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Tamaya "Spica" Marine Sextant Model MS-733
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Tamaya "Spica" Marine Sextant Model MS-733
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This is a Tamaya "Spica" Model MS-733 Marine Sextant . I bought this sextant brand new in 1980, while a senior at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. I paid over $1000, with hard-earned midshipman money, back then for it. This was, I believe, the top of the line Tamaya sextant. West German C-Plath sextants were more expensive, but not any better in accuracy, and very similar aesthetically. It came with the default 4X telescope, and the 7X scope was extra cost. I went with the default 4X scope and did NOT purchase the extra cost 7X scope. This was on the advice of my very sharp navigation teacher, Professor Charley Pearson. He pointed out that any star plotted in the H.O. 249 Air Alamanac would be plainly visible with the 4X scope, and the 4X scope had twice the depth of field (read only half as hard to find the star in your viewfinder) and half as jittery as the 7X scope. As you can see from the Inspection Certificate (See attached certificate photo) this sextant had ZERO Seconds of Error on any point on the arc, when inspected in 1979. It still is perfect, because I have never dropped, crushed, or even set it down hard in my entire time of ownshership. In one of my last uses of it, I took a noon sun-line with a good southerly view of a smooth horizon while anchored in a bay. I got 0.1 miles of difference compared to my triangulated position based on shore bearings. Your actual results will depend on how skillful you are in 'rocking' the celestial body down to the horizon, how smooth your horizon is, ship movement, how you apply your corrections etc. Suffice to say, this sextant's precision will not be the driving force in any error in your position. After shipping jobs dried up in about 1983, I had to look for shoreside jobs, this sextant went back in its case, and the case has been sitting on my closet top shelf collecting dust this past quarter century. As the enclosed photos show, the sextant is still in perfect condition. Any white specks on the photos are dust specks, that made it through the case. Most of the dust was on the case itself. This is because, I only used the sextant on large merchant ships with bridge heights well above corroding salt spray, and only had the sextant briefly out, before it went back into its case residing in the air-conditioned chart room. The brass on the arc is still bright and I have never applied any metal polish whatsoever, because I knew that any brass that would be removed would affect its accuracy. While the sextant is perfect, the case has some degree of corner wear, dings, and scratches. This is typical of a working sextant case, which would slide aroung its shelf a little bit as the ship rolled and pitched in a seaway. Additionally it would share chart room space with the Second and Third Mate's sextants, and they would typically knock my case around a little bit in retrieving their sextant cases from the same shelf. Tamaya themselves only appled a matte-finish red stain to the luaun case, so I have applied a coat of spar varnish to make it more presentable. A one model step down MS-833 Tamaya Sextant Ebay Item number: 200109856996, went for $500 last week, so my prices are pretty good. It had a plastic case, which is very good for durability, while mine has the more clasic wood case. I believe it had a 7X scope also, but for the reasons above, I preferred mine with the 4X scope. I have some sentimental attachment to this sextant, but it really hasn't done me much good sitting on a closet shelf for a quarter century, and I could use the money for the kid's college expenses. Good Luck Bidding! I had the common sense to remove the batteries from it when storing it many years ago. This afternoon, I borrowed two AA-size batteries from my son. I pushed the button on the handle and sure enough, both the micrometer and index readings lit brightly up. I'm not supplying the batteries. I gave them back to your son. With your ...
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