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A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Sextant stands; was Lunar Distances: Graphic Methods
From: Henry Halboth
Date: 2004 Apr 25, 17:59 -0400
From: Henry Halboth
Date: 2004 Apr 25, 17:59 -0400
I should have looked prior to my previous reply. Kieran's posting induced me to search the internet and was amazed to find a number of sextant stands portrayed - some apparently even for sale. I use "Copernic" as a search aid and simply typed in "Sextant Stand" - up they came. I really don't see, however, that it would be all that difficult to make one, or to adapt a suitable sized tripod. As a matter of fact, the pictures shown didn't seem all that practical to me. On Sun, 25 Apr 2004 18:38:24 +1000 Kieran Kellywrites: > No they weren't custom made. Royal Navy hydrographers used them when > taking > shore based lunar distance observations and you can find them > occasionally > mentioned on exploration manifests. They were manufactured by > Troughton, > Cary and Dolland to name a few and usually came in a leather case as > a kit > including stand, sextant and artificial horizon. I have a Plath > catalogue > from the 1920's where they were still making and selling stands. > There is an > excellent example in the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney. It > however is > a surveying octant and a very large and heavy one. the stand was > necessary > to support the weight of the very large instrument. > > Pictures of the stands are shown in Ifland's Taking the Stars, pages > 126, > 127 and 136. > > I have been trying to buy a sextant stand for years to no avail so > if any > old surveyor has one in the garage I would like to hear from you. In > all the > time I have been collecting sextants I have never seen a stand > offered on E > bay and that's saying something given the plethora of stuff that > washes > through its sextant site. > > Kieran Kelly > Sydney >