NavList:

Here's a thought:

CN is cool, esoteric, and fun to play with. That’s why I follow your [NavList] feeds. However,  I challenge you all: how many times they really needed CN to save their souls.   I bet NONE! CN is a little like ham radio. It’s cool, mathematically enlightening, esoteric and fun to play with: but useful?

I recently attended a local HR meeting where they were scheduling 2-meter nets for medical safety for a Marine Corps half-marathon.
I asked, “ How many cell phones will be active during the race?”
I asked, “ How many race spectator's cell phones will be active while the race goes on?”
I asked, “Do you think we will have a massive cell phone outage and everyone will have to rely on the local ham radio club to save the day?”

Blank stares are the best pictures…. You get the idea: outdated technology is outdated.  But it is still fun!

So, let’s make CN fun, just like ham radio. Ham Radio people always have events that tax operator skills and equipment. Just think:  you made a CW contact to Australia using a 1.5 volt battery as a power source! I propose that you offer some sort of CN event. Maybe a day or two around the summer solstice, where everyone submits their CN data, equipment used, and reduction method, to find Waldo (ie, where you are.)

I suspect you will find responses like:

“I used a framing square to measure the sun’s shadow and I got within 26.234 nm of my backyard patio!”
“Why does my Davis Mark 3 do better than my Mark 25 ?”
“My homemade Bris out performed my C.Plath, WTF?
“My dog drank the water out of my AH.”
“ I use the top of the radio tower as my non-horizontal  reference!”
“Jimmy Buffett said, ‘Haversines’”  Bob Marly said, ‘Ageton!’”
“ My wife is seriously considering committing me for a mental evaluation!”

Your job would be to come up with a form to record measured data, a description of the setup and sight the reduction methods.

I bet you will have lots of CN activity.

My $0.02

Ed Hlywa