Sextant Tutorial: Errors and Corrections

Casual Navigation Academy
Casual Navigation Academy
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Published 2019-07-30
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---------ABOUT THE VIDEO---------

This video was originally uploaded to our other channel, Casual Navigation, back in 2018.

The sextant is one of the fundamental navigational instruments. Once you have mastered it, you can navigate the world without the need for a GPS.

This video is the second in a series which will teach you how the sextant works and how you can use it.

This video covers Sextant Errors and Corrections. We will look at:

Index Error
Side Error
Perpendicularity Error
Instrument Error
Prismatic Error
Worm and Rack Error
Graduation Error
Centering Error
Collimation Error

In the next video, we will cover Taking Sights.

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---------DISCLAIMER---------
This video should not be considered professional advice or education.
We try to make the content as accurate as possible, but the responsibility rests with the viewer to determine the full accuracy and reliability of the content.
Any action you take as a result of watching this video is strictly at your own risk.
All Comments (21)
  • @davidoldboy5425
    I'm a Master Mariner and one of the last generation to use a sextant daily, good video but the best way to adjust for errors is to look at a dull star (bright get blurry), you get it spot on that way.
  • @edwardfalk9997
    Excellent information on calibrating the sextant. I just want to add: don't be too eager to calibrate it. The process wears out the adjustment screws, with obvious consequences. It's best to write down the errors and use them in your calculations. Then maybe calibrate every few years.
  • @hanswurst107
    great content, thanks guys - especially with the sextant the animations are very useful!
  • @joshuahunter7972
    This is very similar if not the same as measuring/linking-up a telescope with its finder scope. I had a pain setting up my newly bought scope. I didn't know these techniques, but I found away anyway. TY for this explanation of the sextant this helped with understanding azimuth & navigation for Aviation use a little. The whole concept is new to me, but now I understand. I have seen sextant, but didn't know how or why used. So Ty again.
  • @C.Abbenfield
    Absolutely fantastic series! Thanks a lot, so clear and concise. ❤🎉
  • @_c0rtz
    Great video! Looking forward for more maritime topics
  • @nugget9245
    Thank you so much for the videos. Very clear. Now, I have to figure out how to use all the computers.....
  • @jansalm75
    In pre-historic ages under the old UK Board of Trade, there was an exam for deck officers called Second Mates orals in front of an examiner. To put the nervous candidate at ease, the first question would be to describe and correct the three principal errors of a very battered up old sextant. If you couldn’t answer that, you were shown the door. Watching this video brought back memories of dusty waiting rooms, cheap suits and sweaty armpits!
  • @joelfenwick5804
    Very useful video mate, I forgot everything on using a sextant, on the bridge with sextant in my hand now feel a lot better after watching this
  • @captainphil2023
    Just knit-picking, at 5:10 you want your index arm set to 0, but the micrometer dial is still reading 25 minutes :)
  • @gonzomechanic7196
    I used to do science communication and this is a master class in making the tricky sound clear. BZ... as they say in Grey Funnel circles.
  • @normpaddle
    Not only used by mariners, but Meriwether Lewis used one during the Lewis and Clark expedition.