot Yaw Rate
PVT Candidate “eLoran Augmented GPS for CIVIL and Military”
https://www.dropbox.com/s/sarnisa4e6qbx8v/CIVIL GPS-CSEL-QRC-March 2007.ppt?dl=0https://www.dropbox.com/s/mt0xx8ttdxp5oat/stoplight-Coverage.ppt?dl=0
Red Team to General Hyten-Space Support for War on Terror
https://www.dropbox.com/s/yigdfgnnnoti5mv/Red Team-8_3_07.pdf?dl=0
eMail to General Hyten
https://www.dropbox.com/s/nwqbm1kbcubebzw/hyten email.doc?dl=0
eLoran Return Repeatability Road Test Megapulse Feb 2007
https://www.dropbox.com/s/rnwmxctykxvjvm1/CSEL-Repeatability-NO GPS Demo-2-2007-3-1-2010.ppt?dl=0
Rendevous’ Guidance Concept-eLoran GPS for CSEL, JDAM’s SDB’s & CVR
https://www.dropbox.com/s/yncq3inyb73p9ih/CVR-Rendevous-Targeting-Guidance 12-15-08.ppt?dl=0
ZULU Loran C/eLoran PENNY Receiver backup or replacement for GPS-Nov 2009
https://www.dropbox.com/s/jib41itgnf97s1n/ZULU Loran C-e CVR -3-30-2008.ppt?dl=0
OWS (Operation without Space) demonstration of an ctual eLoran Search and Rescue Demo CSEL-Totally WITHOUT GPS Megapulse Jan 2009
Showing an Accurate Quick True Azimuth Benefit Similar to Precise Targeting
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ru2f8drs46lnhpk/CSEL-GPS-BU-Rho-Theta-Demo.pdf?dl=0
DHS erroneously cancelled near term eLoran
https://www.dropbox.com/s/axhdp60wpu1tbdc/Janet Napolino%27s Letter-DHS eLoran termination.doc?dl=0
President Obama already undid DHS Janet’s “incorrect” 2009 certification to Congress that “eLoran was never considered as a GPS precision higher availability military backup PNT (and azimuth) source” which is when GPS III was started that is known to be vulnerable to adversary and terrorists CYBER attack since it does not work when being jammed or subject to the newer acknowledged GPS threat to being attacked by “spoofing without being detected” even though it can process these and can indicate when it is not a useful PNT signal.
Why have GPS III monitor a problem, if you can’t fix it?
eLoran differential-now far superior to GPS for inland waters
https://rntfnd.org/wp-content/uploads/eDLoran-Reelektronica-Paper.pdf
Dr. Parkinson’s Question’s Relevant Quotables + JCH Comments in Red
Please share your views on the eLoran program, which was seen as a valid ‘backup’ for GPS, but has been terminated now?
I was the chairman of a study by the Department of Transportation to review the need for enhanced Loran (eLoran). We were initially very skeptical, but we
dug into what eLoran could do. It was not the Loran of old: it was quite an improved system and we concluded that in areas where the coverage was available it could do 30 to 50 meters or better. (Aircraft would need to use a barometric altimeter for the third dimension.) Although eLoran would not be quite as accurate as GPS, if it was done right, one could take the eLoran plus your altimeter, feed them into your instruments and have a smooth transition in the event something happened to the GPS signal- particularly local jamming. The possibility of local jamming [or ET as backup navigation, the only solution to both mitigate and locate source while seamlessly continuing navigation at nearly the same GPS updated accuracy for minutes in flight, hours if land mobile and indefinitely if stationary for 50 ns UTC at the receiver] is certainly there and occasionally it has happened. So, if people were to want to do that maliciously or deliberately, having eLoran as a backup would deter such action. The point being that if they jammed GPS, it would make little difference for most applications, and they would not see a payoff for such an illegal activity. I think eLoran is an excellent backup though it does not cover the world, (NORTHERN HALF) but it covers many of the areas where you have intense dependence on GPS for safety of life applications. [Civil and military Search and Rescue in mountains as GPS backup at 30 to 50 m accuracy alone (per this article) CSEL/SAR mission can be satisfied without GPS or even needing eLoran differential corrections, since only 50 m accuracy is needed. eLoran alone can also satisfy many Precision Guided Weapons navigation needs. Without GPS, using conventional marine TD’s as destinations for Waypoint Guidance for achieving JDAM target destination waypoint guidance needs by taking advantage of the nearly factor of 10 improvement in eLoran repeatability by using eLoran’s 10 m repeatable accuracy vs.. Loran C’s 100 m in 1980 . For SDB’s (Small Diameter Bombs) by sending Talon Namath data over an added secure data channel on DoD transmitters in theatre, 1 m 95% DGPS accuracy is achievable for eLoran updating.] The investment is small, the yearly cost of running an eLoran system is somewhere around 30 million dollars and relative to everything else we are doing it is absolute peanuts. Canceling the eLoran program is a very, very bad decision Incidentally from the start we had always designated GPS as a military-civilian system. Some people think that the civilian access came along later; it did not- from day one it (GPS) was a military-civilian system. [eLoran Military needs are higher priority for much better availability and differential accuracy and true north (except for the new innovation for “self-driving vehicles” in all terrain and urban areas) than civil for combat support of new integrated National policy of minimum civilian casualties in countries we are trying to democratize and civil in the US is needed for training!
