480 line? huh?

[SNAKE EYES SPORTFISHING]

sorry for being ignorant, but i have learned to navigate by gps only, what does it mean when you say we started at the 400 and trolled to the 480 are these loran #s or fathoms? also what happens if loran is discontinued , do we just go to the charts and change over to gps? thanke in advance...dave

[Deep C]

Dave
More than likely you're listening to guys speaking in loraneese... Older charts show the lines on there so you can get a quick idea of where they're at. Some gps have ability to display in loran "td" coordiantes and you can use that. Loran as it sits is done in the next couple weeks I think.
Loran lines are often closer together than say a minute of latitude or longitude so it narrows down a rough location. A lot of us old timers even think in loran. I know I do down here. When I'm north and hear guys talking in code I need to bust out the older charts to get a fix on what they're blabbering about.

[WAHOONBOX]

WHEN YOU HEAR THREE NUMBERS CALLED OUT LIKE 400 OR 480....525 AND SO ON...THEY ARE REFERRING TO THE BOTTOM NUMBER OR 39000 LINE OF THE LORAN CHAIN...


OUT OF MOREHEAD CITY YOU WILL BE ON 27000-39000 LORAN CHAIN

SO WHEN SOMEONE SAYS THEY ARE AT THE 480 LINE...THEY MEAN 39480 WHICH IS JUST SOUTH OF THE BIG ROCK


THE 39000 LINE RUNS SORT OF NORTH SOUTH AND IS EASY TO NAVIGATE ....FOR RIGHT NOW....FISHERMEN MAINLY USE & SPEAK IN LORAN WHEN CHATTING ON THE VHF

[Captain Rich Adler]

Box- It will be interesting to hear the language on the VHF in about another month

[aftergolf]

The charter guys will always speak in Loran, because you can set your gps chartplotter to TDs and it just interpolates the numbers even though Loran is shut down. Will not be quite as accurate, but some things never change.

[gottaflylee]

The charter guys will always speak in Loran, because you can set your gps chartplotter to TDs and it just interpolates the numbers even though Loran is shut down. Will not be quite as accurate, but some things never change.

Actually it is accurate when the propper "offset" is entered for that machine, mine is with in a foot or 2.

You are also right about some things will never change. With loran, all we need to do to tell someone where we are or were is give them 3 numbers, with GPS, it's a book...well not really but 5 numbers are needed to pinpoint

[offshore]

We are on at the 650 100 fathoms and the tuna are snapping!!! Get your @&* over here now!!!!!

More of a point of reference. Would hate to spew off Lat and Long numbers what a nightmare....

[TunaTeaser1]

Mark are you referring to Saturday?

[offshore]

Mark are you referring to Saturday?

Yes sir!! Except it should read 1000 fathoms!!