NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: What precision is required in cel nav?
From: Lu Abel
Date: 2015 Jul 18, 16:29 +0000
From: Lu Abel
Date: 2015 Jul 18, 16:29 +0000
Stephen:
I don't know where you're writing from, but ALL lighthouses in the US are now automated and are not staffed (before Frank corrects me, there is one exception, Boston Light which is still staffed as a tribute to being the oldest lighthouse in the US).
Lu
From: Stephen N.G. Davies <NoReply_Davies@fer3.com>
To: luabel@ymail.com
Sent: Saturday, July 18, 2015 8:56 AM
Subject: [NavList] Re: What precision is required in cel nav?
Are there any VHF lighthouses left? One used to be able to call them up and they'd give a reciprocal bearing to one's transmission? Presumably with automation they've all long since bitten the spume, as it were.Stephen D
Sent from my iPhoneJohn,You asked about line of sight nav aids for boats.On a clear night I often get a bearing from a lighthouse 20 miles or so away.In the 80's we had RDF, pretty inaccurate "cocked hat" to about 5 miles, but all the beacons closed down late 90's I think after Decca, Loran and then GPS arrived.Last year I put new batteries in my old RDF and discovered that some small "local" airports still broadcast NDB signals for aviation approach navigation.I managed to get a few resonable fixes from my garden and intend to try at sea in a few weeks.No idea how long these NDBs will stay operational. I think they do not re[place them when they break down!Last year I could find Ireland via Radio RTE channel 1 still broadcasting on 252 Khz, but that closed down in October! (the RDF only covers about 250-550 Khz)Oh well.Francis
