>These days, GPS are so cheap that it is not even worth buying the >plastic Davis sextants. Ain't technology wonderful! In the five >antarctic cruises I did in the last few years as a tourist guide, I >didn't see a single sextant on the Russian icebreakers. Just a bank >of GPSs, and most of us guides had them as well. I suppose that >sextants are not even taught in naval academys anymore. Gone the way >of slide rules (I still have both mine, plus my grandfather's) and >log tables. >
Now here is a man who speaks to me in an intensely personal way. I love old instruments and would have many if I could afford it. I often wonder though if we are not going to pay for the reliance on electronics and high technology in the years to come: Would Nobile be rescued today if his radio broke after the crash? His RTO was able to fix the old valve set and transmit to a Russian radioamateur. I doubt that I could fix today's sets in a similar fashion. Furthermore, Morse is no longer the accepted means of transmitting emergency messages. I have read interesting books by the former members of the SAS regiment. The same ill-fated patrol was described by two of its members. The differences of outlook were interesting. One believed that the Magellan GPS was the best thing since sliced bread, the other preferred to rely on compass and dead reckoning. My own inclination is to use the GPS but train with the old manual ways of determining one's position. How many GPSs should one carry on a trip? how many batteries? We may be reminded of the need to go back to basics sooner than we like...Remember Y2K. Mike Koblic, Quesnel BC "Just because I am paranoid does not mean they are not after me!"
