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USCG Exam PracticeDead reckoning — DR plot maintenance

A navigator has only one charted object available for observation. Two bearings are taken on that object at different times, and the first LOP is advanced along the DR track to the time of the second bearing. The navigator must understand which limitation applies to the resulting position?

  1. A. The result is a fix of the same reliability as one obtained from two simultaneous LOPs on different objects
  2. The result is a running fix, which is less accurate than a fix from simultaneous LOPs because the advanced LOP carries forward all DR errors accumulated between the two observationsCorrect
  3. C. The result is a DR position, not a running fix, because only one object was used
  4. D. The result is valid only if the current vector is zero during the interval between observations

Why B is correct

Bowditch Ch. 7 §702 defines the running fix procedure and explicitly states it is less accurate than a fix from simultaneous LOPs. Bowditch Ch. 23 §2301 identifies cumulative DR errors; because the first LOP is advanced along the DR track, any DR errors in course, speed, or current during the interval are incorporated into the running fix position.

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A navigator has only one charted object available for observation.… — USCG Exam Practice · CaptainsGround