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A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Ball Recording Sextant - Howsit Work?
From: Lee Copp
Date: 2000 Jun 22, 2:36 PM
From: Lee Copp
Date: 2000 Jun 22, 2:36 PM
I got one of these dudes from Ebay (the price was right) and have been having fun figuring out how it worked. The built in horizon makes practice shots in the driveway pretty easy. You can see a picture of a similar unit at http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=361415533 (notice that the scope is mounted backward). I am totally stumped in figuring out exactly what the ball recording mechanism does and how it transfers it's information to the 4 sided recorder in its base. It looks like it would help provide additional correction based on how "plumb" the sextant is held at the time of sighting, but what does the scale on the bottom mean? I would like to chat with anyone with knowledge or perhaps even operating instructions. Thanks in Advance Lee Copp
