In this post we will look at how to generate a fix from observations of two Celestial Bodies. In previous posts we looked at Hc (Ref.9), Ho (Ref.8), Ha (Ref.7) and Hs (Ref.6). Now we are in a position to use Ho & Hc from two measurements to get our fix. The Marcq St. Hilaire… Continue reading Celestial Navigation Basics – Fix

This morning I couldn’t sleep. I went out to the balcony and looked up. It was beautiful, the partially occluded Moon & Venus were perfectly visible. I checked the NavPac Identification of Stars & Planets, and there they were sitting next to one another at Az_moon=86deg & Az_venus=88deg. Please send your comments, questions and suggestions… Continue reading Celestial Navigation Basics – Early Morning Sky

Introduction AIS Automatic Identification System for Ships is a traffic system that uses VHF transponders on vessels to periodically send out location information. It was developed by Swedish inventor Hakan Lans and is similar in concept to the ADS-B transponder system used on aircraft for position reporting. AIS uses two VHF marine channels 87B (161.975 MHz)… Continue reading RTL-SDR for AIS

In this post we will look at how to determine Hc the calculated altitude and compare this to Ho the observed altitude. The difference between Ho and Hc is the intercept and is used in the Marc Saint Hilaire method for solving position. In previous posts we found Hs (Ref.3), Ha (Ref.4) and Ho (Ref.5).… Continue reading Celestial Navigation Basics – Hc Calculated Altitude

In this post we will look at how to reduce a sextant apparent altitude Ha to an observed altitude Ho. In the following post, we will look at how to calculate Hc. Ho will then be compared with Hc to determine an intercept. The complete details are contained in Ref.1. Complete Sight Reduction procedures are… Continue reading Celestial Navigation Basics – Ho Observed Altitude