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A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Can anyone tell me why my sextant has two sunshades?
From: Frank Reed CT
Date: 2006 Mar 14, 03:17 EST
From: Frank Reed CT
Date: 2006 Mar 14, 03:17 EST
Bill you wrote: "My Astra III B (circa 2005) has a pair of shades (index and horizon) that transmit so little I cannot make out the sun in June at 40N. I can only surmise that if the sun has a declination similar to my latitude in January, it will be of more use than some other shade combination. " The Sun is only a tiny bit brighter when it's straight up, so I think we have to face up to the same explanation as for that M.A.C. sextant: bad design (or bad execution of good design by the manufacturer). I have an Astra III B (brand new and never used, but maybe ten years old --ebay again) and all the shades make sense. -FER 42.0N 87.7W, or 41.4N 72.1W. www.HistoricalAtlas.com/lunars
