Table of Contents
Which sextant is best?
The best sextant for a yacht is the Davis Mk15. It is a plastic sextant, making it a lightweight, cost-effective option that produces accurate enough results for any situation where you would legitimately consider using a sextant.
What should I look for when buying a sextant?
The following characteristics of sextants should be considered.
- NEW OR USED? Older sextants tend to have smaller mirrors and scopes which make them harder to use.
- ACCURACY.
- MIRRORSIZE.
- WEIGHT.
- SCOPES.
- HORIZON MIRROR.
- ILLUMINATION.
- VALUE.
How much does a good sextant cost?
Prices vary significantly but you can find a good aluminum sextant like Astra IIIb for anywhere between $250 to $300. The question for a used sextant is not how old it is, how well it has been taken care of and whether it actually works.
Do sailors still use sextants?
It’s a real historic instrument that is still in use today. Even today big ships are all required to carry working sextants and the navigating officers have regular routines to keep themselves familiar with making it work.
Are sextants still made?
Aircraft sextants are now out of production, but had special features.
When did people stop using sextants?
The satellite system provided a far more accurate fix than the stars could. In 2000, the U.S. Navy began phasing out sextants and charts in favor of computers.
How do you clean a sextant?
Care and maintenance of a sextant
- Do not put too much stress on the index bar when grasping a sextant.
- Never touch the arc.
- Ensure that worm and rack are clean.
- Coat worm and rack with vaseline when not using it for too long.
- Mirrors, lenses and shades should be wiped clean with a soft cloth.
What size is a sextant?
Modern sextants often have 5 cm or larger mirrors, while 19th-century sextants rarely had a mirror larger than 2.5 cm (one inch).
What sextant does the US Navy use?
The U.S. Navy now typically uses the Voyage Management System developed by Northrop Grumman for navigation at sea. But for centuries sailors had found their way using the stars.
Why is it called sextant?
The sextant is so named because its arc encompasses one sixth of a circle (60°), however, due to the optical properties of the reflecting system it measures up to a third of a circle (120°).