NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: [Fwd: lunars hard to shoot?]
From: Michael Wescott
Date: 2000 Sep 11, 2:23 PM
From: Michael Wescott
Date: 2000 Sep 11, 2:23 PM
> > In practice, this is practical on ships and even small boats. Joshua Slocum
> > (the first around alone sailor) seems to have preferred Lunars to keeping his
> > Chronometer on time. The drawbacks are in the difficulties involved with taking
> > three "simultaneous" sights (two altitudes and the angle between them) and in
> > the calculations involved to reduce the sights.
>
> Actually, you don't need to shoot the altitudes. They are only used to provide
> corrections for reducing the angle between. You can use calculated altitudes and
> work back to the apparent altitudes, which then provides you with corrections you
> need to reduce the sight.
You need at least two altitudes for a position.
--
Mike Wescott
wescott@conterra.com
