NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Compasses
From: Martin Gardner
Date: 2002 May 29, 06:44 -0700
From: Martin Gardner
Date: 2002 May 29, 06:44 -0700
I was on a boat over the weekend with both a binnacle compass and a fluxgate. After removing the canister airhorn from the drink holder and watching the binnacle compass swing 20 degrees, there was still a 10 degree discrepancy between the binnacle and the fluxgate. Fluxgates may be off the charter of the list: if so, please reply privately. My question: any ideas? The binnacle had a deviation card showing no errors, and it agreed pretty well with a handheld. The fluxgate was mounted below, maybe three feet from the refrigeration compressor, not near any other obvious stuff. Are fluxgates subject to the same deviation error sources as real magnets? Martin
