NavList:

Hi all,

  I am working on a small standalone prototype called Ocean UTC Celestial Backup.

  The idea is simple: if normal onboard electronics, GPS, plotter, tablet or laptop are damaged, unreliable, jammed, out of power, or simply not something I want to trust blindly, I would still like to have a small independent box that can help with traditional navigation work.

  It is not meant to replace seamanship, a sextant, paper charts, plotting, or understanding where you are. It is meant to take away some of the tedious table lookup and calculation work, keep accurate UTC as long as possible, store almanac data on SD card, suggest useful sight objects, help reduce sights, and support dead reckoning and position work.

  The project is still a prototype. A lot of testing, verification and quality control is still needed. Before I spend too much time cleaning it up for possible open-source release, I would like to hear if other sailors think this kind of device is useful.

  I would be very interested in practical feedback, especially from sailors who know celestial navigation, offshore sailing, or backup navigation systems.

What is missing?
What is wrong?
Would you carry something like this?
Should it become open source when it is more mature?

Link: https://sailingksf.com/?page=ocean-utc-celestial-backup

Best regards,
Knut Steinar Fremme