Sextant - Bargain or not?

Norman_E

Norman_E

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I went to an auction today and saw a sextant. Britsh made (can't remember make) Nickle plated, clearly well used and a bit worn. Appears complete but no box or tables with it. It went unsold at £140. Auctioneer told me reserve was 150, so could probably be bought for that plus 12.5% commission. Not sure if it is a good bargain or not, but if anyone is interested I will give them the Auctioneer's details. It is in Cranbrook, Kent.
 
I suspect that you would be wasting your money. A delicate instrument such as a sextant is supplied in a wooden box to protect it, and a table of corrections from the makers. By the time you get that sorted you might as well buy a new one.

If you only want to practice buy a cheap plastic one. I have dropped a real one and know how expensive it is to re set.

However your choice.
 
Rather what I suspected. My father was ex Merchant Navy Officer, swallowed the anchor in the 1930's (which probably saved his life) but still had his sextant in the 50's when I was a boy. He always kept it in its box, and showed me how to use it once. He must have sold it however.
 
i paid £200+?? i honestly cant remember what i paid for an east german one then metal with telescope and micrometer worked well though i used it with a casio calculater (progranable)

The Davis then cost from £5!! thats the basic plastic one and the the mk 25 cost £50? about that in 1982 prices have changed

For £150 sounds ok but perhaps not? you really would have to try it first if its badly worn the it would always be off but good quality sextants do live forever generaly

As you say it was nickel it could be a cheap eastern "replicer" which like the german camera copies would be no good for navigation

The Davis range also suffer if you hold them to hard they distort!! OK on land and only could be ok at sea, but now with GPS we can relax and take sights for pleasure and to pass the time on route which in turn give practic and a a back up!

Its always a good idea to carry a sextant that is unless you play an instrument then you can pass the time playing music i prefer the sextant,its really great when your possitions near that of the gps!!
 
Not really ....

The box is designed to support the frame and protect it from damage etc.
The table is not that useful actually as it needs to be verified at frequent intervals ... and is based on Manufacturers errors on build day.

A reasonable sextant in box with the "tools" and oil bottle etc. should fetch about £150 or more second-hand .... we are talking basic metal "Mates" sextant such as Kelvin Highes used to sell. A Plath or Tamaya "telescope" job a lot more ...

Checking and correcting errors on a Sextant is not difficult - BUT if a repair is needed - then that is not so simple - as you need a VERY good Instrument Engineer ....

Basically - unless you just want a wall decoration ! never buy without the box etc.
 
Mates sextant???? bought mine from Kelvin Huges thought it was quite a good one?Box (Tony blair plywood-comunist)as well and oil!! Have to see what i paid then, but there still sold

Wish there was somewher in the baltic that was not expensive to stay all year??? now i have GPS i might even find it--if only i knew where
 
Norman,
you cant be very serious about it, or you would have had a bit of research on the subject.
To get me started, I bought an Ebbco plastic off ebay for 25 quid to practice with.
Glad I havent invested more so far, as I havent had much practice yet!

And for the purists, it came with a box and bits of paper too.... /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
 
i wish you could learn to post in intelligble english. i think there may be much sensible content in your posts that is masked by the terminology employed.
 
Little bit unfair ....

Trouville is NOT english and is posting in NOT his first language ....

I agree that sometimes it is hard to read and understand exactly what is said ... but be fair - can you post in another language intelligently - if you can then good for you sir ....

I'm not trying to get at you or anyone ... just feel I should mention it .... /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
 
Trouville ..... Ventspils or Tallinn ??????

Not so expensive .....

Ventspils has good yacht harbour and lift in / out facilities along with storage space. Marina is full services with bar literally just a few steps of boat ....
 
[ QUOTE ]
Mates sextant???? bought mine from Kelvin Huges thought it was quite a good one?Box (Tony blair plywood-comunist)as well and oil!! Have to see what i paid then, but there still sold

[/ QUOTE ]

I tucked my 'Mate' sextant away in the loft yesterday. I don't suppose I'll ever use it again but I can't imagine selling it either. I also bought it from Kelvin Hughes, circa 1973. I can't find the receipt but I have looked up what I insured it for at the time - £280 - but I don't recall paying that much for it.
 
I have my fathers sextant from his service in merch during WW2. A treasured possesion that would never be sold.

Here ia a http://www.bpsc-marine.co.uk/ company that do second hand sextants and have also been recommended to me for repairs (although I have no first hand experience)
 
One of the first things you are taught with a sextant is how to pick it up and put it down without damaging it.
A sextant is quite fragile. The box is there to protect it.
No box + public auction = many people have picked it up = don't touch it with a barge pole !!!!!!

Unless you are able to instantly check for errors : side / index / collimation etc. ......
 
I've got one of the plastic ones with artificial horizon(for practice) but I never used it as the ocean passages I planned never happened.

If you want it you are welcome to it for a modest donation to RNLI

PM me if interested
 
i looked mine up i have the zeiss drum A metal handle it cost £240 the wood handle cost £25 more!
Now i wish id bought the small "yacht" model though ive never held one!!I bought mune in 1986! perhaps yours cost more?
though the sextants up to the 1990s stayed much the same price if i remember, that is proper ones the plastic Ebbco and davis mk5 went from £15 to £50 quite quickly, and the Davis mk15 and 25 from £40 to over £100!!!
 
Thanks everbody, I might have bought it for practise if it had been about half the price, but in fact a sextant is fairly low on my current list of desirable gadgets. I am off to LIBS tomorrow to look at handheld VHFs and buy a couple of extra lifejackets, a pilot book and a few other odds and ends.
 
Re: Little bit unfair ....

no offence taken, my original post was more in sorrow than anger but have look at his latest post on scuttlebutt. i wouldn`t like to place a bet on what his first language might be without more info.
and no i couldn`t post in another language at all and wouldn`t even try to.
happy new year.
 
[ QUOTE ]

The table is not that useful actually as it needs to be verified at frequent intervals ... and is based on Manufacturers errors on build day.

Checking and correcting errors on a Sextant is not difficult -

[/ QUOTE ]

If I remember correctly there are seven errors, of which only four are correctable. The rest are applied in the calculation and for accuracy you use the tabulated errors. In a fine instrument that is well-maintained and has never been damaged, the tables should last for decades as errors in build tend to remain constant. If it's roughly handled then periodic checks would be necessary. Whenever you have it repaired you should also have the table verified.

Kevin
 
As a Sextant user and ex Merch Officer ....

The errors on a sextant are of course more than just mirrors / shades and alignment to each other.
But when checking the sextant - they will affect the "VISIBLE" error and when you adjust - will effectively be corrected - apart from literally one .... that is the error of the centre pin and scale. As the arm traverses the arc - the error changes with the error of centricity ....

For practical purposes - table error is generally ignored by the pro. - regardless of what RYA bod says .....

Finally - it is not generally appreciated by those not using sextant day in day out as I and other Merch's did .... that PERSONAL error can be accounted for .... I used to have a personal error of just under 1' - which I automatically applied to my observation. As to whether that error still applies - I do not know as I haven't nav'd with a sextant for some time now.
 
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