NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: MK IXA sextant
From: Ken Gebhart
Date: 2017 Jun 15, 11:46 -0500
From: Ken Gebhart
Date: 2017 Jun 15, 11:46 -0500
In case anyone is interested, we (Celestaire) still have one set of MK IXBs for sale at $50. The two sextants were taken from the junk pile, but selected so that one sextant could be made from the two. We sold quite a few of these sets several years to NavList members. As I recall, at least one bubble is functional. The two are boxed up with a sextant manual and instructions from several NavList members for doing a restoration.
Ken
On Jun 15, 2017, at 3:18 AM, David Pike <NoReply_DavidPike@fer3.com> wrote:Hi Chris. Well done on the MkIXA restoration. I presume from the closeness of the observations that you were taking instantaneous ones. Did you keep the Sun more or less in the bubble the whole time, or did you move off and come back on each time?
Is the star observation problem the light path through the sextant or light pollution?
I would have thought it was a good MkIXA which would pick up Polaris in 2017. I’d be pleased to see Jupiter through mine and, with a bit of imagination, Alioth for a two star fix.
Did you consider hanging your MkIXA by its top hanger? That’s what I’ve done with the Astrovan. It’s comfortable, but you can only cover about 200 degrees of sky, and you have to ask people not to pull on it too hard or it bends the caravan roof. I also add a safety chord in case the hanging clip gives way. DaveP
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