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Greg, Randal or anyone who might know or have a good idea:

Re the mirror AH, I put one together myself. The mirror is 10" x 10", fastened to a plywood base with masking tape in each corner, so far I haven't used "double sided" tape, which I have a small roll of or any sort of mechanical fastener.

I installed 3 leveling screws, 120 D apart, they are 3/16" x 24 TPI Round Head Machine Screws, running in "T" nuts. The fit between the machine screw threads and the "t" nut threads is SLOPPY. The Round Heads are down, that is they are the points of contact. The levels I use could be a source of trouble, a couple of inexpensive string levels, even so, when setting the AH up, adjusting the leveling screws, the bubble seems centered between reference marks.

The problem, aside from lousy weather in Pittsburgh, is that I cannot seem to find "sextant sun" in the mirror. I get a blindingly bright reflection of the actual sun, alas no "sextant sun". Using the Davis AH, essentially a dish of liquid, I used water, with the side panels and plastic shields, the whole thing sitting on the ground, I was previously able to get reasonable shots, morning and afternoon sun lines usually crossing within 5 NM of GPS coordinates, when the LOP's were plotted.

The mirror AH assembly, the mirror is supposedly a "first surface" mirror according to the supplier, sits as did the Davis AH, on the ground. My height of eye, standing up is approximately 5'-9". Should the Mirror AH be set on an elevated surface, for instance a table top, rather than on the ground?

Thoughts, advise, suggestions would be most welcome.

Alan

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