Inox ior Micrometer Toioscope Mastering The Sextant by John Campbell A seasoned navigator explains the fundamentals of adjusting and using this N TODAYS AGE of sophisticated electronics, many of us have be come too reliant on magic biack boxes for our offshiore navigation, Setellite navigation equipmentreg. ularly plo’s our position and ts temp: {lion isto forgetto Keep arunning plot ‘on the chart, Ater all, at any given mo: ment we can expect a new position as soon as the next satellite comes over, ‘cant we? ‘We have been sailing with SatNav naw for two years. The machine has broken down once and the satellites venerable tool themselves ave gone awry iwiee, sending out the wrong time and hence the swrong position. Despite the poss bility ofan electrical pcbleman board the boat. there is always the chance that the electronic sysiems themselves ‘may fal to give you a viable position at the crucial mornent, However many electronic aids to navigation a vessel has, iti still pru dent la cary a sextanl and to know howto uscit, The ploting of sights kas become very easy with the advent of snodern, highly calibrates] calculators Fig 4 (Above): Atypical mlerometer-drum ‘sexiantand ils pimary components, and computers rel with the aid of the available tables; but what fill requires practice isthe actual use ofa sextantin ‘aking a sight. It doesnit matter which tables you use, or how fancy your com patter or ealeuiaor is — within ac= curate sight rom the sextant, these are virtually useless items Tete take look frst of al a bow to adjust the sextant to enable us to take accurate sights. Then we can see how Saunton ceuswewone 87The best way to check the index error is touse a star at night. Set the sextant to zero and look directly at the star through the telescope. Ideally, you should see a single point of light the sextant is used in practice and ppethaps learn seme of the ltl tricks at make taking a sight easier. ‘Adjusting The Sextant Most sextants have small, non ad Justable esrors builtin, which are usu- ally tabulated on 2 certificate of accu racy. O12 good sextant they should be less than é of a minute of arc at any hoint on the scale, Fer our purposes, ‘hea taking sighis from a sa Tors Of this magnituce can be ignored. Excepl under perfect conditions, itis impossible to get sights consistently ‘within 14 of amie when you are work ing from stwall craft ‘On most sextan's there are four ad justients that you should make to re- move or at least to reduce eon, ‘These imolve adjustments of the two minors — the index raimer on the end ‘ofthe movable index atm and the how zon tnirer, wich is in line with the telescope (Figure 1) When you look through the tele scope of a sextant you see one image ircetly and another thatis rafiected by the two mirrors, When faking a sight, the dircet image is usually the horizon and the releced image the heavenly Body. Tho sextant determines the al Uitude of the body by measuring the angle of the mice when the reflected image appears t touch the direct image ofthe harizon, The frst errar to check for is to see thal the sextant reads zero when the di recland the relectel imagesare ofthe same object. the wading is not zero, all sights will be out by this amount. This is called the fnelex ere. Many Dooks on navigation wil tell sou how lomeasure the index emorand how to allow for [find tha, becuse this emer is 50 e05y to adjust out, preter to adjust it to ero, which makes one less Lino of calculation that could go wrong when working the signt on paper. The best way to check the index enor is fo use @ star at night, Sct the sextant to zero and laok direct at @ star through the telescope. Ideally youshould soe a single point of light, if you tur the micrometer screw of the sextant a litle, you will sec the star separate into {wo images. Turn the serew back until they mergeand it should again read zero. If, when looking through the tele- Fig. 2 To check index mirror perpendicularly, view he actualedpe ofthelimb and the Image reflected inthe mirror teal; 88 cmc woRN ‘ho images should line up aeone. scope with the sextant set to zero, you sce two stars one above the other, an index error is present. We will discuss shortly what it means ‘when the two images are minaligned laterally, appearing side by side, I the two images are above and below fone another. tum the micrometer serow until they merge, The reading on the scale is the amount of inelex error, The error may be positive oF negative, and this is where confsion can creep inifindex etroris lett for in Huston in the calculation, If the reading is positive, which is said to be “on thearc.” it mustbe sub: tracted fromany subsequent sights, Ir the reading is negative. or below zero con the seale, iis said to be ‘off the are,” and it must be added to any readings. This is quite easy to under stardt in prineiple, bul itis another matter when you arc cold, wet, seasick call of the above ‘To adjust the index error, set the sextant to zero on the scale and look ata star. Then aust he serew on the horizon mirror —that determines the iprarat-cour altitude of the miro. The exact method of adj astirient will vary from