There’s an article in Popular Mechanics that describes the military importance of the GPS system, how and enemy might attack it, and what our defenses would be like without it. Then, in the fourth paragraph, they drop this bomb:
The Obama administration is also moving forward on a plan to shut down the only current backup to GPS, a permanent ground station network called LORAN-C that is run by the Coast Guard. The Department of Homeland Security last year started a painful upgrade to LORAN-C, adding modern electronics and solid-state transmitters, despite the fact that in 2008 President George W. Bush signed a law that scheduled the system’s dissolution.
Now, LORAN is a far far lower bandwidth system than GPS, and none of our guided weapons can use it (to the best of my knowledge), but it still has some ability to guide our ships. But e-LORAN, which requires the LORAN-C infrastructure can do more.
I’m sure that people closer to this have a lot of detail that I just don’t have, and maybe this is the right thing to do. Maybe there is some alternative set of methods and systems that can do all of this. But just looking at this, is this wise?
The improved system, called eLORAN, would acquire loctaions by triangulating signals from ground stations and be able to pass detailed information through an improved communication channel. The new hardware would also have a data channel that could handle more detailed information. But LORAN-C—the only functioning backup to GPS—will be dismantled by October 2010, according to an early January Coast Guard announcement in the Federal Register. With LORAN-C dead, the upgraded system is now useless.
At the very least, this shows very poor planning and coordination. And to be sure, this poor planning goes well back into the Bush years. Does anyone have more details on this, and can show me where I read this whole thing wrong?
(Don’t forget to vote in the Blogmocracy Awards! One vote per award, per day~ Voting ends Feb. 5) ► Hot Links
It’s just one more step in the undocumented Kenyan carpetbagger’s plan to dismantle the Unit States. This POS and its supporters will not not be happy until we are brought down to a 4th world level.
Are we sure الرئيس أوباما isn’t the Antichrist?
Macker wrote:
Most likely its nothing more then Demon Spawn sent to teach the ignorant voter a lesson.
May not want to spend too much effort on this one, folks. LORAN, as a terrestrial-based system, suffers from all the weaknesses of any such system; mainly range and accuracy.
Satellite (GPS) systems have any number of advantages, but first amoungst them is range: almost any site on or above the surface of the earth can be located in three-dimensional space. While we regularly use modern GPS for everything from planes, trains and automobiles, LORAN had enough shortcomings that almost nobody uses it today.
I don’t give President Obama’s administration much credit for anything but new uses for bowing, this one somebody got right. As such, I expect a new earmark restoring full funding for LORAN expansion to be appended to a bill supporting daycare appropriations or some such.
If I had my druthers, I’d encourage the development of the replacement for the current GPS system, and not it’s predecessor.
@ RangerDoc:
That’s fine, but the question was, is it smart to lose this one before you have another system. And the article didn’t make it very clear, but the GPS system has some inherent redundancy in it, because there are something like 12 satellites. So an enemy would have to have pretty substantial resources (basically China and maybe Russia) to totally degrade that. So another “system” would have to involve something other than satellites. Either that, or we figure out how to use the Russian constellation.
I was going to a meeting to discuss this very thing when my Garmin went out and I got lost.
Oh well.//
@ Da_Beerfreak:
Does that qualify him for djinn?
@ snork:
If we do make a new system, either as a gps backup or newer technology, we will hopefully take gravity’s affect on time into account so that we don’t have to update the gps satellite’s clock on a regular basis.
Good morning, y’all!
@ goddessoftheclassroom:
Good morning Goddess. I think that it is just us.
Where is the morning shift?
@ goddessoftheclassroom:
@ RIX:
Mornin’ guys!
{RIX}
{Bumr50}
RIX, your advice worked in an unforeseen way. Instead of shutting down the conversation, it sparked more and led to his calling me.
I may never hear from him again, but my feelings are soothed.
Morning Bumr. There are only three of us, so we cn talk about whatever we want.
There’s uh , er, uh. You go first.
I m glad that things worke out well for you.
Today the Dear Leader will unveil his budget,$1.8 Trillion.
That money is just not there. He is going to continue huge deficits .
Not good.
@ RIX:
I’m actually excited about the Winter Olympics!
I love hockey. And have you ever checked out the biathlon? They have heart rate monitors on screen so you can see the participants’ try and get their vitals down to steady and shoot.
Crazy stuff!
@ RIX:
Or we could talk about that!
How amazing is it that he played the high-speed rail card?
I believe that there’s a Simpsons episode in which a monorail salesman comes to sell a monorail to Springfield and promises that it will solve everything. Inevitable calamity ensues.
He really thinks we’re stupid.
@ Bumr50:
I enjoy the Winter Gmes , more than the Summer Games.
I saw a profile last night of Sean White, the Flying Tomato.
Seems like a good kid.
