Haven't seen a post from you in a coon's age.
Where have you been? Off cruising?

S.Simon


"Hmseconomy" wrote in message ...
Why clutter up the newsgroup with stupid expletives
if you don't know the answer? BRBR

Got that right, bro. There is something about this Newsgroup that seems to
evoke the worst in people.... Pity.

It's more than just the compasses. I often wondered how the folks down
under managed to keep their feet planted firmly on the ground. Having had
the chance to visit Oz I found out it has nothing to do with gravity and no
.. . .it isn't velcro. The magic trick that keeps them from plunging off
headfirst is (fanfare, drum roll, . . . .. . . . . that's enough and fire
the drummer) The substance is . . . . .Vegemite!!!!!!!!!

Still have half a very large jar left.

MST

Simple,

If you ever sail around the world, I'm sure you won't need a compass as
much as a "Dinner Jacket" The trip will be on a cruise Ship and you'll
be a passenger.

Hope you had a wonderful day of Fasting & exercise. I had a wonderful
Turkey Dinner with stuffing (Oyster) gravy, Mashed potatoes, Sweet
potatoes with marshmallows, asparagus; Pumpkin and Raisin pie. Two
Manhattans GREAT DAY

I'm one of your FAT American. Obese to my eyeballs. Called Morbid
Obesity.

Wish you lived closer so I could name you to carry Ole (Fat) Thom the
last mile

Ole Thom

Wish you lived closer so I could name you to carry Ole (Fat) Thom the
last mile

Don't talk thay way, Thom. Time is an invention and a shakey one at that.
Stick around, the world needs you.

RB

Schoonertrash wrote:

The first answer was the closest. Yes there is a difference and yes in most
compasses including the one's we find on our sailboats and powerboats are,
in fact, different. Some compasses, such as the one on USNS Bob Hope, are
built to be self adjusting when crossing the line.

Sounds like a good but probably expensive feature to have.

.... The easiest way to
solve the issue is order up a compass from some company in Australia, NZ
etc. and have it airmailed. Get the exact same compass you already have.

Actually, you don't need to order from Australia (not intending to hurt the
Aussie economy, sorry). All good compass makers will have the same model compass
made in several dip ranges. The dip angle changes by latitude, not just when you
cross the equator.


When crossing the equatorial region at some point you will observe the tilt
or dip. Switch compasses and re-swing. ..... The reason it happens is the
distance from
the mass of iron in N. Canada that is the Magnetic Northern Pole increases
while the mass of earth's iron making up the Magnetic Southern Pole
decreases in distance. At some point one becomes the major attraction to ye
olde compass instead of the other and it becomes off-balance.

Total malarkey. Compasses are polar, north poles & south poles of magnets both
attract metal but only opposite poles of other magnets. Try it yourself with a
kids toy bar magnet.

The reason for the dip angle is that the Earth is round (well, it's an oblate
sphere) and the lines of magentic force between the North and South Poles are
more apple-shaped. So, the Earth's magnetic field pulls either the north or
south pole of the compass card down more as it approaches the poles.

Here's the
humorous part. When the compass on our ship acted up none of the highly
trained and experienced deck officers realized what had happened. One of
the other AB's remarked to me, "Southern Dip?" "For sure", sez I. Finally
we were asked what we meant by that phrase. They didn't believe us and had
to look it up in Bowditch. Score one for the home team!

I guess if you don't think about a compass very often, you forget stuff like
that. I can't believe a qualified sea officer would have never learned about
compass dip. For that matter I am surprised you can't explain it more clearly &
accurately yourself, ST!

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

Well . . it was clear to me?????

Subject: Compass dip - questions for the southern Hemisphere people.
From: "Schoonertrash"
Date: 11/28/2003 18:52 Pacific Standard Time
Message-id:

Well . . it was clear to me?????




I'd be curious as to what they had to do in Australia to fix the "dip" problem,
plus, curious how they "balance" small yacht compasses to make them good, world
wide.

As Doug mentioned the cost of doing that is prohibitive. Much easier to get
two compasses. When you see the need, and it will be very apparent. Switch
to the other one. Then you only have to swing the compass for correction
which is not all that difficult. Remember you now have things like GPS to
help you out. Or use a star sight for N. and S. Figure amplitude on the
sun's rising and setting to find E. and W. Sounds much more intimidating
that it really is.

MST

One day left.

Subject: Compass dip - questions for the southern Hemisphere people.
From: "Schoonertrash"
Date: 11/29/2003 10:31 Pacific Standard Time
Message-id:

As Doug mentioned the cost of doing that is prohibitive. Much easier to get
two compasses. When you see the need, and it will be very apparent. Switch
to the other one. Then you only have to swing the compass for correction
which is not all that difficult. Remember you now have things like GPS to
help you out. Or use a star sight for N. and S. Figure amplitude on the
sun's rising and setting to find E. and W. Sounds much more intimidating
that it really is.

MST

One day left.


If that's directed at my response, I'd have to disagree.
Since balanced compasses are available, I'd consider it a better investment to
go for the single, potentially better compass, rather than two cheaper models
(which may end up costing about the same).
Naturally, there are always advantages to having two.....and even though it may
be unbalanced, doesn't mean it won't work.
I'd still be curious as to what they had to do to that ship compass to correct
it, as I've never heard of any problems with dip on one of these (might have
something to do with hanging the magnets well below the compass card and pivot)
Taking azimuths/amplitudes/polaris, should be a normal occurence for anyone
doing serious offshore work..... BG devising methods to get accurate ones on
many small boats, is another story

We're moving soon and will be within cell phone range one more time before
heading 'way' out. I'll make a point of asking some tech questions and
report back.

MST