Next message: Alexandre E Eremenko: "Re: Dava Sobel"
Requesting more photos is absolutely excellent advice. But a buyer should
bear in mind that no quantity of photos can guarantee that a sextant, purchased
from any source, will be free from arc error, for example, or loose
components or even defects in design (like insufficient shades). You've got to buy it
and try it.
The best assumption to have in mind when you buy a sextant on ebay
especially is that you can always re-sell it and probably for more or less the same
money you paid. There are transaction costs, shipping costs, etc., so on a $400
sextant, you should probably expect to lose $40 turning it around. And if
you're just a bit clever at spotting a bargain or just a bit creative in
writing up a description when you sell it, chances are fair that you will make at
least that much money in profit. Effectively then, you're renting a sextant
for nothing. Keep it for two months, or keep it for two years, and then move on
to another one. You'll get much more experience with different designs.
By the way, as a hypothetical, how could you use a sextant with a dead
section, from whatever cause, close to zero degrees? The sextant would certainly
be a nuisance, but it would still work.
-FER
42.0N 87.7W, or 41.4N 72.1W.
www.HistoricalAtlas.com/lunars
