Cross Staff & Back Staff - Resident Geocoin

My mission is to stay as a resident geocoin in my owners cache, "Observatory". Please discover me, but leave me for the next finder to discover as well.

Why a Resident Coin?

Cachers ask: Why have a resident coin? Why not let the coin travel? The answer is simple. Finding a cool geocoin is such an awesome experience for everyone. When finding a hogbot cache, it is pretty much a guarantee that you can also discover a new resident geocoin for your inventory. It makes the experience of finding a hogbot cache that much more exciting and worth the adventure.

Travelers often go missing never to be seen again. While I do have travelers that are out in the wild getting some miles I bought them with the specific intention to travel. They typically have a theme or promote the cache they were released from. Resident coins are something that anyone visiting a hogbot cache can enjoy discovering. And sometimes (when possible) the resident coins support the theme of the cache they are found in.

While some folks disagree with the idea of resident coins, please understand that resident coins serve a purpose of adding to the overall experience of finding a hogbot cache.

A very early navigational instrument, the cross staff was widely used among surveyors and astronomers. It was not until the 1500s after it was developed further that it started to be used at sea.

The name is derived from its cross shape. It was cumbersome to use simply because a user had to focus on the horizon and star or sun at the same time; moving your eyes from one to the other and at the same time sliding the transversal (cross piece) until you achieved what you thought would be an accurate reading. It also required looking straight into the sun when taking daytime readings. It was with the invention of the back staff that these problems would be resolved.

John Davis invented a back staff in 1595 and his improved design became known as the Davis Quadrant. It rendered the cross staff obsolete since the user only had to take a sight at one object and didn't have to look at the sun to take a reading. Appropriately named, its basic design is like a cross staff, but with some enhancements. Daylight readings were taken by having your back towards the sun. In many cases, John Davis's invention ended up replacing not only the cross staff, but also the mariner's astrolabe and quadrant. It was in the late 1700s when the octant and sextant became the new preferred tools over the back staff.