He needs to stop the out of control spending. High-Speed rail & blathering about Green Jobs, won’t get us out of this mess.
Tax breaks for business , so that they can hire seems like a much better idea to me.
@ RIX:
Yeah, I have his game for the XBox.
I have a rough time with “judged” sports, though.
@ Bumr50:
I understand what you mean–subjectivity is impossible to quantify. Still, I do love the figure skating.
@ RIX:
I can’t really get worked up about his budget. I’ve been expecting as much.
I mean it’s ridiculous, but just more of the same.
I commented on his “student internship” program on another blog (I’m not sure if there was a thread on it here) and posited that it would be a great opportunity for our side to get involved. I’m sure that there are adults serving as counselors for the program, and parents should actively question and make sure that all viewpoints are represented. Rather than simply rail against it, I’d like to see people use it as a platform.
@ Bumr50:
I have a rough time with “judged” sports, though
There is a suspicion that juges will be politiclly motivated.
There was always a cotroversy with Russian & French juges.
I am not familiar, what is it all about?
@ RIX:
Atlas claims an exclusive, so I’ll link to her.
Basically indoctrination.
Sigh. Off I must go–the Visigoths await. Have a great day, y’all!
@ goddessoftheclassroom:
See ya goddess! Be well!
Thanks, now I know what you mean.
Think about it, youth indoctriation, they had whitehouse.org to report non-supporters of BHO, SEIU thugs siced on citizens, war on Fox etc.
The mind of a totalitarian
@ goddessoftheclassroom:
See ya Goddess
Gotta get reay for work. I nee to earn some coin to pay more taxes
to the Dear Ledaer.
@ RIX:
Someone’s gotta pay for it, rich guy!
//
Talk to you later.
Great!
Just heard that Obama has something called “Making Work Pay” in his budget.
With the unemployment rate so high, punishing “work” is the OBVIOUS thing to do, right?
//
@ Bumr50:
I guess that’s a “tax credit,” but it’s going to be expanded.
Good morning everyone…..
@ doriangrey:
Mornin’ Dorian!
My hands hurt.
I’m teaching myself to play guitar, and sometimes get impatient with the book and go look at some tabs.
It just screws me up.
One way to find info on this. Search.
http://www.sandia.gov/LabNews
For those who aren’t familiar with it, LORAN is just a coastal system, and then only useable along coasts where it has been installed. Does you no good once well off the coast. It’s not even remotely any sort of substitute for a GPS-type system. It’s also nowhere near as accurate. Ask any small boat sailor that used it prior to GPS.
Why ?
Does the msm still protect Lt. for life, liar, traitor John F. Kerry.
Dose the msm still protect the Global Warming lie.
Dose the msm still protect the Obama lie.
Answer:
The lie system is all they have, with out the foundation of lies,
all the commie loon left wing falls in a heep.
Force the truth out, force the truth, the lies will fall.
On how important the lies are to loon lefties.
lgf’s .00001
Overnight Open Thread
#783 Charles 1/31/2010 11:28:04
“In support of Ludwiggedout’s rants.”
“Protect the lies at any cost.”
Just has to, on recourse but to defend the left line lies.
The real Killer will be Truth.@ taxfreekiller:
Good Morning everyone !
*waves hello*
@ snork:
Our current GPS system has between 24 to 32 satellites in orbit at any given time. These cover the entire earth pretty much, so an attack on them would have to be very large scale, to have any great effect. And there are other things that can be done to overcome the slower time incurred with less satellites that are viewable in your area. We use WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System) today which makes GPS (15 feet) more accurate for navigation (about 5 feet)
It takes a minimum of 4 satellites in view to get an accurate position. 3 satellites are used for position with the 4th being used for a time correction.
And we (civilians) already use the Russian GPS system “GLONASS” in combination with our GPS system. Although I am not sure its wise for our military to do that.
LORAN-C cannot be used for anything other than rudimentary ship navigation, its accuracy is stated in nautical miles and it varies greatly depending on weather conditions.
Ye old ancient mariners had better start dusting off the sextants and plotting tables. i don’t think the whales will lead you home after a Chi-Com ASM tskes down our birds. Hell, witht the amount of espinoge they have conducted against us, they can probably hack them and reprogram them for their exclusive military use when they need too, no messy missles necessary.
We have to get people off of the government tit and instead of draining the system, they need to be contributing. We have a lot of lettuce that needs picking, I don’t see why those jobs should go out of the country.
My wife teaches, and I see the work that these kids are doing, they will never be corporate wizards, but they can sure do what my Grandmother did to raise 4 sons and put my father though school, she picked cotton.
The Republic was designed to protect the few from the many, the working from the bonds of Government servitude that we just fought off. I think at some point, we will all say, NO MAS! No more of my money will you steal to give a way, to buy votes, to seed corruption. NO MORE!
I don’t qualify anything judged as a sport.