NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: book - the complete on-board celestial navigator
From: Phil Guerra
Date: 2003 Mar 24, 19:32 -0600
From: Phil Guerra
Date: 2003 Mar 24, 19:32 -0600
I agree, that's all I was saying. I'm not comparing the two, just placing them into categories, one's for an experienced navigator the other for a newbie like me. I have made use of his tables, after I gathered some of the prerequisite knowledge he recommends. It is a very useful book, as is the Howell book. Anybody, got recommendations on a hand-bearing compass? ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kieran Kelly"To: Sent: Monday, March 24, 2003 5:43 PM Subject: Re: book - the complete on-board celestial navigator > Gentlemen, > > I came across the Complete On Board Celestial Navigator shortly after > becoming interested in celestial navigation. I knew a little but not a lot > about the subject when I first looked into George Bennett's book, after > teaching myself from Susan P Howell's book. While the latter is an excellent > primer it should not be compared to Bennett's book - they seek to do two > different things. > > Using Howell's book the navigator will still need to invest in and carry a > current nautical almanac and set of often multi-volume tables such as HO > 229. This is both expensive and bulky for yachting use. The great benefit of > the Bennett book is that it is all there in one compact, light and cheap > offering. The only sacrifices made are a slight loss in accuracy - > negligible - and a need for limited interpolation. > > Bennett makes clear at the front of his book that it is intended as a backup > for electronic methods of navigation and that it was prepared primarily with > an eye to convenience and cost and I think it fills those aims admirably. > > But the really outstanding feature of this book is his table of change of > altitude of a celestial body for any Z and lat over 5 minute intervals. This > enables easy averaging of sights without maths. This is something that I had > not seen published anywhere else in navigation textbooks and I mean anywhere > else stretching back to Raper and Norie in the nineteenth century. I use > Bennett's tables constantly to check sextant sights for accuracy and > eliminate personal error. If nothing else, the book is worth the cover price > for access to these techniques. > > So for anyone interested in the science/art/practice of celestial navigation > Howell and Bennet are both very worthwhile investments. > > > Kieran Kelly