When in college as a deck cadet we have to learn how to do all manual calculations, which is good. However, the content of some of the examples/formulae is out of date. For example: When calculating a amplitude in college we have to first work out if the chronometer time is correct and the GMT. I find this un-needed in the modern age of digital clocks on the ships bridge, which can easily adjusted back to GMT with the click of a button. Infact, out of every ship I've sailed on not one of them has even had a chronmeter onboard. Before someone says digital clocks can fail, so too can chronmeters.
Another example would be calculating errors. We were only taught how to calculate a compass error in college, never a gyro error. Most ships these days rely on a gyro as the primary heading indicator, the compass is very rarely used for a bearing. Learning this method meant that my notes from college were not totally useable onboard (as you have to add certain steps to calculate a gyro error). So we are taught one way of calculation in college, then another way onboard and then have to go back to college and re-learn the outdated method again to use in exams. If the MCA updated thier syllabus we wouldn't have this problem.
Another example would be calculating errors. We were only taught how to calculate a compass error in college, never a gyro error. Most ships these days rely on a gyro as the primary heading indicator, the compass is very rarely used for a bearing. Learning this method meant that my notes from college were not totally useable onboard (as you have to add certain steps to calculate a gyro error). So we are taught one way of calculation in college, then another way onboard and then have to go back to college and re-learn the outdated method again to use in exams. If the MCA updated thier syllabus we wouldn't have this problem.
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