THE NAUTICAL ALMANACS FAULTY CALCULATOR INSTRUCTIONS

The calculator instructions published in the Nautical Almanac since I989 are impractical. The sextant corrections should include a passage correction and exclude semi-diameter; the celestial triangle solution is clumsy and not sufficiently comprehensive; the specified computation of a position line is a radical departure from standard method and will not work; the computation of the fix omits error assessment, and the directions for 'iterating' the fix are eccentric and superfluous. The instructions should be re-written to conform with the practice of celestial navigation or deleted from the Almanac.