NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Turning Off the GPS
From: Gordon Talge
Date: 2006 Apr 4, 14:10 -0700
From: Gordon Talge
Date: 2006 Apr 4, 14:10 -0700
Just for the heck of it, I wonder what would happen, if some terrorists managed to turn off the GPS system, or maybe even better, have it give the wrong positions. I have noticed that a lot of people seem to say they keep a sextant and tables, etc, for backup. The problem that I see with that is it takes a lot of practice to get good at using a sextant and working out sights by hand. Someone who has only tried out their sextant on a calm day or on the beach, may find it hard to get a decent shot on a pitching boat or ship, and then work out a sight where one slip of a plus or minus, or wrong column, would make it all for naught. BTW, Has anyone seen those German films of the U-Boats during World War II in the North Atlantic pitching and rolling? I start getting seasick just watching it. I saw one where a German Officer was taking a noon sight on a sub like that. They may have been the enemy, but they sure had guts. (It took guts to stand up to them too) -- Gordon