NavList:

Just keep an eye on ebay, there are two bubble sextants listed right now. Suprisingly, there are no periscopic nor A-10s listed, there was a glut of those types in previous years.

gl


Hewitt Schlereth wrote:

Are there any sources for these sextants?  HewS

On 7/11/08, engineer <engineer@clear.net.nz> wrote:
  

 The British Mk IX is about 200 grams lighter. and is  my favourite
 because all the controls come readily to hand, it is easy to use and
 read and you have a reasonable chance of getting one that works. With
 the exception of the averager on the Mk IX A, the works of the Mk IX
 series are accesible and usually easy to fix. The bubble assembly is
 also easy to refill.

 My A7 has a vapour pressure bubble chamber which, if empty when you
 get it is very difficult for the non-specialist to refill. Many of the
 WW II US instruments suffered from "complification" and some used 4
 prisms, heavy and expensive to produce. The AN 5854-1's
 averager(strictly, a median device)is temperamental and hard to fix if
 it has suffered corrosion in storage. The AN 5851(Navy Mk 5)is heavy
 and clunky and initial setting of its averager needs care. The A10-A
 is perhaps the handiest instrument to use, provided the electrical
 marking system is in good order. It is not impossible for
 a reasonably handy person to fix the system, once it has been
 understood. The A10 uses the Mark I finger to operate the marking
 pencil. That leaves rarer instruments, like the A8-A and the Navy Mk
 IV. The latter was plainly not a success and if you find one, the
 averaging system will tax the average person to fix. The A12 is a
 favourite of many people and was designed to be cheap to produce(some
 of the others cost almost the price of a small home to produce). The
 arc and vernier on mine are poorly cut, but if you can get one free
 from corrosion and in working order it would be a good one to start
 with.

 The Achilles heel of nearly all the bubble sextants is the bubble
 chamber. For practical purposes, you cannot refill a vapour pressure
 chamber. Happily, most of the later bubble sextant produced used a
 different system with an air reservoir; and these are fairly easy to
 refill. The MA series are, alas, expensive and do not often come on to
 the market.

 Bill Morris


 On Jul 11, 1:54 pm, "Gary J. LaPook" <glap...@pacbell.net> wrote:
 > My fravorite is my MA-1 which isn't a bubble sextant but a pendulous
 > mirror type and my second favorite is the MA-2 with a bubble. If you
 > want a light, simple sextant get a Bendix A-7, it is the lightest bubble
 > sextant I have.
 >
 > gl
 >
 >
 >

    

glap...@pacbell.net wrote:
      

 > >Here is a link to a site with discriptions of many types of bubble
 > >sextants:
 >
 > >http://home.earthlink.net/%7Es543t-24dst/airnav/index.html
 >
 > >gl
 >
 > >On Jul 5, 3:19 am, glap...@pacbell.net wrote:
 >
 > >>You should also check the files section of the Yahoo sextant group for
 > >>more information on sextants.
 >
 > >>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sextants/files/
 >
 > >>gl
 >
 > >>On Jul 3, 5:14 pm, bubi352 <benjaminriec...@hotmail.com> wrote:
 >
 > >>>I am new to this group and new to celestial navigation. I currently
 > >>>work as an airline pilot and fly extensively over water at night. I
 > >>>have developed a keen interest in determining my position the old
 > >>>fashion way.
 >
 > >>>Could someone tell me which bubble sextant I should buy?
 > >>>What should I be looking on a bubble sextant?
 > >>>Where can I buy one?
 >
 > >>>Thank you in advance.
 >

    

Bubi- Hide quoted text -
            

 >
 > - Show quoted text -
 >

    

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