Jaxie, how many stupid things can you say in one post. Magnetic compasses can
certainly be accurate to 2 degrees, though I admit nowadays a lot of people
don't bother to swing the compass, what with GPS and autopilots, but in the old
days it was pretty common to have it professional done, and to check it with
known ranges at every opportunity.

Holding a course to 2 degrees may be difficult for a long period, but for the
short time needed for a bearing is not too hard.

And errors multiply??? That's one of the stupidest things you ever come out
with jaxie! Are you claiming that a 5 degree compass error and a 5 degree
course error yield a net 25 degree error??? I think that one's another keeper!

And why does RDF calibration depend on the ship's compass? There are others
ways to check for deviation that don't depend on the compass.

"JAXAshby" wrote in message
...
shen, think about it for a minute. *Just ONE* of the issues is that a radio
compass is aligned using a magnetic compass.

think about it? how many mag compasses have seen on boats that are accurate
to
2*?

Think about it more. How many helmsmen on sailboats have you seen that could
hold a course to 2* over any period of time?

Think about it. the error of the mag compass reading TIMES the error of the
helmsman gives the potential error UP TO THAT POINT. Already, you are
waaaaaaaaaay beyond 2*. waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay beyond.

Think about the additional errors associated with just the radio compass
itself
and its usage.

think about it, shen.

Think.

....And you haven't come up with one fact to say it can't be better than 2
degrees, other than some dumb comparison to taking a bearing on sounds (a
known
no-no), and have shown you don't know the basics of piloting, when using a
compass.

Shen