02-01-2021, 01:56 AM
The EBBCO sextant was made by (or for) the East Berks Boat Company, a lifeboat manufacturer in Berkshire, UK. The sextant was intended for emergency use in the lifeboat and came with a set of very basic instructions. The company no longer exists, but these sextants continued to be marketed under diffferent marques, e.g. Plastimo Antares
I have a number of EBBCOs, collected over the years, that I use in class for instruction - it's a perfectly adequate sextant for such purposes, but not really intended as a serious navigational tool - that said, numerous ocean passages have been made successfully with this instrument.
Beware of replacing the shades with any old smoked glass or shady material. After a good deal of research I found the most suitable material to be exposed and processed monochrome film negative - proper B+W film contains silver halide that is effective in reflecting those harmful rays of sunlight that would otherwise damage the eye - do not use colour film. It is advisable to replace the shades of an Ebbco, no matter how good they appear to be, as there is no guarantee of their quality. The holders snap apart and back together quite easily.
More information about suitable materials can be found on websites dealing with the viewing of eclipses.
I have a number of EBBCOs, collected over the years, that I use in class for instruction - it's a perfectly adequate sextant for such purposes, but not really intended as a serious navigational tool - that said, numerous ocean passages have been made successfully with this instrument.
Beware of replacing the shades with any old smoked glass or shady material. After a good deal of research I found the most suitable material to be exposed and processed monochrome film negative - proper B+W film contains silver halide that is effective in reflecting those harmful rays of sunlight that would otherwise damage the eye - do not use colour film. It is advisable to replace the shades of an Ebbco, no matter how good they appear to be, as there is no guarantee of their quality. The holders snap apart and back together quite easily.
More information about suitable materials can be found on websites dealing with the viewing of eclipses.