NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: sextant without paper charts
From: Lu Abel
Date: 2008 Oct 29, 21:53 -0700
From: Lu Abel
Date: 2008 Oct 29, 21:53 -0700
I guess I have to wonder why anyone would use HO229 these days when for
about $15 you can buy a solar powered scientific calculator (so no
batteries to go bad, mine claims it will work if there's enough light
for me to see the display) and therefore not have to go through the
error-prone task of a HO229 sight reduction when one can just solve the
celestial triangle directly with a calculator. Let's remember the
history of HO229 -- it was produced more than half a century ago when
computers were a novelty and one certainly didn't have one built into
one's cellphone or PDA. It's a solution appropriate to the technology
available half a century ago (along with vacuum tube radios).
Sure, Scott, there were QMs who used 229; but as you state it was a while ago and I suspect these were the more senior people who weren't quite as comfortable with calculators and such as the younger bucks.
Jumping ahead to the 21st century, one thing that amazes me is the amount of technology employed by the troops in Iraq. Not just warfighting stuff, but GPS navigation systems in vehicles and personal communications stuff. The troops there have full Internet access and often use tools like Skype to talk to their families with full video. That ain't WWII or Vietnam or even the first Iraq war...
Lu Abel
Scott Owen wrote:
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Sure, Scott, there were QMs who used 229; but as you state it was a while ago and I suspect these were the more senior people who weren't quite as comfortable with calculators and such as the younger bucks.
Jumping ahead to the 21st century, one thing that amazes me is the amount of technology employed by the troops in Iraq. Not just warfighting stuff, but GPS navigation systems in vehicles and personal communications stuff. The troops there have full Internet access and often use tools like Skype to talk to their families with full video. That ain't WWII or Vietnam or even the first Iraq war...
Lu Abel
Scott Owen wrote:
frankreed@HistoricalAtlas.net wrote:Scott wrote: "As to HO229, there is no paper copy requirement IF the ship is authorized for usage of DNC charts. Not all ships and submarines are authorized for DNC usage yet. In any event, the prudent Commanding Officer would probably carry a paper copy of HO229 and any Harbor chart that the ship is expected to call on during next expected voyage." I don't see the connection between carrying HO229 and DNC (digital nautical chart). -FERFrank, Not sure there IS a connection, but there are certain hardware and publication requirements in order for a ship to pass a navigation certification. The publication requirement depends on whether or not the ship/submarine is authorized to use DNC for primary navigation. I suspect this has to do with the computer/IT systems and integration of the GPS system installed in the ship. As I understand it, if the ship/submarine is authorized to use DNC for primary navigation purposes, then all publications provided by NGA [including HO229] can also be carried in "electronic" pdf format with the exception of the Nautical Almanac [I know it comes from USNO] which still has to be carried in paper form. If the ship is NOT authorized for DNC usage then there is a paper requirement for ALL charts and publications. True you can do sight reductions with just the NA but all the USN ships I was ever on [granted a few years gone by] all carried a paper copy of HO229 and calculators so the QMs could take there pick when doing celestial navigation. --Scott
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