Casio Calculator with Python assisting Dead Reckoning

In celestial navigation methods with intercept we need to have a dead reckoning assumed point which is – preferably – less than 30 nautical miles from the new fix. Boat is moving a considerable distance, always with some set and drift. Careful navigator gets pretty reasonable methods with graphical vector estimation on a Mercator canvas or on a map. But if one does not have a dedicated navigator to do that, sometimes all you got are the logbook entries. To improve the processing speed of vector adding, and especially to improve the accuracy, I have developed a Python program for my chart table calculator. It is those things which runs with batteries for weeks or even months. I would still use Mercator canvas but only to find the fix, the assumed point I would just drop on it from the program’s results.

 

Averaging Celestial Sights with Casio Calculator having Python

If you have onboard a Casio Graphics calculator – or any other make with statistical programs, you can do the averaging of your sights using linear regression functions. But since some Casio calculators have Python (a MicroPython fork) in them, I preferred to write to write a program which does the same but in which the data (point) input is much more simple and one gets results faster. Also, to improve the accuracy of my sights taken with a plastic sextant, I integrated a method of averaging where each point’s intercept is calculated with the same slope than that of the reference heights of the celestial body (which you find from the tables or from another program in the same calculator). A generic Python 3 program for computers is also given.