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From: Jim Thompson (no email)
Date: Thu Aug 05 2004 - 07:21:23 EDT
I agree fully. My hands are full of watch, sextant, notepaper, pen, and red
nightlight at twilight, although I wear most of them around my neck with
lanyards. Maybe it's the clumsy way I do sights (I've never had an
experienced CN navigator critique me in person). I take the sight, note the
time with my nonexistant 3rd and 4th hands, (made easier using a stopwatch)
and then gingerly put the sextant down to free hands for recording the time
and altitude. That's when the damage can happen -- it is so easy to jar the
altitude setting slightly by bumping the index arm. And then I find myself
handling the sextant a second time to work its light, or to get a good view
of the vernier with the flashlight. This whole process would be much easier
if I could put the sextant down "upside down", with the handle up and index
arm safely down, out of the way. Even putting the sextant back in its case,
handle down, exposes the measuring elements to more handling. It seems to
make sense to put the legs on the other side.
Reverse legs might take some of the aggravation out of celestial
aggravation?
Jim Thompson
www.jimthompson.net
Outgoing mail scanned by Norton Antivirus
-----------------------------------------
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Navigation Mailing List
> [mailto:]On Behalf Of Joel Jacobs
> The Poulin 808 isn't the only sextant made that way. Some examples of the
> Dutch Observator that are used for geodetic survey also have the legs
> extending from the top. I'm sure there are others. I agree. I find it a
> sensible approach. You pick the sextant up with your right hand
> and without
> having to turn it over, you're ready to use it.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Royer, Doug" <>
> > I wonder why the sextant manufactures changed the design from being able
> to
> > rest the sextant with the handle facing up. Makes more sense to
> me to have
> > them this way as one can grab the handle 1st and not the frame?
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