This might be a slightly odd request but this is the fediverse after all…
Does anyone have a sextant I can borrow?
I want to have some navigation-related activities for a workshop later in the month and this would be fun.
Discussion
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@rachel our church has one. Sorry that’s a sexton
@rachel There are lots of sites with how to build a sextant with cardstock and protractor. Here's one I've used in my classroom. ttps://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/suntime/sxtnt_tchr.pdf
@rachel Here's a DIY using foamboard, A4 paper, a couple of legos, and some small mirrors.
@rachel
Unfortunately, you are on the wrong side of the planet to loan you my sad Davis Mark 3 practice sextant!
For a while 15 years ago, I was shooting the sun from my back yard, using a pan of water as an artificial horizon, getting twice the real elevation.
Then using an ephemeris to see where the sun was directly overhead, and calculating how far away my position must be...
Do you think you could find a #sextant to borrow locally?
Perhaps with a navigator to teach its use?
@murodegrizeco hopefully!
I should probably have mentioned I’m in the UK
@rachel
I used to work for a hydro surveying company whose hq was in great Yarmouth. I think they are now called Thales Geo solutions and might have one gathering dust they might lend to you. Not much use for sextants in the modern world
@rachel
I've got a couple, but US based.
You can get plastic training ones fairly cheap.
A good alternative is a demicross which can be knocked together with a couple of measuring sticks, or paper bits taped to a large construction square (used for plywood or drywall).
@rachel
Sorry, don’t have a sextant, but I think your idea of sticking it out your window instead of using instead of using a map app would be a great way to visibly indicate you are a danger to all because you don’t know where the hell you’re going and you’re not paying attention to the road.
Sorry, don’t have a sextant, but I think your idea of sticking it out your window instead of using instead of using a map app would be a great way to visibly indicate you are a danger to all because you don’t know where the hell you’re going and you’re not paying attention to the road.
@jCarttarBrooke ha ha - true!
The idea is to get people thinking of the principles behind nav rather than what buttons to press, as that helps us better adopt new technologies as they come along.
@rachel @jCarttarBrooke swearing and getting it wrong helps enormously as does making assumptions. I think I was in Nizny Novgorod and google maps tried sending me over a cliff into a valley for a shortcut. People were bungee jumping it was that deep
@rachel @Mndell Apparently, you can either use a 3d printer: https://www.yeggi.com/q/sextant/
or use a hobby kit to build one of your own for like €25:
https://vrolijk.nl/zelfbouw-sextant-ams1129.html (in Dutch, sorry!)
or use a hobby kit to build one of your own for like €25:
https://vrolijk.nl/zelfbouw-sextant-ams1129.html (in Dutch, sorry!)
@rachel maybe some tags will connect your request to the right audience. 😊
@rachel if any weirdo had one it'd be one of us
@rachel Can't help out - might be possible to 3D print one, though: https://www.printables.com/model/1123392-sextant-by-bodek152
@rachel oh wait it’s in the glovebox of my galleon
@rachel Left mine with a friend on a LARP just some hours ago, sorry 🙈
@rachel Yes, but it's in the US.
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