NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
From: Peter Monta
Date: 2013 Jul 18, 02:20 -0700
I've been taking some sextant sights recently, on land, and I'm wondering how I might simulate being at sea, to experience taking sights under those conditions. (This is with lunars, so I can get by without a sea horizon. Mostly I'm interested in getting a feel for what sea sights are like, and how accuracy degrades versus terra firma.)
The idea would be to stand on a platform that's being moved around, either by an assistant or by motors/actuators. It would be nice if the motion could be dialed from "calm" to "stormy". Where can I find model parameters, or actual time-series recordings, of the orientation of the deck underfoot under various weather conditions and type of craft? This must be well-known stuff, but my searches aren't coming up with much.
I've read that sextant users at sea anticipate the swells. Would platform orientation include a large Fourier component representing the swell, plus a smaller noiselike component?
Of course hopping on a boat would be an option, but the hassle factor is much higher (for me anyway), and the conditions are less controllable.
Cheers,
Peter
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