Try to imagine this, shipmates.
I plan to make a sort of horizon in my yard.
My plan is to use a long clear plastic thin hose filled with water to help mark a spot on my fence. The 2 hose ends will show an equal water level, so the hose snakes along the ground but is risen at both ends. If one end is at eye height at some place where I stand to use a sextant, and the other end, perhaps 20 or 30 feet distance, is raised at the fence with a white paper tacked to the wall at the height of the water level, then I have a horizontal line of sight equal to that of the natural horizon with no dip. As long as my eye level is steady and nearly equal to the water height in the tube, I can bring down the sun, moon, or other body to the edge of the white paper to get hs.
Instead of a white paper which would give me a very narrow azimouth, i could stretch a level, easy to see string, like orange surveyors string, along my fence to give myself more azimuth. A tight string around the whole back yard at eye height would allow a shot in any direction, but I only need, because of trees, about 45 degrees of azimouth.
Without a fence one could drive poles into the ground with which to stretch a leveled string. I'm sure some of you could invent other ways as well to support a highly visible string at eye height. At night for star or planet shots the string could be illuminated with a flashlight or some other means. It's not perfect, but it gives me something with which to play other than an oil filled dish. A nice lazer level would serve the same purpose - that is to mark equal eye heights at two places where one could take a shot.
So, what do you think? Does this sound doable?
Cheers.
I plan to make a sort of horizon in my yard.
My plan is to use a long clear plastic thin hose filled with water to help mark a spot on my fence. The 2 hose ends will show an equal water level, so the hose snakes along the ground but is risen at both ends. If one end is at eye height at some place where I stand to use a sextant, and the other end, perhaps 20 or 30 feet distance, is raised at the fence with a white paper tacked to the wall at the height of the water level, then I have a horizontal line of sight equal to that of the natural horizon with no dip. As long as my eye level is steady and nearly equal to the water height in the tube, I can bring down the sun, moon, or other body to the edge of the white paper to get hs.
Instead of a white paper which would give me a very narrow azimouth, i could stretch a level, easy to see string, like orange surveyors string, along my fence to give myself more azimuth. A tight string around the whole back yard at eye height would allow a shot in any direction, but I only need, because of trees, about 45 degrees of azimouth.
Without a fence one could drive poles into the ground with which to stretch a leveled string. I'm sure some of you could invent other ways as well to support a highly visible string at eye height. At night for star or planet shots the string could be illuminated with a flashlight or some other means. It's not perfect, but it gives me something with which to play other than an oil filled dish. A nice lazer level would serve the same purpose - that is to mark equal eye heights at two places where one could take a shot.
So, what do you think? Does this sound doable?
Cheers.