NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Calculator v. Slide Rule for Ex-Meridian Correction
From: Alexandre Eremenko
Date: 2016 Jan 2, 12:58 -0800
From: Alexandre Eremenko
Date: 2016 Jan 2, 12:58 -0800
This kind of calculation requires few significant digits, and thus can be done with a slide rule. You can also time how much it takes by hand with pencil, as it was done in the old times, without a calculator and without a slide rule. However the main calculation which we do in CelNav, solving a spherical triangle, requires 5-6 digits, and this is not possible with a slide rule. Perhaps for this reason a slide rule is not in the list of standard equipment for a celestial navigator.