NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Any happy/unhappy Astra IIIB owners here?
From: Dan Hogan
Date: 2001 Apr 21, 10:59 AM
From: Dan Hogan
Date: 2001 Apr 21, 10:59 AM
I started out navigating with a Davis plastic sextant in 1963(?) or there abouts. I used it on trips to/from Hawaii, Baja, and up/down the coast. For a small boat it kept an accuracy of 4 Nmi+/-. Used it up to 1984, when I left it laying on a plastic cushion on the way to Santa Catalina Island one summer day, it tried to turn into a ball. Then I bought a used Huson, I used it until I got talked into exchanging it for a Freiberger. IMO a top of the line sextant is required only if you are going try Lunars. Otherwise, for *PRACTICAL* small boat navigation, most modern sextants will work admirably. Consider these errors: Your eyesight Boat motion Your plotting error Your method of sight reduction Any time error And, any errors in the charts Dan Hogan WA6PBY Catalina 27 "GACHA" dhhogan@verimail.com Navigation-L List Owner http://www.wa6pby.com