NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
From: Brad Morris
Date: 2016 Apr 12, 15:23 -0400
Hello Jerry
The instructions printed on the device are really all you will need.
Gary's flat Bygrave will give you the experience of using a Bygrave, without wrapping the scales around cylinders. Some more adventurous here (Wolfgang and Francis), have gone to wrapping those scales around cylinders. Some (Robin) have created scales that match the MHR-1 graphics precisely. Some (me) have purchased the actual kriegsmarine device, but these are rare and pricey. The simplest and cheapest way is to just go with the Flat Bygrave. It's all of the bang without the buck or effort.
The MHR-1 is a German copy of the British Bygrave, albeit with mechanical enhancements to the mechanism to simplify use. Both the Bygrave or the MHR-1 use the same scales (I won't get into the debate about what the scales are).
I've often thought I should get an F-Taffel, issued during the right period, as a complement to my wartime MHR-1. But the singularities are rarely encountered. When they are, Gary's rules can be utilized.
Sorry about hijacking your thread on the F-Taffel, but the heading was "U Boat Celestial Navigation in WWII", not " F-Taffel Celestial Navigation".
Brad
Hi Brad, I will now start investigating the MHR-1 in earnest, starting by reviewing the discussions on NavList. I have read the excellent paper by Ronald R.W. van Riet. This will be a challenge since as yet I have not found any WWII era documentation on the MHR-1 beyond the brief instructions afixed to the device. One would imagine there would have been at least a phamplet if not a book describing how to use it along with some sample problems. If anyone knows of such a document, please let me know. Additionally, with my limited experience it will be hard to move step by step through a sight reduction without being able to hold one in my hands. Once I get familiar with the information at hand, perhaps I can find one not too far from where I live and work with it. Jerry
