NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: What precision is required in cel nav?
From: Gary LaPook
Date: 2015 Jul 18, 18:45 +0000
From: Robert VanderPol II <NoReply_RobertVanderPolII@fer3.com>
To: garylapook@pacbell.net
Sent: Saturday, July 18, 2015 9:01 AM
Subject: [NavList] Re: What precision is required in cel nav?
From: Gary LaPook
Date: 2015 Jul 18, 18:45 +0000
First, if your oat is afloat and the beacon is on land then there is no ambiguity to resolve.
I don't know about your unit but generally you use the "sense" to find the one null but it is wide and not precise. then You go back to the other position and determine the narrow null, there will be tow of them but the correct one is the one you found in the "sense" position.
gl
gl
From: Robert VanderPol II <NoReply_RobertVanderPolII@fer3.com>
To: garylapook@pacbell.net
Sent: Saturday, July 18, 2015 9:01 AM
Subject: [NavList] Re: What precision is required in cel nav?
Even though the few remaining RDF beacons slowly going away AM stations remain and seem likely to for a long time. I don't know about other folks' units but mine picks up AM so I can use broadcast stations as beacons.
Speaking of RDFs, while I have one and know how to use it generally, there is one feature specifically I don't understand, the sense antenna. Yes I know it helps resolve the 180* ambiguity of the nulls. The questions is the mechanics of it. My unit was a gift from a friend and did not come with a manual. I assume procedures for use are:
1] Tune the station
2] Find a null
3] Erect the sense antenna vertically
4] Press the sense button
5] Find the other null
6] Press the sense button again
Assuming this is the correct I don't know what change to look for between the 2 nulls which would indicate which is the correct direction.