Dreipunkt wooden sextant model
A laser cut triplex model of a ?Plath? sextant.
Relatively expensive model of a sextant. The model is very similar to the C. Plath sextant (or its Russian SNO-M counterpart). The model came with its own glue and the parts already stamped. Two cheap plastic mirrors were included as well. Building the model cost about 3/4 of an hour including setting the glue. No difficulties here.
After building the model I gave it a few tests (as I do all sextants in my collection). The paper Astromedia sextant took more time to build and was a pleasure to work with; relatively accurate and easy to use (just very fragile around the mirrors and handle). This one is the opposite. Easy to build and feels like it will last. But from an accuracy perspective just about everything is wrong. It is branded as a learning sextant but all you will learn is how a sextant does not work...
First of all the frame is not stiff enough, making it hard to obtain the same angle twice. But you will never have any worries about that as the mirrors are so cheap that they are actually not flat but curved. For a few eurocent more real (metal) mirrors should have been added. Now the sextant is impossible to measure with; if the mirrors are aligned to observe the correct angle in the centre, it will be incorrect when off-centre. Unfortunately the manufacturer never responded to my e-mail notifying them of this.
Dreipunkt sextant
Data sheet
- Type of use
- Home / hobby
- Material
- Wood
- graduation
- deg
- measuring range
- 130
- Radius limb in mm
- 150
- accuracy
- 0.5
- Size instrument (l x w x h) in m
- 0.23 x 0.23 x 0.12
- weight instrument in kg
- 0.09
- Size case (l x w x h) in m
- 0.22 x 0.32 x 0.04
- weight case & in kg
- 0.1
- country obtained from
- Germany
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A laser cut triplex model of a ?Plath? sextant.