12-24-2015, 02:24 AM
Here is something I remembered that may or may not be helpful.
When I was about ten years old I purchased a very cheap plastic sextant. I could never understand the "grownup" directions that came with it.
One evening I was standing facing the western horizon trying to aim at the horizon and pick up a star in the mirror. A cool Coast Guard guy came by and told me "Try doing it this way". He had his own "real" sextant that seemed to weigh 100 pounds. He showed me that if I held the sextant upside down and pointed the telescope at the star, it was easy to find the horizon in the mirror, couldn't miss.
OK, maybe everyone knows this, or maybe I remember it wrong, but that is the way I remember it. I'm old now so that was long ago.
For some reason I'm reading about celestial navigation and interested in learning the basics. Finally, after all this time! I've always navigated the mountains and wilderness using stars and moon and sun as a compass for direction only, but especially not for longitude. In the north, Polaris always shows your basic latitude with no tables or books. But longitude is difficult.
How do you all note the time to the second when operating alone? Glance at watch and subtract a second, then read the angle?
When I was about ten years old I purchased a very cheap plastic sextant. I could never understand the "grownup" directions that came with it.
One evening I was standing facing the western horizon trying to aim at the horizon and pick up a star in the mirror. A cool Coast Guard guy came by and told me "Try doing it this way". He had his own "real" sextant that seemed to weigh 100 pounds. He showed me that if I held the sextant upside down and pointed the telescope at the star, it was easy to find the horizon in the mirror, couldn't miss.
OK, maybe everyone knows this, or maybe I remember it wrong, but that is the way I remember it. I'm old now so that was long ago.
For some reason I'm reading about celestial navigation and interested in learning the basics. Finally, after all this time! I've always navigated the mountains and wilderness using stars and moon and sun as a compass for direction only, but especially not for longitude. In the north, Polaris always shows your basic latitude with no tables or books. But longitude is difficult.
How do you all note the time to the second when operating alone? Glance at watch and subtract a second, then read the angle?