NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: mechanical chronometers
From: hellos
Date: 2006 May 16, 13:50 -0400
From: hellos
Date: 2006 May 16, 13:50 -0400
Peter- My best timekeeper is also a Casio, coincidentally not by their intent I'm sure. I've found that the stopwatch lap/split function is also very handy for timing sights. Using a good time source, start the stopwatch function at 00:00:00 at a known time, preferably the head of the hour. Then the split/lap button can be used to stop the display--without stopping the timekeeping. So without taking your eye off a telescope, you can stop the time exactly when something happened. Then casually note the time, hit the button again, and the stopwatch goes back to showing the total elapsed time that is running without losing the hack. (Hit the wrong button and you WILL lose it though.) Eliminates the question of "does it take me one second or 1.4 seconds to glance at my watch ?" along with any other fumble factors. With the watchband wrapped around the handle of the sextant, the lap button can literally lie under your finger, making it almost an integral part of the sextant.