one sextant to another, On sornea knurled knob can be turned by hand. Cn others a screw cap musi be removed to expose the adjusting scrow. Yet others require: special key. which should be supplied with the sealant, Whatever iype of adjust iment is used, tur. the screw very slovsly and gently, unt the two im ages are eiier superiinposed, or ai least level and side by side, Theindex error is now zero It is possible: to use the sun for ‘checking the indexerror, but this is a bit more complicated, First of all, re member to put hath seis of shacles own before looking at the sun, otherwise yea may sericaisly dernaye your eyes Looking directly atthe sun, with the sextantselfozero, turn the micrometer until on image of the san is sitting on top of and just touching the vther Read the sextant and note the roading ‘Then turn the screyr until the images are reversed, with the other image sit lity on lop, and again note the read ing Each angle thal the sextant is measuring is twice ihe semitiarneter of the sun, which Isa fancy way of ex: pressing the distance from the center tothe cilge of one image and fiom the edge tothe certer ofthe other image.shouldbe close to 32 minutes. For the ineasuresent halisonthearc pos tive, yor can read thevalue dreelly oft ‘ne icrometer: but for the reading off the ate, do rot read the seae dire, but count how many maanes of are the scale has moved backward from 2er0. Inether words, ifthe micrometer seale reads25 minuies, butthe reading i of the are, orkess tha ero, Iss icrome ter serew has moved through 35 mine ules of are to get to that position (60 minutes minus 25 minutes, 0 te ap» propnate reading is not 25 minutes, out 35, Having logged these two rearings, sublract the smaller fiom the large: and! diviee by tw to yive ne value of the index enor, and note whether itis on oral theare. Ih is positive oF nega five, on the arc or olf the are, asdleier Inined bythesign ofthe far reading Parhaps youcansee why niany navigee tors prefer to use a start Ahi way otten touted for finding the index error is to se the horivon This is possible, but you must take areal care to adjus| the sextant acent faiely. The ftst problem is that the horzzon is quite lose to us, certainly a lot closer than the sun or any sar So itis possible thatthe sextant will be reading a sina angle because of the height of the index minor abewe the horizon cer. To reduce this to negligible propontions use a heighte ofeye as highas possible, which will push the horizan farther away The secondsnegis that even witha lear and calm horizon, itis not easy io-get the dneel and weflected images perlectly superimposed. Ifyou dose this method, start with the reflected image above the dinect image, bring i ovr until they are superimposed ard read the sextant. Then reverse the procedure; with the reflected lmage below bring it up and again read the sextant Is unlikely that you ‘willgetexacily the same reading both fines Aay of these methods provides a quick check to see that the sextant is still in-agjusiment when taking & sight, but using a star fs probably the mos! depend2hie slratogy when you cometo make the actual austinent A col habit to get inio, hough, is to heck the horizon with the sextet set on zero just betore taking sight, to he Sure that it has not been knocked out of adjustment since the last use. Any lange index eror will show up casityas a: daub es immage of the horn, Np sideenrcr * Side enor exists Fig. 9 To determine sido orror in the hort _zonmitrer, viaw a sar with the sextant set ‘tozero. the wo imagesare not superio- poeod or vertical aligned, ids arrer The second error to check involves: making sure that the index minor is perpenclcnlar i the bey of the sexe (ant. If iis not, this Is one reason why the two irnages of the ste in our dis cussion of lidex ewor may have been misaligned laterally, appearing side by side To check for perpendicularly of the index cnireor, move ihe am of the sextant until tis possible o see part of the scale directly and to see part of itreflected in theindes miraor Figure 2). Oni most sextants this will be pos sible when the arm is sto abou 50 degrees. Ifthe reflection of the scale ani the scale iself lineup, then allis ‘well I not, adjust the screw on the Side of he inde mietoe until they 60 lineup. A thitd adjustment to check for is perpendicalarty of the hericon mir- ror. The easiest way fo do this is to use a star: Whenntocking ata slay with the sexiant sel to zere, the two fi- ‘ges should be superimposed. they dre slllside by side then the horizon, tnirror might nocd adjustment. Tasn the adjusting screw that deteemines the side-to-side auitule ofthe iirtor ‘until the two images are exactly one above the other or superimposed fiaure3). Adjusting this screw may well a: fect the index error, so check it one tore time and mek a further adjust iment if required. IF the mirror was far cout ofadjustment,itmey take a series ‘of small adjustments on those ko scien finally 0 geil ight, When checking for index exror be. fore taking @ sight, Is also worth looking atthe sun, with both sets of shades down, with the seatant set at ze, Ifthe lwo images are more