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    Re: Compass Adjustment - A Cautionary tale
    From: Trevor Kenchington
    Date: 2005 Jan 31, 19:52 -0400

    Jared wrote:
    
    > One assumes the problem of compass tilt and north/south zones would not
    > apply to the (usually cheap) ball-type compasses where the "card" is
    > actually a white ball, free to move in any direction, i.e. the inexpensive
    > ones sold for car dashboards and zipper pulls.
    
    
    I disagree. If the very-cheap compasses sold as novelty items did not
    have counter-weighting based on some assumed dip angle, they wouldn't
    point north in Canada and the northern U.S. They would point _down_ --
    maybe 15 to 25 degrees off straight down. I doubt that such a compass
    would enjoy many sales, even as a novelty.
    
    > I suppose aviation compasses would come closest to this same solution, in a
    > better quality compass.
    
    Maybe. Or do aircraft simply carry gyros? With abundant power available
    and the higher cost of the basic vehicle (aircraft vs. boat) making a
    gyro relatively cheaper, why fuss with a magnetic compass?
    
    
    Trevor Kenchington
    
    
    
    --
    Trevor J. Kenchington PhD                         Gadus@iStar.ca
    Gadus Associates,                                 Office(902) 889-9250
    R.R.#1, Musquodoboit Harbour,                     Fax   (902) 889-9251
    Nova Scotia  B0J 2L0, CANADA                      Home  (902) 889-3555
    
                         Science Serving the Fisheries
                          http://home.istar.ca/~gadus
    
    
    

       
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