NavList:

David C you wrote:  A while ago I asked about light pollution caused by LED street lights because I was considering buying a re-onditioned A12. So far I have not purchased an A12.


David

If you’ve got a bad dose of light pollution, I don’t think any bubble or pendulous reference sextant would be better than any other except perhaps a periscopic sextant in a proper mounting.  A periscopic sextant would place you into a fifteen degree or so beam, which would help you to find the star you were looking for.

However, as hand-helds go, an A12 would be a good choice, because it would be the easiest to travel with to somewhere where the light pollution is less.  It’s small, light, and comes in a neat little attaché case with rounded corners.  Looking at the price, I don’t think I’d buy a reconditioned one first-off.  I’d bid for one on eBay and see how I got on with that first to see if I really liked it.  Don’t expect too much from un-reconditioned WW2 sextants after 70 years though.  You’ll get the Sun and the Moon and probably Venus and maybe Saturn and one or two of the brightest stars, but unless you’ve X-ray vision or a good imagination, that’s about it. DaveP