oF less superimposed, the mltrors are still perpencicular. If there are to images side by side, then one of the mirrors. is out of adjustment and should be checked again, ‘bout the only other thingthal may be oul of aujastinent isthe telescope sell, This ig easy’ to check but vey ‘ifficult fo rectify. To check on il alignment look into the index mirror. You should de able to see rght through the telescope; indeed, this is the pail tat rays of ight rake through the sextant whan itis being used! (Fig ure 4). The index arm can be in any position, bulilis easiest to see the re lected images when the aim is set 10 the lower par ofthe geale. you can not see right through the telescope, i rust have been knocked out of align ee A good habit is to check the horizon with the sex- tant set on zero just before taking a sight, tobe sure that it has not been knocked out of adjustment since the last use eect come non. RTdex mirer wth sep in vew Fig. 4 Looking into the index mirrr, it shoulc be possibia a seeright through the telescope ifthe seopeis correctly aligned. ment and may prove very difficult to adjust on board. With the seatant adjusted, we will now look al using i to lake sights, Using The Sextant Like moat physical skills, practice in taking sights mages pertect, It is fine to start off by taking sights when standing tirmly ashore, butt is afloat and under rougher conditions that ‘we must make ourselves practice One of the most important ingee- dients in taking a good sight involves ‘one's oven body position. You have to be well braced! so thatboth hands ate fice and you should feel secure enough so that you are nat corstantiy reaching out 10 steady yourself, Or many boats the companionway is a good lecabon, but a Bimini may well preclude taking a noon sight for there, So look around the boat and select a gol spol, or several spots if necessary, and perhaps improve them Dy ling ari extra foot brace or harness anchorage point, It is impertant Hat the upper part of your body be free to move around, to rompensale for the movement of the boat. Having selected the best spot, prac fico"bringing the sun down.” Mowe t index arm and you will se¢ the sun split into bwoinnages, Keep moving the armand follow the lower mage (thisis the reflected image) down until the sexfant is horizontal Flip up the her zon shacles and you should find that se One trick, if you are having problems, is to use the sextant upside down, Set to zero, look at the heavenly body, holding it upside dewn in your left hand. As you move the arm, see the reflected image of the horizon come up to meet the direct image A cane WORLD Na Om the sun's image is close to the horizon, Adjust the micrometer unil itis just touching the horizon, Ifyou" lese the imeye of the stm on thee way down, dont despair, just stat again. This movement is much easier on a sextant with big mirors, espe cially when you come to try it with a star. Ifthe sextant has small iors, i is very easy to lose sight of the image, 50 if you are abou! io buy a sextant, ‘chose one with the biggest mirees that you can fel One trick that you can iry hereil yon are having problems, especially with stars, is fo use the sextant upside down. Stat off with i set 10 zero aid look al the heavenly body, remember ing the shadles if you are looking al the suin. Hold the sextant upside ccwn, in your left hard auf, while keeping the ‘elescope pointed at the horly, meve the index arn. As you move the atm, you should soe the reflected image of ‘he horizon come up tomneet he direct ‘image of the boxly. You ean then turn the sextant over and make the final ak jusiments in the normal way. This ‘method has the advantage of the tele- scope staying still, pointed. directly al the heavenly body, which becomes ich easier to keep in sigh When the body is brought down loseta the horizon, the final measure. ment must be made with the sestare asolhtely verival, As this is hard to determine accuraicly, the best way is lo swing the sextant deliberately from side to sie in a rorking motion, The body will appear to swing from side to ide ii anv are and the alttuce is mea sured when it ist touches the liorizon alle bottom ofthe swing (Figure 5). Itis casiest to have a second person take the timewhen you say "mark," bul iTMhisis noi possible, then have a stop. ‘wateh atiached to the handle of the sextant and start ital the crucial mo- ‘ment. The time front the eronometer ‘ane fakenat leisure and the reading ofthe siopwaich subvacted to give the time at which tho sight was taken. The fine ofthe sight is Gbviousiy of eitical importance. ‘There are only a few days when & sun Sight iso possible. Even inheawy ‘overcast, the sua care see through the telescope of sextantand evan i i Jooks a litle blurred, will ofen give @ surprisingly accurate sight, Often just before sunset, OF soon after davn, the sun will peep tvough under the louds. Although fois 0! textbooks Saythat you must not take sights when the sun. ts very low, if all the corrections ‘are applicd, we have found that sueh sights are often quite accurate, Local neon, wher the sun passes ‘éuenorth or south of your position, is the traditional