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From: Susan Johnson (no email)
Date: Fri Jun 03 2005 - 12:00:25 EDT
My husband and I have been giving seminars (5 to 7 sessions) on
Celestial Navigation a couple of times a year for the past 5 years (with
mixed results). Unfortunately, most attendees want to know how to do
everything without expending any study, practice or thinking time are
looking for a "cookbook" Celestial Nav. We have the students bring
their books and sextants to class and we attempt to present an overview
that will (1) make it easier for them to go back to the book and
understand the text and learn more and (2) allow them to use the Davis
celestial Nav forms ... fill in the blanks.... and "voila" ... here's
what you have....
Our class (*_/Celestial Aggravation/_*) sylabus was as follows:
I Introduction
Tools - pencil, eraser, maneuvering board, sextant, stop watch,
chronometer, dividers, etc...
Basic navigation - Lines of Position, Fixes, Running Fixes, etc.
Terminology - Latitude, Declination, Longitude, Equation of Time,
Poles (geographic, magnetic, compass, celestial), GMT, GHA, LHA,
Geographical Position, Height of Eye, Dip, Parallax, etc.
II The Sextant
Parts of and comparisons
How to Use
Errors and how to test and correct for
Theories on how often to take shots, best methods, averaging,
graphing, etc.
III The Almanac -
What information is available
How to read (interpolation)
Time and Longitude
Predicting local noon, sunrise, sunset
IV Practical
Go to Imperial Beach pier where there is access to sun shot
from 1 hr before noon until sunset. (we live on the Pacific ocean).
Take a series of "morning" shots, "noon" shots, "afternoon" shots, and
if the moon's available - a series of moon shots.
VI Computation (this frequently stretches over a couple of sessions)
Using HO 229 and/or HO 249 work out the shots taken during
the Practical and plot our position. For this, we do a "noon" shot, a
"morning" shot and an "afternoon" shot.
During a 6 session course, we do sample Moon and Start problems.
Preparing for this class I have found the following to be useful:
My celestial nav links: http://home.pacbell.net/sohle/appendc.htm
***Books:
In 1975, I used /_Reed's Almanac_/ w/ versine tables to successfully
navigate a sailboat from England to Madeira, through the Carri bean, to
Florida with sextant and short-wave radio.
*/Practical Celestial Navigation
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0939510057/celestialnavig0d>/
by Susan P. Howell
/Celestial Navigation for Yachstmen
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0070059284/celestialnavig0d> by
Mary Blewitt
_One Day Celestial Navigation _/by Otis S. Brown
/
Dutton's /and /Bowditch
/Hope this is helpful....
Susan Johnson
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