NavList:

Gary L., you wrote:
"There is one for sale on ebay and the price is the lowest I have ever seen!"

It will be interesting to see where it ends! It's been a while since this has been noticeable, but with the combination of general inflation and the decreasing supply of vintage navigation devices, it may be that we're back to the traditional ebay scenario: a low starting auction price may yield the highest closing price. This Polhemus started at $10 --a lowball price. It's now at $15.50 with three days to go. What would be considered a good or "bargain" price on this item?

As long as we're here, could someone explain what this device does? I'm not looking for a manual on how to use it, but it would be nice to know what specific problems it's intended to solve. I can see on the face of it and in the few pages that are scanned that it has Polaris altitude (the so-called "Q factor" --which is not a factor!) and azimuth correction capability as well as coriolis corrections. I notice on the title page that it includes corrections for speeds from 90 to 2000 knots. That's nice. So if you're delivering your nukes by Piper Cub or by B-58 bomber, you're covered. :)

Is the attraction of this device primarily its rarity, as a collectable, or does it have some unique computational interest for a modern air navigation "practitioner" or "enthusiast"?

By the way, following our discussions in December and after digging around for a low enough price, I am now able to navigate like Mr. Spock in the 23rd century, as you can see in the attached image. This is my only manual calculator purchase (in the 21st century), and I was able to justify it because there's a navigation function and also that amusing Star Trek connection, both of them around half a century old...

Frank Reed

File: