Hi Guys,

Sorry if my post is not in the right group, I'm not a sailor or a boatsman.

I purchased a pair of binoculars STEINER COMMANDER XP with (magnetcic)
compass via internet.
When I received de binoculars I remarked a big air bubble in the
stabilising fluid and a deviation (with respect to a (magnetic) handcompass
with optical prism) when shooting bearings.
I sent the binoculars back to Steiner for repair and after three weeks my
toy came back. The air bubble had disapeared but not the deviation.

Due north with a reference compass the STEINER indicates 002.5°
Due east with a reference compass the STEINER indicates 095.5°

A quick series of measurements (beginning north and with increments of 30°)
reveal a positive deviation with a maximum of +6.5° (from 0° to 180°) and
maximum deviation of -5° (from 180° to 360°). Drawing a graph with de
deviation values as a function of the bearing angle gives a sort of
sinusoïdal curve.

I contacted STEINER but got no reply yet.

Are there STEINER users among you with similar experiences?

Thank you for reading my post.

Jozef

"Jozef" wrote in
:

Hi Guys,

Sorry if my post is not in the right group, I'm not a sailor or a
boatsman.

I purchased a pair of binoculars STEINER COMMANDER XP with (magnetcic)
compass via internet.
When I received de binoculars I remarked a big air bubble in the
stabilising fluid and a deviation (with respect to a (magnetic)
handcompass with optical prism) when shooting bearings.
I sent the binoculars back to Steiner for repair and after three weeks
my toy came back. The air bubble had disapeared but not the
deviation.

Due north with a reference compass the STEINER indicates 002.5°
Due east with a reference compass the STEINER indicates 095.5°

A quick series of measurements (beginning north and with increments of
30°) reveal a positive deviation with a maximum of +6.5° (from 0° to
180°) and maximum deviation of -5° (from 180° to 360°). Drawing a
graph with de deviation values as a function of the bearing angle
gives a sort of sinusoïdal curve.

I contacted STEINER but got no reply yet.

Are there STEINER users among you with similar experiences?

Thank you for reading my post.

Jozef




http://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en...he-velden.html
This webpage says the magnetic declination for NL/BE is "less than 10
degrees". The pole is not at the physical rotation pole. The
declination makes every point on earth read something different. The
other variation is local variation. Magnetic outcroppings of iron ore
may put compasses in the area where the outcropping is located off by
many, many degrees.

A compass never reads N at 000 degrees, unless you happen to be on that
imaginary longitude where the declination is zero and the magnetic
variation is zero. Anyplace else on the planet, a compass will be off
by varying degrees, some as much as 10-15 degrees, either way, a
combination of declination, the magnetic flux at the moment (which
varies constantly), and the local magnetic variation caused by many
things underground. Reading that compass in Belgium in open country
isn't going to ever make it read N = 000 degrees.

http://www.springerlink.com/content/r0r40358718524n5/

"BELGIUM

3. Kcenigsfeld L.
Les Anomalies de la Variation Seculaire du Champ Magnetique
Terrestre en Belgique de 1913 a 1957.- Institut Royal Meteoro-
logique de Belgique, Publications Serie A, N13, 1963."

You will find your exact declination and local anomalies at the World
Data Center that collects it all:
http://www.geomag.bgs.ac.uk/gifs/surveydata.html
Fill in the forms to get it.......instead of buying it from the stupid
booksellers across the planet that keep the data from public viewing if
they can, so they can sell it to you.

On Mar 12, 4:13 pm, "Jozef" wrote:
...
A quick series of measurements (beginning north and with increments of 30°)
reveal a positive deviation with a maximum of +6.5° (from 0° to 180°) and
maximum deviation of -5° (from 180° to 360°). Drawing a graph with de
deviation values as a function of the bearing angle gives a sort of
sinusoïdal curve. ...

You probably know this but magnetic "variation" or "declination" is
the difference between magnetic north and true north. Ideally a
magnetic compass will always point to magnetic north. However, even a
well adjusted compass will tend to have different errors on different
headings. These errors are called "deviation" and are typically
tabulated and corrected for. Because these errors are result of local
magnetic fields a compass, like yours, that doesn't have a fixed
location may have different deviation functions depending on its
surroundings. The errors you are seeing may be a result of where you
are using the binos. You could try testing them in another location
and see if they are still the same. However, my suspicion, given that
these are quality glasses and the errors are large, is that the
problem is more local yet. Magnetic objects on your body like wire
frame glasses, watches or jewelry may be contributing to the errors.
If that is the case and you can't or don't want to remove the
offending metal you could make up a deviation table and use it to
correct you readings. However, be aware that as you move about you
may well find yourself in a place where the deviation will deviate
from what are correcting for. With portable compasses there isn't
much to be done about this other than being very aware of your
surroundings.

Of course, it could be that there is a design or manufacturing error
on the glasses themselves. This seems unlikely with quality equipment
like Steiner but if different people in different places tend to see
the same deviation errors then there is a defect with the product.

-- Tom.