
NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Home made artificial horizon
From: Wolfgang Hasper
Date: 2011 Oct 5, 21:28 +0200
From: Wolfgang Hasper
Date: 2011 Oct 5, 21:28 +0200
Gary, mind that mercury will freeze at -38�C and you will likely encounter lower temperatures on your way to the pole. A strong argument for mirror type horizons. ;o) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pole-observation.jpg Nansen carried one on his sledge attempt for the pole, too. Wolfgang Am Mittwoch, 5. Oktober 2011 00:38 schrieb Gary LaPook: > But many real navigators on sledges and elsewhere > did carry liquid (including mercury) AHs. > > gl > > --- On Tue, 10/4/11, Geoffrey Kolbe >wrote: > > From: Geoffrey Kolbe > Subject: [NavList] Re: Home made artificial horizon > To: NavList@fer3.com > Date: Tuesday, October 4, 2011, 10:37 AM > > > > Robert wrote: > > > I can't take it > anymore! > > � > > Seems like you folks are going to a great deal of > hassle and looking in every hidden corner for the > perfect levelling mechanism and/or to make an > effective artificial horizon. Short of using a pan > of motor oil or getting hold of some mercury, the > best option is, in my opinion, to just go out and > purchase a Freiberger artificial horizon which comes > with all you need to obtain pinpoint accuracy (as > much as is possible with a sextant). > > > No no, you don't understand Robert. There is a > satisfaction in the process of spending a great deal > of time and effort to build an AH as cheaply as > possible using plastic, string and sealing wax. ;-) > > > But on the matter of practicality, I have no doubt > that you are correct. Could you take the plastic > string and sealing wax AH to navigate your sledge to > the middle of the Antarctic? Or your camel to the > middle of the Sahara desert? Possibly, but people > have certainly been there and done that with a > Freiberger AH. I took the short cut many years ago > and bought one. > > > One note on the use of levels. Just because the > graduation on the level is only one mil say, (about > 3 MOA), does not mean that you are limited to an > accuracy of 1 mil in level adjustment. By turning > the level end for end for comparison and estimating > the bubble position to one tenth of a graduation, it > is possible to get an accuracy in level-ness at > least an order of magnitude better than the level > graduations would suggest. > > > Geoffrey Kolbe