Jeff Morris wrote:
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.

I'd still recommend checking it against known ranges, even if only to
confirm the veracity of your deviation tables/scale.

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.

Too true, but Jax can't steer .... probably chases the compass.

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!

One must never question Jax's reasoning .... accept the fact it's off
the wall.


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.

I think he's just getting to this part in his reading. He wasn't talking
about "calibration", he was talking about converting the relative RDF
bearing to compass bearing to magnetic bearing, so it could be plotted
..... at least, I think that's what his "align" means.
Not knowing much or having done much navigation, Jax tends use terms
that most of us wouldn't, so it sometimes takes a bit to figure how he's
applying those terms.

otn