Sextants in awn Online Shop
The reliable determination of the location, whether on water, in the air or on earth, is the prerequisite for reaching a destination. A sextant is a valuable aid in solving this problem. The sextant is an angle measuring device that measures the angle between two distant objects from the user's location. When determining position at sea, here elevation angles are measured, the angle between the horizon and a navigation star is determined.
Sextants in navigation
The exact determination of the position of a ship is essential for survival. The position determination took over earlier instruments, such as the Jacob's staff or the astrolabe. Both instruments had substantial disadvantages in the use, which were eliminated only with the Introduction of the sextant were eliminated.
Even in the age of GPS, sextants have a legitimate place aboard a ship. Like the GPS, sextants are used to determine position, but they function without electricity and exclusively mechanically.
Should the event ever occur that the satellite-based GPS system fails or is shut down, it may be vital to survive to have an autonomous alternative on board for positioning.
How sextants work
About the sighting device of the sextant, the horizon and a celestial body, for example, the sun, can be aimed at the same time. Other components of the sextant are a movable pointer arm, the Alhidade, a mirror mounted at the pivot point of the Alhidade, the so-called index mirror, and a fixed mirror. The fixed mirror is aligned with the horizon, and by moving the alidade, the index mirror is adjusted so that the reflections of the horizon and the star coincide in the sight. At the degree scale, at the The angle of the celestial body can then be read off the degree scale, at the lower arc of the sextant, from the position of the pointer arm. If one keeps the exact time at the time of the angle measurement, the position determination with an accuracy of about 20 arc seconds is possible.
Sextants in awn Shop
We offer a selection of sextants in our store to suit all needs. To familiarize yourself with how a sextant works, we have included the AstroMedia Sextant in our sales program. It is a cardboard kit that is assembled into a fully functional device. It can be used to practice the first steps in astronavigation. A measurement accuracy of 5 arc minutes is very amazing for such a device. As a training sextant we offer the plastic sextant MK 1With various shadow glasses, a high quality telescope with ground lenses, as well as micrometer drum and worm drive, this sextant brings everything necessary for position determination. Of course, a case is included for storage, which reliably protects the sextant.Despite the above-average equipment, we can offer this sextant at a very good price. Safe navigation with an accuracy of 20 arc seconds offers the yacht sextant CP Sailing from Cassens & Plath.
This precision gauge, made of seawater-resistant aluminum, has high-quality features. In addition to a X 40 telescope, indirect illumination of the degree scale on limbus and drum, the sextant comes with extensive accessories. The weight of kg (with case kg) underlines the value of this instrument.