Welcome to the NavList Message Boards.

NavList:

A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding

Compose Your Message

Message:αβγ
Message:abc
Add Images & Files
    Name or NavList Code:
    Email:
       
    Reply
    Re: Using a slide rule for celnav
    From: Greg B
    Date: 2014 Jan 20, 18:57 -0500
    Hi Brad,
       Ha 'noise' That's an Interesting way to put it ( I'm a retired rf engineer - "noise" was my nemesis ) and I absolutely get
    the comparison . BTW - I was referring to someones comment about using a standard sliderule with Bygrave formulas
    how much resolution (decimal places) do you think would you need for it to be practical, or can you even think of it that way?
    ~Greg

    On 01/20/2014 06:43 PM, Brad Morris wrote:

    Hi Greg

    The Bygrave is generally good 1 minute, occasionally larger in extreme cases. 

    The 0'.1 available from HO 229 (and others) is true.  The calculation error is no greater than that.  However, with your expected 'good case' fix to be within 3 nautical miles, that extra (30X) precision is just noise, no? 

    Don't get me wrong.  I have all volumes of HO 229.  Its the last tabular method before electronic computerization.  I also have HO 204, which is a tabular method rarely described here, as the tabulated values include RA and Dec! 

    In terms of speed of result, its just absolutely impossible to beat the Bygrave, except by electronic means.   The rational provided to avoid it seemed to beg a response.  Yes, there is a decrease in the resolution of the result, but the increased resolution affords you little benefit!

    Much has been written before about a linear slide rule.  The general consensus is that a standard slide rule simply does not have enough resolution over its length to provide a reasonable result.  The Bygrave increases the length tremendously, by wrapping the scales like a helix around the cylinders, providing a reasonable 1' fix.

    Brad




    On Jan 20, 2014 12:32 PM, "Greg Licfi" <cfi{at}licfi.com> wrote:

    Hi Gary,
          Perhaps I'm just misinformed; and in this case I would love to be - so please take no offense if I am.
     I think I read somewhere that a Bygrave sliderule can only resolve 1 arc minute(?).
    This might be better suited to a aircraft with a bubble sextant (+/- 2 arc minutes after averaging ?) then a ship.
    I currently do my calculations with: H.O.229, a smart phone app, ICE, and a scientific calculator.
    all of which seem to agree within +/- 0.1 arc minute with the USNO. If it (the Bygrave sliderule) can resolve
    better than that I would be a convert for sure. Also; how much resolution do you need on the sliderule?
    Back in my college days 3 or 4 decimal places was considered good with a 'K&E Decalon(?)5'
    BTW: I'm a big fan of ICE - I run it on my laptop & smart phone with something called 'dosbox' My smartphone
    app uses USNO software and data, ICE was a USNO product, as is H.O.229. so you would expect them to all
    yield the same results (no?)
    ~Greg

    This new ship here is fitted according to the reported increase of knowledge among mankind. Namely,
    she is cumbered end to end, with bells and trumpets and clock and wires, it has been told to me, can call
    voices out of the air of the waters to con the ship while her crew sleep. But sleep Thou lightly. It has not
    yet been told to me that the Sea has ceased to be the Sea.
    —Rudyard Kipling


      On 01/20/2014 04:28 AM, Gary LaPook wrote:

    But if you are thinking of doing celestial computations on a normal sliderule you should consider using the Bygrave formulas instead of the normal cosine formula because they give greater accuracy. See:



    http://fer3.com/arc/m2.aspx/Bygrave-formula-accuracy-10-inch-slide-rule-Hirose-jul-2009-g8985

    http://fer3.com/arc/m2.aspx/Bygrave-formula-accuracy-10-inch-slide-rule-LaPook-jul-2009-g9019

    Or, you can make your very own Bygrave sliderule which provides even greater accuracy, complete plans are available here:

    https://sites.google.com/site/fredienoonan/other-flight-navigation-information/modern-bygrave-slide-rule

    gl



    From: David Cortes <dcortes{at}rwlw.com>
    To: garylapook---.net
    Sent: Sunday, January 19, 2014 10:48 PM
    Subject: [NavList] Using a slide rule for celnav


    To Navlist:
    
    I learned how to use a slide rule back in high school, and it's been 45-plus years.  Can some of you old-timers tell whether it's possible to multiply sin by sin or cos by cos, etc.  n one continuous operation, without putting the rule down to write down the number of the first calculated sin or cosin, etc.?
    
    David
    
    -----Original Message-----
    From: NavList@fer3.com [mailto:NavList@fer3.com] On Behalf Of Frank Reed
    Sent: Monday, January 20, 2014 12:13 AM
    To: dcortes{at}rwlw.com
    Subject: [NavList] Re: What is a "Class A" sextant?
    
    Hi Brad,
    
    My understanding of the Kew "Class A" rating was that it was an overall rating. It was the certification required for sextants given to Royal Navy cadets. It combined several factors, and the instrument had to meet various standards on several tests.
    
    You may remember a NavList discussion a few years back about tables of "star distances" published in about 1905 for use with Lord Ellenborough's method of testing sextant arc error at sea (*). In the introduction, the authors say that a "Class A" certification implies among "other things" that the centering error (or "arc error" as we would call it today) amounted to less than 1' of arc maximum. Classes B and C would presumably permit progressively greater arc error, and this same source says that the sextant would be "rejected" (in other words, worse than class C) if the arc error was greater than 3'.
    
    *that discussion was in March 2010, and here's my first message on thee subject, specifically addressed to you personally, in fact. :)
    
    -FER
    
    ----------------------------------------------------------------
    NavList message boards and member settings: www.fer3.com/NavList Members may optionally receive posts by email.
    To cancel email delivery, send a message to NoMail[at]fer3.com
    ----------------------------------------------------------------
    
    Attached File: http://fer3.com/arc/imgx/class-A-sextant.jpg
    
    
    : http://fer3.com/arc/m2.aspx?i=126560
    
    
    
    


    : http://fer3.com/arc/m2.aspx?i=126564


    : http://fer3.com/arc/m2.aspx?i=126573

    : http://fer3.com/arc/m2.aspx?i=126584


       
    Reply
    Browse Files

    Drop Files

    NavList

    What is NavList?

    Get a NavList ID Code

    Name:
    (please, no nicknames or handles)
    Email:
    Do you want to receive all group messages by email?
    Yes No

    A NavList ID Code guarantees your identity in NavList posts and allows faster posting of messages.

    Retrieve a NavList ID Code

    Enter the email address associated with your NavList messages. Your NavList code will be emailed to you immediately.
    Email:

    Email Settings

    NavList ID Code:

    Custom Index

    Subject:
    Author:
    Start date: (yyyymm dd)
    End date: (yyyymm dd)

    Visit this site
    Visit this site
    Visit this site
    Visit this site
    Visit this site
    Visit this site