Several boaters have written to ask about when the Coast Guard plans to pull the plug on the Long-Range Aids to Navigation (LORAN-C) signal and why.

Outdoors Girl replies: LORAN-C has been around for a half-century plus two years, providing navigational aid in the 48 continental states and most of Alaska. And, like eight-track tapes, hair rollers the size of frozen juice cans and Wall Street ethics, LORAN-C has become obsolete, a symbol of simpler times when knowing where you were, within a quarter-mile or so, was good enough.

The armed forces, national security agencies and transportation companies have switched to new technology developed during the past 20 years, including the Global Positioning System. The government decided that keeping LORAN-C around was a waste of about $35 million annually, so this month, the Coast Guard signed the death warrant.

On Feb. 8, LORAN-C will begin the process of signing off stations, including the three that serve this region. By Oct. 1, all transmissions will cease.

The Coast Guard is urging mariners to buy a GPS navigation system for their boats and read the owner's guide.

Some GPS units can convert LORAN-C time differences (TDs) to latitude and longitude waypoints to mark favorite fishing spots, wrecks or buoys. But for those who aren't lucky enough to own a smart GPS, the Coast Guard Research and Development Center has a DOS-based program. It can be downloaded for free at: navcen.uscg.gov/Loran/convert.htm

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