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A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Using analog stopwatches to time your sights,anyone else?
From: Philippe Posth
Date: 2022 Aug 19, 09:36 -0700
From: Philippe Posth
Date: 2022 Aug 19, 09:36 -0700
Personally, I also use this stopwatch method for solo sights:
- I start the stopwatch when the UT watch on board is at one full minute (seconds=0);
- I do my sight by putting the celestial body a little 'in the water' if it is to my East, and a little 'in the air' if it is to my West;
- I wait for the star to rise or fall to the horizon by itself, then holding my sextant by its handle with my right hand, and my stopwatch with my left hand;
- When the celestial body tangents the horizon, I stop my stopwatch;
- All I have to do now is add the time of the stopwatch to the initial time of the watch to get the exact time of my aim. Addition is always easier than subtraction, especially in sexagesimal.
