NavList:

Bruce, you wrote:
"I'm wondering if I should download the HO 208 tables as mentioned recently, or buy via Ebay "Self Contained Celestial Navigation with HO 208, 1977" by John Letcher. The book (good condition) cost is about $13 US. Worthwhile?"

As far as acquiring the tables alone, this can quickly become a form of "stamp collecting". There's no reason and barely any merit to one set of tables over another (among the ones that have had some reasonable success). They're all solving the same fundamental mathematical problem with slightly different efficiencies in time, error-probability, and physical bulk. But if you get a kick out of these various methods, well then, that's all that matters, right? Maybe we could have NavList "skill badges" for each set of tables! :) But learning 208 and 211 (e.g.) instead of 229 or the very simple 249 will not make you a better navigator except to the extent that you'll be thinking about things as you learn each new method.

John Letcher's book "Self Contained Celestial Navigation with HO 208" is far more than a guide to using those tables, and I recommend it highly. EVERY NavList member should get a copy of this book. It's well-written and loaded with excellent advice. And you get the tables along with the book. You can't go wrong at typical used prices (well, as long as it's under maybe $40). Buy it. Buy it NOW. :)

And while I'm here, I'll reiterate my advice (for others --you've got one, Bruce) to get a copy of Mixter's "Primer of Navigation". It's excellent, but try to get an edition from the 1940s when it was new and fresh, and Mixter was writing it himself.

-FER

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