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    Re: Making an artificial horizon, and leveling thereof
    From: George Huxtable
    Date: 2011 Jan 25, 22:04 -0000

    on Jan 23, Alan provided some observations as follows-
    
    ==============
    
    Observer's position, GPS coordinates from which I've dropped tenths of a
    minute was 40 D 34 M North x 80 D 02 M West. No watch error. Index error's
    as noted. Lower limb shot in all cases. No extremes of either temperature
    or pressure so far as I remember.
    
    Date             WT           Hs           Index Error
    19 Aug 2010     16-52-39     72D 42.6M    2.5 M On
    19 Aug 2010     11-12-22     99D 18,4M    2.5 M On
    9 Aug 2010      09-51-35     74D 58.8M    1.2 M Off
    9 Aug 2010      16-16-02     90D 41.2M    1.0 M On
    26 July 2010    15-02-17     120D 46.0M   0.6 M On
    26 July 2010    18-16-50     50D 30.0M    0.6 M Off
    28 July 2010    17-02-15     78D 14.2M    1.0 M Off
    28 July 2010    09-51-00     78D 15.8M    0.4 M On
    17 Aug 2010     10-23-42     83D 58.4M    2.6 M On
    17 Aug 2010     16-01-6      92D 00.9M    1.3 M On
    
    Re sights on 26 July, looks like the time interval might be to close.
    
    ====================
    
    He ended- "Let me know what, if anything jumps out at you."
    
    Before looking at these observations in any detail, one aspect jumps out at
    me straight away; the variability of his index error, between 2.6' on the
    arc, and 1.2' off it, including on the same day (August 9th) errors of 1.0'
    on, and 1.2' off. These seem awful. I don't know what sort of sextant Alan
    is using, but they are MUCH worse that I get on my cheapo plastic Ebbco.
    However, I don't own a modern micrometer sextant, though I have used
    several from other people, so I have no real first-hand experience of what
    to expect in long-term stability.
    
    Is Alan a compulsive "sextant-worrier", perhaps? Does he twiddle at the
    mirror-adjustment screws, for each set of observations? That's bad
    practice, but it might explain this apparent instability. Otherwise, it's
    worth making sure there's no looseness in the positioning of the sextant
    mirrors. Press on the corners of each mirror, lightly, with something soft
    and plastic, and see if there's any detectable movement of the reflected
    image. If the adjusting screws have been slacked back too far, that can
    leave a wobbly mirror. If it always springs back to the same position, then
    it's as it should be.
    
    George
    
    contact George Huxtable, at  george{at}hux.me.uk
    or at +44 1865 820222 (from UK, 01865 820222)
    or at 1 Sandy Lane, Southmoor, Abingdon, Oxon OX13 5HX, UK.
    
    
    
    
    

       
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