lire for a sight be cause such a sight gives you your latitude. When the sun is very high, rioon sights can be quite hard and i is casy to keep adjusting the sextant andi following the sun only io find that ‘nonn has passed and you have missed the highest altitude. ‘The secret here is te bring the sun down to the hor zona few minutes belore noon, then fs it appears to rise a lite above the Horizon adtust the mieromeser to in crease the altitude by one minute, Then looking through tHe sexiail again, the sua willat irstappearto be f little below the horizon, but will soon cise up to and above it. Again ‘add one minute to the altitude and look again, This will keep being re- peated uniil he sin no longer rises, This is the noon atitude. Ifyou delib- erately add one inismie each time, there is no danger of following the sun down withcut realizing it Tsing this method you cannot Lemmore than, ‘one minute wrong in altitude, The moon isthe mos! dilficull ofall the hodies we use to take sights be- cause il moves s0 fast. Itis often vi Dle al the same time as the suun and a sight of each, one aiter the other, can siveyou a fixratherthan a linea! pos. ition —better than what you got fom a single sight of either. However, be fore you rely on @ tour sigh, prac: fico a lat because itis so dificult Planets and stars can arly be used al dusk and dawn, when hoth they ‘and the horizon are visible. Dawn is easier than dusk because, theoreli- cally, you have had all night to iden- tify the stars in their relative const. lalians. When taking star dawn, remember thal the sun rises in Ue east and the eastesinenst Sars will be the first to vanish, so take then fist, The next (0 go are others thal are low down ane! the last to-go are those more ot less oveiniead. AI dusk the order is reversed; the stars low in the west are the laste become visible, Ay dusk, it is useful ta calculate ahead of time which stars will be used and what their altitudes and avimnuths will be. Presel the sextant and use the compass to look in the Fg. 5 By ‘euinging tha are af the oun ologo to tha horizon, itiope lodetermine when the sextant is vertical, Fight direction. Often siars will be came visible in the telescope before they cau Le sex with the naked eye In the tropics it gts dark so quickly that one has to work fast atxd the sconerthe frat sight can be taken the Detter, Be very wary of taking star cr moon sights during the night. Ibis very cif ficult to get a true horizon by moon. light, 1Pyou cis, then use as low a height of eye as is practical to bring the horizon as close as possible, This scmewhal tedhices the chance of ear. Another dedge wort tying 15 to use the sextant without the fele scope in piace and to keep both eyes open This gives yeu a better chance df seeing the horizon, These are suse gestions of last resort and these are the sors of sights that, white dificlt andchaney, can beveryinierestingto practice. In rough weather the sight must be lined to coincide with the boat being ontop ofa wave, the theory being tha the horizon is also being made by ‘wave tops. This is a technique that also comes only with practice. Atfirs itis worth plotting a series of sights on a graph and averaging the resulls to work out a single sight. However, will: practice, most people will get 4 feeling for good sights. Aim for this degree of proficiency. Many modern scxiants, including ever. some of the better plastic sex- tants, no longer are equipped with the traditional split norizon mirror, On the split ype, one-half ofthe mir- ror is silvered and the other halt is plain glass, so that when you look at the horizon, you aciually See two in ‘ages side by side, just overlapping a little in the center. With this type of minor, you arc more likely to Jose sight ofa starwwhen you arebringing it lowe to the horizon, The newer fype of mimor is. such that you can sec thoovgh i though it also reflects over its entire surface. When looking al the horizon through this type of mir ro, you eal See Ue fe) iages over the entire width of the mirror. This makes it much better for bringing down a star, as the stor’s reflected image can be anywhere in the mirror without gelling lost, Wilh the older split type, if the image wanders over to the unsiivered part of the mirror, it vanishes from sigh If shopping for a new sextant, one of these new mirrors is worth the extra ces! ant, again, pick he sexiant with the biggest possible mirrors. The beller plastic seatants, tose that have @ micrometer drum’on the index arm just like ¢ “real” sextant, are capable of quite accurate sights They do, however, show a tendency ogo ouf afadjustwnent very easily, so they must be checked with care be: fore every sight. The plastic sextants wih a slicing vernier scale are pethiaps less suited to serious naviga. tion, but even one of them aight save the day ifall the black boxes give up the ghost orSomebody as Nat rop. ped the superduper new etal se. tant over the side, Englhnan John Carpal» professional yar ‘oytsgr turers charges i tes ina titwis Lanallevr ibe wot has witen sary figepaliched inthe United Ringdor, When Wo) ‘Side ial ogee evs oa isch iae causmewwneo SI