[ARC5] 416 KC TWEB Goodness

[mstangelo at comcast.net]

When I was sailing in the early 80's I make use of the Marine Non-Directional and Sequential Beacons. I religiously kept my charts up to date with the Coast Guard Notice to Mariners. I remember when the Coast Guard announced the proposal to discontinue the beacons and requested comments. I commented and recommended that they continue them since the receivers were reasonably priced. I also suggested the system would be a backup for the LORAN-C and newer GPS system.

After the comment period ended they replied that the maintenance of the system is taking up a larger part of their budget and there are issues with vandalism of the sites. The feedback they received from commercial shippers was positive except for one shipping company that was still using Automatic Direction Finding on the vessels and was transitioning to LORAN. They waited for the shipping company to complete tHe transfer before decommissioning the NDB system.

There are multiple satellite GNSS (Global Navigational Satellite Systems) these days. What I have read is that any plans for PNT (Position Navigational and Timing) resiliency will involve newer satellite systems instead of terrestrial systems such as E-LORAN. 

There is always the challenge of spoofing or destroying the satellites but it is harder with multiple satellites in a constellation. Our adversaries are aware this and realizes this goes both ways. Remember, it was the Russians that initiated Eisenhower's Open Sky proposal by launching Sputnik.

Anyway' I still miss the LF stations.

Mike N2MS

> On 03/27/2023 7:38 AM Doran Platt <jeepp at comcast.net> wrote:
> 
> 
> With fewer and fewer aircraft with functional ADFs on board, excluding a few 3rd world areas, I wonder what the utility actually is. 
> Jeep K3HVG
> > On 03/27/2023 12:12 AM Mike Kana <aa9il.radio at gmail.com> wrote: