It is not quite that easy. The magnetic field is curved and the actuall magnetic poles are not at the surface of the earth so you need a compass that is compensated for the part of the world you are going to be in. Compass makers rate their compasses for 'zones' and will be happy to tell you what their zones are and how much out of the zone you can go. A compass that is great at 50 deg North will be nearly useless at 50 South, This is just too far out to work well. If you must go from far North to far South in one trip, either carry comapsses for both hemispheres or go to a good fluxgate compass that does the compensation in the computer. BTW When you get real close to the pole (magnetic) the compass just spins, then you use a sun compass. :-) michael pid_at_mec.ca wrote: > > There was some earlier discussion about how the vertical component of the > changes in the magnetic field can mess up "Silva" type land compasses when snip > anyone doing this, and I believe it's because marine compasses are highly > "gimbaled" anyway to allow for listing, and so would not be affected by the > vertical changes. Comments? *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Mon Jun 08 1998 - 12:32:52 PDT
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