Of course, it would be ideal to eliminate this error, which limits our measurements:yep:

One thing I wish we had is an odometer (pit log). Dead reckoning by using time, speed and distance is all well and good, but the real boats had a form of odometer counter both on the speed gauge box in the control room, and a repeater in the tower by the helm station used during surface travel, even with a reset button for specific legs so helm knew when to turn. Would make dead reckoning in poor weather much easier when your speed fluctuates.

I'm afraid a log wouldn't be a whole lot more accurate (IRL, anyway). If there is any current (not unusual in the ocean), it will only display your distance through the water - not over the ground.


But, if you calculate the difference between your DR and your actual position (obtained from from a few sextant shots), you can determine the current's speed and direction - or "set and drift". And if you know that, you can then calculate a DR that will be more accurate than any log. And you don't even need any complicated math ... you just need to draw triangles. An elementary school student could do it.



Here are the relevant pages from Bowditch:


https://i.imgur.com/kFHOEB9h.png
https://i.imgur.com/GmgAMZ6h.png

Set and drift calculations are relatively pointless in the game, because there are no real currents. There’s only helm error. Now, this helm error does tend toward one side or the other, but the trend over time appears to be meaningless. I wish we had that, because calculating course and speed made good from noon to noon (an “Etmal” in German) would be fun!

I agree though, the triangle is handy to be able to compute (and then anticipate) the effects of it.

Having a pit log I could plot the legs of my maneuvers during an engagement using real nav if I so choose much easier. It also had the additional benefit of making “Ausdampfen” of a target easier - following it and adjusting your own course/speed to match his. With a pit log, that allows you to make several speed changes while refining your maneuvers without needing to keep track. And since you kept him roughly in the same spot relative to you all of that time, the distance you moved in that time was the distance he moved.

Ahoy Alpheratz (and all of you guys helping him out)!

I have nothing of value to add. Just here to say that last night I realized how important your work is.

I was so heavly punished by british escorts after sinking their battleship that all my officers ended up wounded. Well, such was the fate that the only one that never recovered was my navigations officer. I always relied on him but this time I had to find my way back to Wilhelmshaven (from Loch Ewe region) on my own. I found Denmark instead.

Looking forward to your mod and to finaly learn this sorcery, celestial navigation.

One more question Alpheratz...
You have probably noticed that New Sextant mod also has several docs in it's "Nautical Almanacs and tables" folder.

https://i.postimg.cc/zfCSQqfG/Capture.jpg

Which of those are redundant and/or in conflict with your documents? Which of them should I remove?
Also, would any of them be useful to be shown in the game as well, trough the Charts?

Ypsan, thank you very much for your feedback! I see that there are people who are interested in this! The only thing that bothers me a little is that people hardly ever ask questions about the training videos. From this I conclude that there are many experienced skippers here (and this is actually the case) who are no less versed in navigation than I do. As for those who are just getting acquainted with celestial navigation, I will hope that I explain clearly enough, so there are no questions.:yep:

OK, Vecko, as I see it:

Cosinetable, HeightAndAzimuthTable, Logtable are redundant tables.

Nautical Almanac - not suitable for SH5

DipAndRefractionTable - can be made available among other Charts in the game. I propose to include only this table in the documentation. You can delete the rest of the above tables.

I have been telling people for years to ask me about celestial navigation. My website has had hundreds of visits from 37 countries. Almost no one asks me anything. :hmmm:

Sean S, if this is the case in your case, then I am quite satisfied with the fact that a small number of people watched my videos from start to finish and found them useful for themselves. :yeah: And of course, I will finish my work to the end.:yep:

Vecko, you can add 3 more documents: F-tafel, Stundenwinkel (F-0), Beobachtungen - I added them to the TWoS RealNav documentation folder. There is no need to show them in the game using Charts, however, they can be useful and I plan to use them in training videos:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folde...bD?usp=sharing

:up:

Sun
 

From now on and forever. The sun is accepted for our service. :salute:

https://youtu.be/OkVvPU2c2yo

Excellent Alpheratz! Great work! :up:
v.2.2.23 update is ready, I only need to write down change log...:yep:

Vecko, I am glad that you are the same enthusiast of real navigation. When I started, I could not imagine that my work would be reflected on the international platform:up: