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From: (no name) (no email)
Date: Sun Nov 30 2003 - 13:45:20 EST
Phil writes:
<<(SNIP) Requiring celestial!! Now there's a way to get the riff raff off the
water!!
I finally gave my Sextant away. The instrument was in fine shape but the
operator had "rusted". The interesting intellectual problem is rate at
which new technology is absorbed.
------- It ain't a technology problem, it's
a people problem...
Excuse me while I put on my asbestos shirt....>>
Not to worry. I wholeheartedly agree with your position. I taught celestial
navigation to NROTC cadets 30 years ago but after the advent of affordable GPS
receivers put my trusty Heath "Hezzanth" sextant back in its padded box and
havn't taken it out in years.
"But what if the batteries die?" the mossbacks exclaim. They obviously have
forgotten how much paraphernalia it takes to navigate with a sextant. You need
20 lbs. of current books and tables, a chronometer, and a very sharp pencil
and pad of paper or calculating sheets. You also need the sky to be clear and a
steady hand. I considered it a good day if I got within 5 miles of my true
position when navigating in a bobbing boat. Today we quibble over feet and inches
in position plotting.
And a spare GPS and a handful of batteries cost a lot less than the periodic
recalibrations and mirror resilverings that my sextants required.
Larry Z
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