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21-11-2022, 20:42
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#1
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Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2022
Posts: 5
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Are Cheap Replica Sextants Any Good?
I'm about six months away from casting off the lines and doing my first multiday offshore passage and have been looking for a used sextant. I'm on a very low budget so cheaper is preferable. Ebay and amazon seem flooded with new replicas of a 1917 design which looks half decent. $50 for these, anyone had any experience with them?
I'm initially heading from British Columbia down the coast of the USA and into Mexico for an indeterminate period, then offshore to Marquesas and points west for what will again be an indeterminate period. I'll have Navionics and/or Open CPN aboard but I want to be prepared in case of disruptions to GPS satellites.
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21-11-2022, 20:59
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#2
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Registered User
Join Date: May 2018
Location: Catskill
Boat: Dufour 29
Posts: 165
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Re: Are Cheap Replica Sextants Any Good?
They should be good enough to get you within a few miles of where you want to be, but not as close as a metal one. Among other things, they are not as dimensionally stable and react to sun and temperature more than metal. As a backup though they will let you know where you are. For those of us who don't use a sextant much, I think there is more error on the user end than the sextant end anyway.
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21-11-2022, 21:01
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#3
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2021
Posts: 589
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Re: Are Cheap Replica Sextants Any Good?
Welcome to CF.
I’d sooner use one of the Davis Plastic Sextants than a replica of unknown provenance. At least the Davis units are designed and calibrated for actual use. I love my Tamaya, but I’ve carried and used the Mark 3 and find it satisfactory.
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21-11-2022, 21:50
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#5
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Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2022
Posts: 5
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Re: Are Cheap Replica Sextants Any Good?
Hmm, ok, looks like I'm overthinking things as usual, I'll buy a plastic one and probably not lose GPS signal once, hah.
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21-11-2022, 22:56
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#6
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Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: forest city
Boat: no boat any more
Posts: 2,510
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Re: Are Cheap Replica Sextants Any Good?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brioche
.... For those of us who don't use a sextant much, I think there is MUCHmore error on the user end than the sextant end anyway.
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fixed it for you
__________________
...not all who wander are lost!
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21-11-2022, 23:32
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#7
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Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Back in Montt.
Boat: Westerly Sealord
Posts: 8,178
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Re: Are Cheap Replica Sextants Any Good?
Simple answer for the OP .. No!!
They are wall ornaments - nothing more.
If you want a 'good' sextant look for something like a Zeiss Freiberger or a Plath from an Indian shipbreaker.
https://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_...0&LH_PrefLoc=2
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22-11-2022, 01:18
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#8
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Nearly an old salt
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Lefkas Marina ,Greece
Boat: Bavaria 36
Posts: 22,801
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Re: Are Cheap Replica Sextants Any Good?
I have a Tamaya sextant not bad reasonable money
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Interested in smart boat technology, networking and all things tech
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22-11-2022, 01:54
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#9
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Langley, WA
Boat: Nordic 44
Posts: 2,496
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Re: Are Cheap Replica Sextants Any Good?
You are better off buying a second of even third GPS unit. All you really need is latitude and longitude. They are so cheap these days.
The only way the GPS signal will be disrupted is if there is an attack on the US or it's allies. In which case there is a lot more to worry about than where you are.
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22-11-2022, 02:16
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#10
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Nearly an old salt
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Lefkas Marina ,Greece
Boat: Bavaria 36
Posts: 22,801
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Are Cheap Replica Sextants Any Good?
Quote:
Originally Posted by stormalong
You are better off buying a second of even third GPS unit. All you really need is latitude and longitude. They are so cheap these days.
The only way the GPS signal will be disrupted is if there is an attack on the US or it's allies. In which case there is a lot more to worry about than where you are.
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Could we really leave the issue of gps or more correctly GNSS disrupted. It’s brought up every time someone talk about GNSS
it’s utterly BS. There are 4 GNSS systems active the day they ALL GO offline you’ll be the least bit unconcerned as people in dust form tend not to need their position fixed.
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Interested in smart boat technology, networking and all things tech
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22-11-2022, 02:23
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#11
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Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2019
Location: Germany
Posts: 35
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Re: Are Cheap Replica Sextants Any Good?
Quote:
Originally Posted by goboatingnow
I have a Tamaya sextant not bad reasonable money
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Is it the "1712" model? I think those are replicas. You're saying they're good enough to do actual navigation?
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22-11-2022, 02:26
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#12
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Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2019
Location: Germany
Posts: 35
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Re: Are Cheap Replica Sextants Any Good?
Quote:
Originally Posted by stormalong
You are better off buying a second of even third GPS unit. All you really need is latitude and longitude. They are so cheap these days.
The only way the GPS signal will be disrupted is if there is an attack on the US or it's allies. In which case there is a lot more to worry about than where you are.
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Solar flares can also be a factor.
For example there was a 1 hour GPS outage on July 3rd 2017 during the X 1.5 solar flare.
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22-11-2022, 03:00
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#13
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Nearly an old salt
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Lefkas Marina ,Greece
Boat: Bavaria 36
Posts: 22,801
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Re: Are Cheap Replica Sextants Any Good?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Poa
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Sure Galileo went out in 2019 for 4 days. But the other three gnsss were active
__________________
Interested in smart boat technology, networking and all things tech
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22-11-2022, 03:03
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#14
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Nearly an old salt
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Lefkas Marina ,Greece
Boat: Bavaria 36
Posts: 22,801
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Are Cheap Replica Sextants Any Good?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Poa
Is it the "1712" model? I think those are replicas. You're saying they're good enough to do actual navigation?
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Yes it’s the 1712 it’s ok. But my main one is an Astra 3B
The 1712,is good to about 5 miles ! In fact the quality of the sextant is not the major factor in my errors.
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Interested in smart boat technology, networking and all things tech
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22-11-2022, 03:14
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#15
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Marine Service Provider
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Little Compton, RI
Boat: Cape George 31
Posts: 2,962
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Re: Are Cheap Replica Sextants Any Good?
For an emergency backup/ practice sextant, the Davis or Ebbco have yielded good results. The problem I have is that practicing with an inferior instrument doesn't open your eyes to the possibilities of a better unit.
If you can spring for an Astra IIIB, which is the most affordable of the metal sextants I know of, you'll learn easier, since you'll have decent enough optics to stand a fighting chance of a good shot. I've had my Astra for twenty years, and used it on dozens of voyages, and it's still in tip-top shape. It's a good investment.
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Ben
zartmancruising.com
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