What do think has driven so many countries to develop their own GNSS systems?
Well first of all there is the issue of robustness and putting all your eggs in one basket – that is one aspect and a major legitimate concern. The other is a matter of national pride. In Europe there is a feeling that GPS dominates things. The national pride also relates to perceived economic benefits. Last, GPS has a signal that is used for our military and allies. I think in some cases other countries would like to have such a signal. The military aspect and having control of a GPS-based precision weapon delivery system is just part of the way the world operates. I think the reason the Chinese are developing Compass, more than anything else, is to support their military, though I am certain they are going to make a portion of their system available for civil use as well. The advantage of GPS based weapon delivery is that if the target is accurately located; you hit the target, you do not hit the nearby mosque, or church, or temple, or hospital or whatever. I sometimes shock audiences by saying that “GPS is a humanitarian weapon system!” (New DoD policy in minimum collateral damage and fratricide) By that I mean you do not hit things you do not want to hit. I think all those are reasons to develop additional, GPS-like, systems. [This applies to eLoran as GPS augmentation/backup for CSEL & JDAM/SDB Targeting by Tactical Air Controllers (TCAP) using SASSM secured DGPS location with the Vector 21 Laser Range Finders (16,000 fielded) and built in Digital Magnetic Compass (DMC) Target Location Error (TLE) can be improved tenfold. By adding an inexpensive ZULU penny sized Loran C/e receiver and baro-height sensor which, unlike GPS will then work 3D in the mountains and in noise and also instantly mitigates/locates adversary “GPS signal like” jammers or spoofers. True north sensing is also improved from the DMC accuracy at 20 mr 95%, after needing minutes for a calibration in combat, compared to 10 seconds achieving a 1 mr 95% even while stationary and without any field calibration. The eLoran compass, unlike any other technology doesn’t need any latitude corrections and is the only compass technology that works at the poles.]
HERTHER Loran Breakthrough Proposals sent direct to MITRE CEO Marty Fega:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/had2i186gs7aewu/Marty-Note-Zank-Stuff-2015.doc?dl=0
- Yacht model <3m/1mr True proven in 2006-nobody interested.
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2005 Repeat Desert Storm detailed proposal with eLoran
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Loran precision bombed SAMS caused N Vietnam to return to peace table
http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/aureview/1983/jan-feb/parks.html
- eLoran’s True Az JPALS application and CVR for Nuclear Sub Comm
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Use of Loran Underground for Mine mapping and safety communication
https://www.dropbox.com/s/had2i186gs7aewu/Marty-Note-Zank-Stuff-2015.doc?dl=0
The Use Of LORAN Underground
Introduction
Underground navigation has always been a highly desirable capability but is has also been very elusive. Some of the people who would like to navigate underground are the military, spelunkers, first responders, and underground utilities workers. Users would like a system that would work down to several hundred feet underground. GPS provides a highly accurate positioning capability but the GPS signal is effectively blocked by just a couple inches of soil.
A system that could provide the necessary positional accuracy could be used to create a map or to determine ones own position on the map. Secondly, the ability to determine relative position to surface features is also of great value.
Background
LORAN transmits precisely timed, coded pulse streams from sets of transmitters known as chains. The base frequency of the signal is 100KHz (100,000 cycles per second). The wavelength of LORAN is the speed of light divided by the frequency (3.0×10^8 meters per second / 1.0×10^5 per second) or 3,000 meters. This wavelength is just a bit shy of two statute miles! GPS transmits at about 1.5GHz (about 15,000 times a higher frequency than LORAN) and has a wavelength of about 8 inches.
RF waves have both electric and magnetic components, which are perpendicular to each other. LORAN was designed to use E Field antennas to receive the vertically polarized transmitted wave. To get sufficient antenna gain, the E Field antennas tend to be at least 3 meters tall. This would be totally unacceptable for an aircraft so H field antennas were developed which were less than a foot square.
I had considerable experience with LORAN while working on the ARN-101 Bombing and Navigation System in the early 1970’s. The ARN-101 system used a Kalman filter to combine LORAN and an inertial system providing extremely accurate navigation and bombing on a variety of F-4 aircraft. My main area of work was converting LORAN time differences and baro altitude to Latitude/Longitude (and “combined” altitude). This was done five times per second using a hyperboloid to spherical vector gradient function and it was all calculated in fixed-point arithmetic!
I also worked on testing the system and I distinctly remember that the H Field LORAN antenna worked as well indoors as it did outdoors. Had the antenna been an E Field antenna, it would not have worked at all indoors.
DARAPA Tech Challenge
In 2004 one of DARPAs technical challenges was “alternate geolocation and navigation”:
“Our goal is to strengthen our geolocation and navigation capabilities to allow us to support a wider range of platforms and missions — ground or air vehicles navigating in a cave, urban maneuvers like forces inside buildings or urban canyons, sensors and robots operating in rubble, and sensors in forward areas where GPS is easily denied and forward assets like GPX and complex anti-jam antennas are undesirable or impractical.”
The Expectation
The LORAN wavelength is so long that one would expect the skin effect to extend to a “significant” distance underground. The question was what is the quantitative measurement of “significant”?
The First Experiment
In May of 2004 we took a loop (H field) antenna and a wide band receiver to a mine that we often use for testing. We tuned the radio to 100KHz and selected AM demodulation. We recorded the audio at the surface and underground. Here are the audio recordings (click on the icon to hear the recording):
On the surface
And underground
Not only were we able to hear the LORAN signals underground, the signal to noise ratio seemed to be better underground; however, this was a highly subjective assessment using human hearing.
Initial Results with a LORAN receiver
The initial test went so well that we obtained a PL-99 hand held LORAN receiver and fabricated an H field antenna.
We were able to get a lock at the surface, 50 feet and 150 feet. Much to our surprise, lock times got shorter as depth increased and reported signal to noise improved with depth.
Note that reported S/N is in tenths of db.
This test confirmed that a LORAN receiver would work underground but also posed a new and perplexing issue – why did signal to noise improve when we took the receiver underground?
Test with calibrated antennas
The improved S/N was so surprising that we set up one more test using calibrated H Field antennas and recorded raw data at 1M sample per second. The results of this test proved that although the signal dropped 6 db, the noise level dropped about 10 db causing the observed signal to noise improvement of 3 to 4 db S/N.
The Future of LORAN
The United States Coast Guard has the responsibility to maintain LORAN. During 2006 and 2007 the USGC made several statements proposing the shutdown of LORAN. Fortunately, on Feb 7, 2008 the Department of Homeland Security made the following announcement:
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
February 7, 2008
Contact: (202) 282-8010
STATEMENT FROM DHS PRESS SECRETARY LAURA KEEHHNER ON THE ADOPTION OF NATIONAL BACKUP SYSTEM TO GPS
Today the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will begin implementing an independent national positioning, navigation and timing system that complements the Global Positioning System (GPS) in the event of an outage or disruption in service.
The enhanced Loran, or eLoran, system will be a land-based, independent system and will mitigate any safety, security, or economic effects of a GPS outage or disruption. GPS is a satellite-based system widely used for positioning, navigation, and timing. The eLoran system will be an enhanced and modernized version of Loran-C, long used by mariners and aviators and originally developed for civil marine use in coastal areas.
In addition to providing backup coverage, the signal strength and penetration capability of eLoran will provide support to first responders and other operators in environments that GPS cannot support, such as under heavy foliage, in some underground areas, and in dense high-rise structures. The system will use modernized transmitting stations and an upgraded network.
LORAN is going to remain operational and the new enhanced LORAN will be fully implemented. Since LORAN has also been embraced but the FAA, it appears as though LORAN (and equivalent foreign systems) coverage will become global in just a few years.
We have solved the difficult problem of underground navigation by using the existing infrastructure in a new and novel way.
Paul A. Zank, Engineering Fellow, BAE SYS
