NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Russian Sextant
From: Glendon
Date: 2003 Oct 7, 09:05 +1000
----- Original Message -----
From: LenCfly@AOL.COM
To: NAVIGATION-L@LISTSERV.WEBKAHUNA.COM
Sent: Sunday, October 05, 2003 1:05 PM
Subject: Russian Sextant
Hi ,
I purchased a new SNOT Russian Sextant and it seems well made with an extra mirror and 2 telescopes, and a couple of adjusting tools and an instruction booklet in Russian, Can anyone on the list help me with either a translation or a place to get a translation or help in the use of the two adjusting tools.
Len Chimienti
1/2 of one of the adjusting tools adjusts the mirrors
From: Glendon
Date: 2003 Oct 7, 09:05 +1000
Len HTML'd
----- Original Message -----
From: LenCfly@AOL.COM
To: NAVIGATION-L@LISTSERV.WEBKAHUNA.COM
Sent: Sunday, October 05, 2003 1:05 PM
Subject: Russian Sextant
Hi ,
I purchased a new SNOT Russian Sextant and it seems well made with an extra mirror and 2 telescopes, and a couple of adjusting tools and an instruction booklet in Russian, Can anyone on the list help me with either a translation or a place to get a translation or help in the use of the two adjusting tools.
Len Chimienti
1/2 of one of the adjusting tools adjusts the mirrors
In reply:
I have one of these sextants, 1988 manufacture. I
don't have a manual and would be interested in getting a copy of one. I have a
Russian friend whom I may be able to lean on to help me with a translation. To
do that you would need to email me a good scan of your manual....or fax might be
clearer....or you might be able to locate a Russian speaking OCR. Let me know if
you are interested, and we can explore options.
With regard to the tools, I think several of them
are more for repair than adjustment...I haven't needed all of them for normal
adjustments.
With regard to Len's post, Doug Royer also HTML'd
"Len,I dont know if
anyone else on list helped but here goes.The SNOT,CHO series of sextants were
Freiburg sextant clones.I suggest you go to the Freiburg site or find a Freiburg
sextant owners manuel and that should tell you what you need to work on your
SNOT sextant"
I think Doug
means Freiberger, as at
I have seen it
mentioned elsewhere that Russian sextants are a copy of Freiberger.....I am not
so sure that is not "anti-Russian" urban legend. When the Red Army plundered the
Freiberger factory on May 8 1945 they were after more than just sextants, there
was all the technology (optics) associated with the wide range of Freiberger
surveying and measuring instruments.
Nevertheless, the
SNO-T bears some physical resemblance to the Freiberger drum sextant,
particularily with regard to the enclosed micrometer and clamp setup. The SNO-T
came into production in the very late 70's.....I don't know what the
commencement date on the Freiberger drum sextant is. The SNO and SNO-M
predecessors to the SNO-T have very different construction, possibly closer to a
Plath of their day....I dont know how far back the SNO dates to, but Russian
sextants have been around for a long while.
Earlier, Courtney
Thomas wrote:
"How accurate a fix can be obtained ?
Can it be safely used for serious navigation ?"
Can it be safely used for serious navigation ?"
I presume Courtney is talking about a SNO-T. Well,
I am quite happy with mine, the optics are wonderful, I haven't discerned any
measurable instrument error due to poor manufacture ( but as a novice, I am not
in the league of gentlemen who can detect arc errors of 20"), it is nice to use
and is my sextant of choice....my others being of British manufacture with
pokey, squinty optics.
Lee Martin
