Welcome to the NavList Message Boards.

NavList:

A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding

Compose Your Message

Message:αβγ
Message:abc
Add Images & Files
    Name or NavList Code:
    Email:
       
    Reply
    Re: Emergency Navigation
    From: Bill B
    Date: 2012 Jul 18, 17:50 -0400

    On 7/18/2012 4:45 PM, Gary LaPook wrote:
    > It doesn't use the GPS, I entered the location of my A.P.
    
    My thinking is the program is either a hoax, or it makes use of the
    Droid's internal sensors.
    
    You did use the term "intersect" so I'll assume it gave you a distance
    and an azimuth for an LOP, not a fix.
    
    If you did enter your AP, then it simply acted as a sextant with the
    Droids internal angle sensor, reduced the sight, and spit out the
    results. (I believe that some, or all, modern cell phones have at least
    a 1-axis sensor. It can tell whether the display screen is horizontal,
    vertical, and perhaps somewhere in between. I believe they also have an
    internal GS unit.)
    
    It seems the program might be be a reversed engineered Sky Scout (using
    the Droid's sensors), where you point it at a star or constellation and
    it tells you the name, or you enter a name and it guides you to the
    body.  It is in the Celestaire catalog:
    
    http://www.celestaire.com/Sky-Scout/View-all-products.html
    
    "Sky Scout works by a combination of automatic GPS location and three
    axis sensors measuring gravitational and magnetic fields, in addition to
    its own extensive built-in digital astronomy database, to establish its
    current position. This eliminates the need to consult star charts or to
    make adjustments for time and location changes. it works in two ways:
    either point at a celestial body and receive the resulting information,
    or select the body's name in the menu and follow the on screen prompts
    (arrows) to center the body in the field of view."
    
    All that for $200. Amazing. No star charts or HO-2012D Star Finder
    needed. At least until it is dropped or the batteries run down;-)
    
    If it did give you a fix from one observation, it must be a trick,
    comparing the location that the Droids internal GPS, the AP you entered,
    and the electronic "sextant" Hs.
    
    That's my best guess.
    
    Bill B
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

       
    Reply
    Browse Files

    Drop Files

    NavList

    What is NavList?

    Get a NavList ID Code

    Name:
    (please, no nicknames or handles)
    Email:
    Do you want to receive all group messages by email?
    Yes No

    A NavList ID Code guarantees your identity in NavList posts and allows faster posting of messages.

    Retrieve a NavList ID Code

    Enter the email address associated with your NavList messages. Your NavList code will be emailed to you immediately.
    Email:

    Email Settings

    NavList ID Code:

    Custom Index

    Subject:
    Author:
    Start date: (yyyymm dd)
    End date: (yyyymm dd)

    Visit this site
    Visit this site
    Visit this site
    Visit this site
    Visit this site
    Visit this site