Description
Book SynopsisLoran and GPS notwithstanding, there will always be a place for the sextant aboard any blue-water boat, if for no other reason than the thrill and mystery of finding one's position on earth by gazing at the heavens. Here is the indispensable reference that should accompany the instrument aboard. Cmdr. Bruce Bauer, a professional navigator and master mariner with the U.S. Merchant Marine, has distilled years of hands-on experience into an eminently readable guide to buying, adjusting, using, and repairing sextants.
The Sextant Handbook is dedicated to the premise that electronic navigation devices, while too convenient to disregard, are too vulnerable to rely on exclusively. The book is designed to make beginner and expert alike conversant with this most beautiful and functional of the navigator's tools. Topics include:
- Assembly and Disassembly
- Vital Adjustments
- Avoiding Problems
- Rough Weather Sightings
- Oiling and Cleaning
- Immersion Baths
- Emergency S
Table of Contents
IntroductionChapter 1 A Short HistoryAstrolabeLatitude HookQuadrantCross StaffBack StaffSextantChapter 2 Elements of the Sextant and Four Vital AdjustmentsPerpendicularityFrame and Index MirrorFrame and Horizon GlassParallelismIndex Mirror and Horizon GlassTelescope and FrameAdjustment ProceduresChapter 3 Attachments and AccessoriesAstigmatizersDouble Star PrismWide View Horizon GlassDavis Prism LevelBubble Horizon AttachmentNeck StrapsVisual AidsChapter 4 Care, Maintenance, and RepairOiling and CleaningImmersion Bath ProceduresHow to HoldWhere to Put DownMounted Sextant BoxesEmergency Silvering TechniquesApplying PaintResilvering Horizon GlassChapter 5 How to Buy a SextantWhere to Find ThemPricesFive Ground Rules to Avoid ProblemsTaking Test SightsInterstellar Test TableDiscovering the Dropped SextantReconditioning CostsChapter 6 Sighting TechniquesInversion for LocationPrecalculating AzimuthsRocking or Swinging an ArcSun's Upper LimbShades for Sun, Moon, and VenusCorrecting for False HorizonRough Weather Sighting TechniquesMaking a MonocleChapter 7 Correcting the SightThe Thirteen ErrorsCorrecting for Moon, Venus, and MarsCorrecting for Wave HeightChapter 8 Timing the Sight AccuratelyThe Hack WatchUsing a Tape RecorderCounting Paces and StopwatchesAttaching Stopwatch to SextantChapter 9 Searching for StarsThe Necessity for PreplanningFinding SunriseUsing the Rude Star FinderConverting Local TimeUsing H.O. Pub. No. 249Making and Using a Wrist BoardChapter 10 Sextants of TomorrowIs the Sextant Doomed?Coming DevelopmentsAppendixesA--Sextant Check ProceduresB--Sextant ManufacturersC--Distribution and DealersD--The Navigator's Basic Tool KitE--Making and Using an Artificial HorizonF--Table of Interstellar Angles for Practice Sighting and Sextant TestingG--Useful AddressesBibliographyIndex
