NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Lunars
From: Bruce Stark
Date: 2004 Apr 21, 15:00 EDT
From: Bruce Stark
Date: 2004 Apr 21, 15:00 EDT
Henry C. Halboth sent in a valuable posting on his experience with lunars April 6th. No thread developed, but I'd like to hear more from him on that subject, and expect others would too. His considerable experience at sea, together with his having taken up lunars some sixty years ago, gives him a unique perspective.
He wrote: "During long, lonely watches in the South Atlantic, I occupied my time in
experimenting with such Lunar Distances as became conveniently available.
Although then aboard a medium sized ship, roll, pitch, and vibration were
a concern, as was the fact that, as a single observer bracketing
altitudes and interpolating them to the observed distance time was
necessary. My accuracy did not seem to be much to brag about - as I
recall my longitudes were not much better than within about 15 minutes of
the truth which, based on my research at the time, did not seem too bad . . ."
Well, I think any of the rest of us would be bragging if we could average a quarter degree of longitude under those conditions. Any tips or advice Henry could give us on taking observations and handling a sextant would be welcome.
Bruce
He wrote: "During long, lonely watches in the South Atlantic, I occupied my time in
experimenting with such Lunar Distances as became conveniently available.
Although then aboard a medium sized ship, roll, pitch, and vibration were
a concern, as was the fact that, as a single observer bracketing
altitudes and interpolating them to the observed distance time was
necessary. My accuracy did not seem to be much to brag about - as I
recall my longitudes were not much better than within about 15 minutes of
the truth which, based on my research at the time, did not seem too bad . . ."
Well, I think any of the rest of us would be bragging if we could average a quarter degree of longitude under those conditions. Any tips or advice Henry could give us on taking observations and handling a sextant would be welcome.
Bruce
