Practicing sight reduction at home

[Joshua]

Dear all,
Greetings to you all, I am a physicist and sailor, and have been long fascinated by celestial navigation. I have studied the related chapters on Bowditch’s American Practical Navigator, understand the theory behind it, and I am able to do the sight-reduction exercises with no difficulties.

However, I have never taken a sight. I would like to take advantage of this period where I am stuck at home 😥 to practice some sight reductions from home.

Given that I live in a big city, I cannot see the horizon. However, I can make an artificial one with a pan with a dark bottom filled with water, and I plan to purchase a sextant to practice sights with this artificial horizon.

Do you have any suggestion of a sextant model (new or second-hand) that I could purchase to this purpose? I am not looking for a very high-quality one, but for a model that is good enough to reproduce my correct position with these sights with a reasonable accuracty, i.e., a precision good enough to convince me that I am not getting that position by luck 😜. In other words, I would like to see and be convinced that the sight reduction is working!

Also, given a suggested model, with what accuracy do you expect that it can reproduce my position with such an artificial horizon?

Thank you for you help!

[JDavHouston]

I had an inexpensive Davis Mk. 3 until I accidentally knocked it off the table and stepped on it in the dark. It was hard to get sights though, as there were few stars actually visible.

[Steven Carleton]

Joshua:
I have a Davis Mark 15 that I would sell to you for $50.00 plus shipping. It is in excellent condition, with its plastic case. This model has been used for circumnavigations and Atlantic crossings, as an attestation to its accuracy and functionality. Let me know if interested.
Steve Carleton
nottlerack@gmail.com

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