NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Lunar distance accuracy
From: Frank Reed
Date: 2007 Oct 24, 22:08 -0400
From: Frank Reed
Date: 2007 Oct 24, 22:08 -0400
George, I will post a detailed reply tomorrow, but I have one question for you to ponder. You mention that the phrase "pillar sextant" sometimes referred to a sextant mounted on a stand. And I don't think that's true in the first place. I haven't found a single case of this usage in the lit. Do you know of one? As a corollary, is it possible that it's only you (and maybe a local museum in Oxford which you mentioned once before) that refer to a sextant on a stand as a "pillar sextant"? In the period, the term was used for the well-known double-frame design, originally patented by Troughton. For example, in Lecky's sextant buying suggestions, he writes, "Give the preference to a "pillar" sextant over one whose framework is cast all in one piece" (Lecky's Wrinkles in Practical Navigation, 1884, via Google Books). -FER --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ To post to this group, send email to NavList@fer3.com To , send email to NavList-@fer3.com -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---