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Dan,

I did not use a program for all the calculations except for the course and
distance for the Mid-latitude sailing which I used the Starpilot from
Starpath. The sailings, both traditional Mercator sailing and the
modification to it using the Latitude Parts table were done by hand with the
help of a Casio fx-300W (see below for more about this calculator). I have
implemented the Mercator sailing using Meridional parts and Latitude Parts
using the Quattro Pro speadsheet to evaluate the differences between the two
methods.

The determination of CTS and visual fix was done on a plotting sheet.

Now about the fx-300W. I was shopping around for a calculator to use for
sight reduction by hand without the aid of a programmable calculator. I have
traditionally been an HP fan my self. However, the Casio fx-300W caught my
eyes due to its implementation of the sexagesimal calculation. Angles and
time can be entered in degees(hours), minutes, and tenth of minutes. Values
can be computed in terms of hours, minutes, and seconds, and can be easily
converted back and forth between decimal and sexagesimal format. The other
feature about the fx-300W is that it has a two line display. You can see
what you entered before you hit the equal key. It also has seven memory
registers for storing repeated data and computed values. It has a lot more
capabilities like statistical and regression analysis. The calculator only
costs about $15 so I will not feel that bad if I loose one.

Sam
----- Original Message -----
From  "Dan Hogan" 
To: 
Sent: Monday, April 23, 2001 10:51 AM
Subject: Re : Silicon Sea: Leg 70


> Sam:
> Sorry for the delay on my response. I had to unscramble the layout. When
> layouts exceed the width of the screen adding the reply symbol messes it
up.
>
> On 22 Apr 2001, at 13:54, Sam Chan wrote:
>
> > Here are some of the numbers I came up with:
> >
> > 1. Distance to Cristobal. I computed the distance between the various
way
> > points using three methods: (1) traditional Mercator sailing using
tables of
> > Maridional Parts, (2) Mercator sailing using a table of Latitude Parts
which
> > accounts for the eccentricity of the earth when calculating the meridian
> > distance from initial to final latitude, and (3) the Starpath Starpilot
which
> > uses mid-latitude sailing. Only the distance is different between these
three
> > methods. The course are identical.
> >
> > Way Point                          D by (1)         D by (2)        D by
(3)
> > Course (T) Bridgetown St Lucia/St Vincent Pass          84.8
84.2
> >            84.5 286.8 MOP1                                  522.0
> > 518.8          523.2 263.4 Cristobal                               618.4
> >      614.6 616.9                 252.4 Total
> > 1225.2          1217.6        1224.6
>
> OK. Distances will vary depending on what method is used for calculation.
> Occasionally TC will vary +/_ a degree depending on the method and
direction
>
> > Enroute time @7.5Kts    163h 21.6m   162h 20.8m 163h 16.8m
> >
> > 2. Days to Cristobal. To the nearest tenth, 6.8 days.
>
> OK
>
> > 3. ETA in Zone time at the St. Lucia/ St. Vincent Pass waypoint.
> >
> > Sunrise on 29/5/2001 at Bridgetown 13d 05.5'N, 59d 47.4'W is 0532Q. The
> > central meridian for the time zone is 60d W and the 12.6' of longitude
east of
> > the central meridian did not affect the SR time significantly. So
departure is
> > at 0532Q.
> >
> > There are two ways to get at the ETA. The course to the waypoint is
286.8. If
> > we go with the boat speed of 8.1 kts, and the distance is 84.8nm, the
enroute
> > time is 10h 28m and the ETA is 1600Q. However, given the current set of
270,
> > drift of 0.7 Kts, and steering 288 T, the resulting SOA is 8.8 Kts on a
Track
> > of 286.8 T. The enroute time is then 9h 38m with an ETA of 1510Q.
>
> OK. Out of curiosity, what program are you using for your calculations?
> >
> > 4. Compass course/Course-to-steer (CTS). Setting a course so that our
Track is
> > 286.8 T, the CTS is 303 C. When the current is not accounted for, the
CTS is
> > 302 C. This is to be expected since the current set is so close to the
desired
> > track.
>
> OK.
> >
> > 5. Departure point position to nearest minute.
> >
> > St. Lucia at 292.2 d C is 279.2 T
> > St. Vincent at 129.7d C is 116.7 T
> > By plotting out the fix on a plotting sheet, the fix is at 13d 25.5' N,
61d
> > 29.8' W.
>
> OK.
>
> > 6. TC and distance to MOP1 from departure point from 5.
> >
> > The course is 263.7 T. The distance is 502.8 NM using method 2.
>
> OK.
>
> > 7. CC/CTS for MOP1.
> >
> > The set of the current is so close to the desired track that it has very
> > little impact on the CTS. So CTS is 274.5 C.
>
> OK.
> > Sam Chan
>
>
>
> Dan Hogan
> dhhogan@verionmail.com
>

   

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