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This is the true size of Africa (mstdn.social)

submitted 1 day ago by mapto@feddit.bg to c/map_enthusiasts@sopuli.xyz

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[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 4 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago) (1 children)

Specifically, radio operators like them - with a directional antenna, it matters which direction goes from Canada to Australia the fastest, and if your station is fixed it can even be a paper map.

I don't know what sailing yachts would use. Probably a close-up map that's nearly flat anyway, since surf, wind direction and local obstacles are the main consideration. In commercial or military sailing, it's entirely possible normal navigation just takes place automatically and digitally at this point. Sextant, compass and Mercator still exist as a backup, though!

[–] turboSnail@piefed.europe.pub 3 points 17 hours ago

In a military context, you absolutely need to have robust backups. If your ship gets badly damaged you better be familiar with star charts and sextants.

Oh, and that radio operator thing makes a lot of sense too.