Loran C off the air

[Philip Miller Tate]

> Polaris isn't due north, but as much as 44 arcminutes east or west,  
> depending on the time of day.

 >> No big deal - I can't walk straight anyway. Folks survived before  
Loran or GPS, and I guess they will after them, too.

 >> I used to be able to tell the time by observing Polaris and the  
pointers to within fifteen minutes accuracy at any time of year. I  
forget the trick now, but it's fairly easy with a little mental  
arithmetic. Doh! That's today's kids sunk, then.
>
> There's not a good analogue in the southern hemisphere; the  
> Southern Cross constellation, Crux, is 30 degrees away from the  
> pole, though it "points" toward the pole.  See http:// 
> en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crux
> for a quick summary and how you can use Crux to estimate the  
> southern pole location in the sky.

 >> I've never been south of the equator, but I believe that there  
are very few bright stars or constellations visible down under. On  
the other hand, the Magellanic clouds probably make up for it a bit.

Phil M1GWZ