The Seller tells me that the serial number at the left end of the arc is 4919, which matches the number on the Calibration sticker and also a number stenciled on the box near the hinge, with Navy 2659 Etched in the middle of the arc.

He posted a photo of the stenciled number, I've asked him to post a photo of the serial number.

Seems this sextant is in the original box.

Thanks, Andrew! 

The Seller tells me that the serial number at the left end of the arc is 4919, which matches the number on the Calibration sticker and also a number stenciled on the box near the hinge, with Navy 2659 Etched in the middle of the arc.

He posted a photo of the stenciled number, I've asked him to post a photo of the serial number.

Seems this sextant is in the original box.

Andrew

Quote from: Ric Gillespie on September 21, 2018, 07:52:55 AM

It means that finding out that 3500/1542 was owned by Fred Noonan would not necessarily prove that the box found with the bones belonged to Fred. 

Fair enough.  And, maybe, finding out that 3500/1542 did not belong to Fred would not necessarily mean that he did not take that box aboard with a different sextant in it. 

Exactly.

It means that finding out that 3500/1542 was owned by Fred Noonan would not necessarily prove that the box found with the bones belonged to Fred. 

Fair enough.  And, maybe, finding out that 3500/1542 did not belong to Fred would not necessarily mean that he did not take that box aboard with a different sextant in it. 

Quote from: Martin X. Moleski, SJ on September 20, 2018, 09:06:07 PM

... over on the other side of the Colosseum.

Better than having to suit up for an event IN the Colosseum.

I think of that all the time.  The place was built with money ... uh ... "liberated" from other lands.  The work was done by slave labor as a place where slaves of all sorts would be tortured and killed.  Hats off to the architects and construction engineers--they designed and built well!--but a big thumbs down for the uses to which the place was put.

Hmmmm.

Hadn't thought about that wrinkle. 

It might also have something to do with why the numbers were scrawled in pencil on the Pensacola box--either to prevent or to fix a shuffle.

I guess, maybe, the error rate does matter somewhat--if our tiny sample taken in the last 30 years or so represents the way things were in 1937.

It means that finding out that 3500/1542 was owned by Fred Noonan would not necessarily prove that the box found with the bones belonged to Fred. 

I have to suit up and show up for Mass at the Missionaries of Charity over on the other side of the Colosseum.

Better than having to suit up for an event IN the Colosseum.

Quote from: Martin X. Moleski, SJ on September 20, 2018, 01:43:16 PM

It's just an unexpected oddity.

But it does imply that there is a 22.6% chance that Brandis 3500/NO1542 was not aboard NR16020.

Hmmmm.

Hadn't thought about that wrinkle. 

It might also have something to do with why the numbers were scrawled in pencil on the Pensacola box--either to prevent or to fix a shuffle.

I guess, maybe, the error rate does matter somewhat--if our tiny sample taken in the last 30 years or so represents the way things were in 1937.

The trouble I have with the mixups is that the collimation data seems to have been pasted into the boxes.

If you got the wrong box, you would not have the collimation data for your instrument.

How often were the corrections used?  Did they make a big difference?

Well, no time at the present for me to worry about any of this.  I have to suit up and show up for Mass at the Missionaries of Charity over on the other side of the Colosseum.

TTYL.

It's just an unexpected oddity.

But it does imply that there is a 22.6% chance that Brandis 3500/NO1542 was not aboard NR16020.

I could put a little trailing column on the table to help tabulate "Wrong Box" (WB) or "Wrong Sextant" (WS).

Done with it.  It's the last column on the right, labeled "WB/WS."  There is a funny little marker in all of the columns that will sort the table on that field.  Click on the marker once to get ascending order and twice to get descending order.  That will put all of the WS and WB records together.

When the box has got both numbers on it, I put those numbers into the table.  There are approximately 84 sextants in the table.  19 of them, or 22.6%, are in the wrong box.  I find that surprising.  But moot.  Coming to understand how sextants got put away in the wrong box won't verify or falsify the Niku hypothesis.  It's just an unexpected oddity.

 "..so if it's not written in brass, there is room for doubt."

I think this could be a new mantra!

It's a good maxim for working on the sextant list, at least.   

I count 97 entries for pairs of Brandis numbers.

There are 18 Brandis sextants in the wrong boxes.

I haven't double-checked to make sure that every pair of numbers from the boxes have been put in the list independently.

The awareness of how many mismatches there are between the sextants and the boxes only became apparent over the course of time.

I could put a little trailing column on the table to help tabulate "Wrong Box" (WB) or "Wrong Sextant" (WS).

Any Day Now.

In the interim, the rate of mismatch is at least 18% and, if I have got all of the Wrong Boxes on the list, then it is more like 23%.

So, in this case, we have one number from the sextant and the other from an inspection certificate pasted to the box.  It seems to me there is something close to a 1 in 5 chance that those are not a valid pair.   

"..so if it's not written in brass, there is room for doubt."

I think this could be a new mantra!