Questions tagged [compasses]
Compasses are a navigational instrument utilising a magnetized needle giving a frame of reference based on North, South, East and West, as well as their intermediate directions such as SE, NW etc. This is based on Magnetic North, and not True or Grid North.
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Increase Accuracy of Magnetic Compass
How to increase the accuracy magnetic compass? Is there a good way using multiple ones?
I searched the Internet and Philip Werner suggested at Section Hiker web:
use the most current declination data ...
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How do I correct for magnetic declination?
I have a question about magnetic declination as it pertains to its use with compass navigation.
I currently live in Albuquerque New Mexico which currently has a magnetic declination of 8°E.
Let's say ...
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Can anyone recommend a compass that doesn't develop a bubble at high altitude?
I have three compasses and each developed bubbles at 4000m elevation (photo below).
Even the nifty Suunto had a bubble on the first trip. The best was the Silva (on the right of the photo), which ...
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Is this a valid method from taking a bearing from a map?
I want to check my understanding here. The goal is to determine your direction of travel by taking a bearing from a map using a compass, given that you know where on the map you are and where you want ...
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What purposes does a physical compass serve better than a compass application on my cellphone?
I have an Iphone 12 which has a compass app. I've tried it out against city streets that have a known directional angle and it seems to be accurate. But the paper map orientation course still wants ...
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Where can I purchase a quality compass? [closed]
I've signed up for a paper map orientation course and one of the prerequisites is to purchase a compass. The course itself recommends multiple models such as MC-2 from Suunto. But if I check the ...
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If you have figured out one compass direction, is that always/sometimes/never enough to tell all the other three as well?
For a long time, I've been wondering for myself: if I know for sure that a certain house has this wall facing West, and I'm standing facing the wall in front of me, and I have nothing else to go by, ...
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Silva Polaris compass, use of the second dial numbered from 0 to 7
I am looking for the use of the second (outer) dial numbered from 0 to 7 on the Silva Polaris compass.
This second dial rotates independently of the inner dial.
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How to explain unexpected success following a bearing taken from an iPad
I live in northern British Columbia where the relevant declination values are currently
Magnetic declination: 17° 45.30' East
Grid declination (for Natural Resource Canada's NTS maps): 16° 17.04' ...
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What are the differences between prismatic, lensatic, mirrored, and optical sighting compasses?
Background
I am looking at compasses for backpacking and camping, and have come across more compass varieties than I had ever thought possible. Four terms that often come up together are "...
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Is there an easy way to remember if you add magnetic declination to magnetic bearings or true bearings?
For some reason, once in a while I get confused if you add magnetic declination to magnetic bearings to get true bearings, or if you add magnetic declination to true bearings to get magnetic bearings.
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How do simple compass needles remain level instead of see-sawing with magnetic dip? Are they flat even near the poles?
This instagram post by Colin O'Brady (just hiked across Antarctica) shows his compass needle looking fairly level, but I can't see enough else to know if he's holding it level.
A significant fraction ...
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When using a compass, why not follow a degree mark without rotation?
Instead of taking a bearing the "official" way, why not just see what degree mark corresponds to on the direction I want to go (in real life or on a map), and follow that degree mark? That is, why do ...
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What is head/lift indication in a digital compass on a sailboat?
A simple explanation would be great.
I am reading a manual for digital compass and there is a paragraph with the following words:
The SpeedPuck automatically detects when a sailor is trimmed to a
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Are there bubble free handheld compasses?
We have one question asking where it is normal for a compass to have bubbles and another asking why compasses get bubbles, but we do not have a question clearly asking if handheld compasses exist that ...
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