sightreductioncalculations-adriftatsea.docVIP

SUN SIGHT REDUCTION CALCULATIONS Date: Ship’s time: GMT at sight: h m s DR Position: Lat o ′ N/S Long o ′ E/W Ass Position: Lat o N/S Long o ′ E/W GHA: o ′ Decl: o ′ N/S d = +/- Incrmnt o ′ Corr: +/- ′ GHA: o ′ Decl: o ′ N/S Ass Long: o ′ (add E, subtract W) LHA: o Sextant altitude o ′ Index Error +/- ′ o ′ Dip (always minus) ′ Apparent altitude o ′ Altitude correction o ′ True altitude (Ho) o ′ Hc o ′ d = +/- Z = Corr: ′ Zn = Calc alt Hc o ′ * (+/- 180) True alt Ho o ′ * Zn = oT Calc alt Hc o ′ * Intercept = miles TOWARDS/AWAY** *Subtract smaller of Ho or Hc from the larger **If true alt is greater than calculated alt, intercept is towards, else away Notes: GMT is recorded in hrs mins and secs. DR Lat and Long figures are whole degrees and decimal minutes Assumed Lat = DR Lat rounded up or down to nearest whole degree ALMANAC Find Almanac page for the current GMT date Find (always on R/H page) correct day and hour of GMT time Record GHA in degrees and decimal minutes Record Declination from the same place, noting degrees N or S DO NOT record only the minutes of declination! Look for degrees Find d at the base of the column d is plus if the decl is increasing down the page, minus if decreasing Find Almanac grey page for the correct GMT minutes Locate seconds down column under Sun/planets, read off increment Increment is always added to GHA Assumed Lon is calculated to produce an LHA in whole degrees If Lon is E, calculate Ass Lon minutes to add up with GHA to 60 mins If Lon is W the minutes will be the same as GHA minutes to derive zero Assumed Lon is calculated to the whole degree nearest to DR Lon SEXTANT If sight is difficult to take, record three to five sights, average the results Average time of sights as well as altitudes. If three sights appear logically correct, use middle one and it’s t