I would absolutely love to read something about that - thanks for putting in the work and sharing it.
replyI have a buddy working on restoring a set of binoculars that were attached to the Target Bearing Transmitter system for a US sub from the 50s. Last I heard he was able to find someone that actually had parts of the original schematics for it so that he’s able to machine some new pieces.
These things are definitely a labor of love.
Am I right in thinking it didn't matter which star it locked onto, and it didn't need to know which star it was? Would it be a problem if it locked onto another celestial body (e.g. Venus)?
replyNo, it needed to lock onto the right star, the one that matched the coordinates. Otherwise, it would be pointing in a random direction. The navigator would check against three different stars to detect an error.
replyThe system could also use planets or even the sun for navigation. A special filter was used with the sun to avoid burning out the photomultiplier tube.
Ah, so it could be used in the daytime. I read the whole article assuming it was only useful at night. (When else would you be flying a bomber and need high accuracy?)
replyThe SR-71’s star tracker was so sensitive it could track stars during the day.
replyhttps://theaviationgeekclub.com/the-sr-71-blackbird-astro-na...