Browsing: compass

Cruising Life
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How To Swing Your Compass

Here’s a great primer from Ritchie about how to adjust your compass for deviation and compensation: As any new boat owner soon learns, the sport has a lingo all its own. But even old salts often have a hard time grasping the magnetic compass dialect. Ritchie Navigation explains two unusual but easily understood terms that are vitally important to the accuracy of a compass: Deviation and Compensation. Compass needles or dials react to the earth’s magnetic field and point true north. The trouble is, certain electrical equipment or metal items on the boat—and even local magnetic fields—can interfere with the…

Cruising Life
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Garmin Making New GPS-Based Marine Compass

Garmin just announced that it’s offering a new marine satellite compass to help make navigation safer and more accurate. The new MSC 10 has multi-band GNSS and a fully integrated attitude and reference system to provide accurate heading and position information. Garmin says the MSC 10 provides precise positioning and heading accuracy within 2 degrees. The system is based on information from GPS, so it will not be affected by any magnetic interference. “An advanced navigation tool, the GPS-based MSC 10 won’t be impacted by magnetic interference, so even in challenging situations, you’ll know exactly where you’re headed,” said Dan…