Next message: Courtney Thomas: "Re: Visit to Freiberg"
Alex,
That's great news that you could get your sextant checked in
Freiberg, and also that its arc errors are negligible.
Do you think the backlash had anything to do with the errors in your
measurements you reported earlier?
Fred
On May 21, 2005, at 5:50 AM, Alex Eremenko wrote:
> While preparing to a math conference in Freiberg
> (East Germany) I suddenly realized that this is
> the place where Freibergers are made:-)
> The Internet confirmed my suspicion, so I called them
> for an appointment and took my SNO-T with me.
> They were extremelly friendly, though none of them
> spoke English except the secretary who served as a
> translator.
> I had a tour of the factory, and had my SNO-T checked and
> certified.
>
> Freiberg is a small ancient German town where they mine
> silver, and lead for at least 1000 years. (Also uranium
> in XX century). It is famous for its mining school.
>
> Freiberger factory's main business seems to be underground
> and other surveying equipment. (The range of their production
> is enormous, it is hard to understand how 25 employees can
> make so many different things).
>
> As I said they tested my SNO. The arc error I worried about
> turned out to be small (4" for most of the arc). What they found
> instead was a substantial backlash which can explain the poor results
> in star distances I reported earlier to the list.
> They adjusted the backlash. I payed 56 Euros for the whole
> procedure, and they issued a certificate and corrected some
> minor fault in one of my scopes.
> They said nobody does professional service of sextants in
> Germany except the two factories, and they were ready to service
> any sextant, not only Freibergers).
>
> They said they are making about 200-300 sextants per year.
> Apparently few of them ever saw SNO. But their immediate
> reaction was that this is a Freiberger clone:-)
>
> I confirm what Bauer says in his book: buying items directly
> from a factory can save you much money. I did not try to negotiate
> a Freiberger sextant, because I donīt need another aluminium sextant,
> but I inquired about their art horizon.
> (List price $900 if I remember correctly).
> After some negotiation they came with the price of 360 Euros,
> including tax, but I did not buy it.
>
> There are some funny features in the factory which remind me of
> Soviet Union:-) For example, they do not take credit cards.
>
> But in general, this was an interesting experience, and I saw
> how sextants are really made, dividing engines, testing machines
> etc.
>
> I am also planning to visit Cassens and Plath factory in Bremerhaven.
>
> Alex.
>
