And also those just learning CN work with the concepts and the math but don't see any actual results. Without being able to visit the sea, and take actual observations it devolves down to just boring math (maths for our English viewers.) So being able to take sights in the backyard, even though the sight taking technique is different, allows the new guy to say, "wow, this stuff really works!"
As to the idea of buying a professional grade AH for 595 Euros, for the 99.99% of us who will only be using the
AH as a learning tool or for the occasional backyard fun session, it makes no sense to spend that kind of money or to put off making an inexpensive one that can serve these purposes quite well. The 0.01% of us who might actually use an AH for real navigation while crossing the Sahara Desert
(Geoffrey Kolbe, you know who you are) then its price might be reasonable.
gl
--- On Tue, 10/4/11, Gary LaPook <glapook@pacbell.net> wrote:
From: Gary LaPook <glapook@pacbell.net>
Subject: [NavList] Re: Home made artificial horizon
To: NavList@fer3.com
Date: Tuesday, October 4, 2011, 3:49 PM
And expense is important. I am sure that many who have asked about this are just learning CN and are cut off from the sea. No reason to make it so expensive that these new navigators just throw in the towel and go out and buy a GPS.
gl
--- On Tue, 10/4/11, Geoffrey Kolbe <geoffreykolbe@compuserve.com> wrote:
From: Geoffrey Kolbe
<geoffreykolbe@compuserve.com>
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
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