Maggie's Farm

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Tuesday, February 9. 2021

The compass


A compass indicates magnetic North, while a GPS operates on True North (aka Geodetic North). But you knew that.


Still, a compass is handy for rough directions even when ignoring variation. Here's variation vs deviation.


Here's a bit about the history of the mysterious compass: 



Posted by Bird Dog in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation at 15:02 | Comments (5) | Trackbacks (0)

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Anything that gets me to the bar faster, works for me.
Seriously though, getting turned around in the woods on a cloudy day, or at night, can be deadly.
It is like flying in the clouds, you can't trust your inner ear motion detector, it gets fooled.
Fly the gauges !!
#1 u.k.(us) on 2021-02-09 17:54 (Reply)
Maine is -15 and Seattle is +15 degrees. Estimate var based on where you between these two. No reason to not know what it is +/- a few degrees.
#2 Bull on 2021-02-09 18:14 (Reply)
Learning magnetic compass growing up in Wisconsin was easy; you were pretty much on the 0 declination line. Until you got to the iron ranges of Northern Michigan or Minnesota, that is, where all bets were off.
#2.1 Another guy named Dan on 2021-02-10 07:01 (Reply)
And just when you think you have your compass figured out, someone hands you a Brunton and says "use this one" Oh boy. If you are a geologist or surveyor you will get it. I still have my first one...purchased for field camp in 1970.
#3 rocdoctom on 2021-02-09 21:18 (Reply)
Yep. Still got mine, too.
#3.1 Aggie on 2021-02-09 22:17 (Reply)

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