Sextant kelvin hughes london 1917

[neil_s]

or would i be better off with an EBBCO one which come up on ebay sometimes

I would say so. I learnt with an Ebbco - I still have it - it stays on the boat for sights when I fancy a bit of practice. I find that if you average over five shots, you can get intercepts to about 1 Nm. I had to fix it up first, though! The filters don't stand the test of time, but for Sun sights, a bit of 35 mm film can be sandwiched between the two thin glass plates instead. You get a handy booklet of instructions with it, too!

 

[penberth3]

Repro copy, and not even a reproduction of a real sextant from 1917. It would be interesting to compare it's accuracy with a good sextant.....

That's right. Complete trash, I wouldn't even buy one as an ornament. Also on e-bay are "Kelvin & Hughes" compasses, also numbered 1917, what a coincidence! AFAIK the company was always Kelvin Hughes, never had the "&".

I did see one of these compasses, no point on the needle so you had to guess to within +/- 5 degrees. Also the vernier scale was in fresh air a few milllimetres above the degree scale, so again impossible to use. I'll guess the sextant is made to the same standards.

 

[srm]

If you are looking for a real sextant choose one with a micrometer drum, much easier to use and they have been around for a very long time. I bought mine in the early 70's. Vernier sextants had disappeared into the mists of time by then though when I started teaching navigation the college had a couple that had been donated, probably by long retired masters when the school first opened.
No matter how tempting please do not use a repro instrument to look at the sun, the shades are probably cut from whatever coloured glass was cheapest and could cause permanent damage to your eye.

 

[srm]

okay - any idea how well they work? i just want to learn to use a sextant out of interest. GPS is still favourite but maybe later on I'll invest in a proper working one

I’m just wondering if mine is a reproduction and if it’s accurate

Always worth taking a sight and seeing what your results are.

As I mentioned in my post above:
Please do not look at the sun with a repro sextant. No matter how tempting it may be. Its a safe bet that the "shades" are made from whatever coloured glass was cheapest/available and will not protect your eyes. I have seen one with delightful transparent rose coloured glass.

There is a serious risk of permanent eye damage.

When using a professional sextant its good practice to start with all the shades in, then reduce the number until there is a clear outline of the sun. All the sextants I have used had greenish shades of varying density so that a comfortable light level could be selected.