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A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
From: David Pike
Date: 2019 Feb 23, 14:38 -0800
David Trickett you wrote:
I have recently acquired the above sextant ,it is missing the star telescope. I am interested in getting one as I intend to gift this sextant to a family member who is beginning a career in the marine industry. Any leads would be appreciated.
The Hughes Mate’s Three Circle sextant was a nice sextant made from at least the early 1940s until at least the mid 1960s. The early ones were black crinkle finish. The later ones were grey crinkle finish, possibly to make them appear more modern, but they’re essentially the same sextant. The certificate for my 1941 version has a certificate claiming a perfect arc. A 1963 one I photographed had a certificate stating arc errors up to 0.8’, so perhaps the machinery was getting a bit tired. However, compared to more modern sextants, the mirrors are rather small. My 1941 version is complete apart from the little adjusting Tommy bar, and it’s fine for my “just for fun” observations. Later versions might have been sold without the inverting telescope. You can observe the sun quite satisfactorily with just the blank tube. Funnily enough I was testing my scopes last night against Sirius but with no horizon in connection with an idea I’m toying with. The blank tube doesn’t seem to let enough starlight through, the star telescope is good, and using the inverting telescope needs better hand eye coordination than I’ve got. It’s not just the inverting, which shouldn’t matter for a star, it’s the fact that up becomes down and left becomes right when aiming. The attached photos should at least show you what you’re looking for. DaveP
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