Dear Friends,
I have been asked to assist in the restoration of a sundial located on
Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio Texas.
This dial is (or was) very interesting. It is a "bowstring" equatorial, but
the time was apparently read from numerals on a globe at the center. The
globe was rotated by some mechanical complications - all now missing. It is
made of cast aluminum and appears to be a production piece.
Cast in the base of the dial is:
Hagner Mechanical Universal, Pat. Applied For
A plaque accompanying the dial states in part:
CELESTIAL CLOCK
DONATED BY MR FRED H. HAGNER 7 DECEMBER 1959
A FEW OF THE USES OF THIS CLOCK AND MECHANICAL
UNIVERSE ARE IT DEPICTS THE PATH OF THE SUN FOR EVERY
DAY OF THE YEAR, DENOTES SUN TIME AND TIME OF OF SUNRISE
AND SUNSET, SOLVES ASTRONOMICAL TRIANGLES ETC.
The dial is currently missing all the moving parts, and I wonder if any
readers of this list might be familiar this dial or have seen one like it.
I have put a number of photographs, as well as the rest of the text on the
plaque (This text describes how the various "depictions" can be accomplished
by manipulation of the missing parts.) on a web page:
http://www.shadow.net/~bobt/rafb
Lacking another example of this dial that could be copied, I wonder if any
reader,
1) could suggest what form the missing parts might take. (I have taken a
stab at it on the pages.)
2) lives close enough to Randolph Air Force Force Base do on-site
inspection and supervision.
3) has the ability to cast small parts in aluminum from supplied patterns.
Thank you for your attention,
Bob Terwilliger
