Compass advice

I did mine a couple weeks ago. Ritchie with a backlight on my Hobie Revo 13.

Did you calibrate it? I read about two methods, neither of which looked good for kayak use.

I did mine a couple weeks ago. Ritchie with a backlight on my Hobie Revo 13.

Did you calibrate it? I read about two methods, neither of which looked good for kayak use.

Not yet. I haven't had the boat out yet. I haven't gooped it in yet either. It's easy enough, go on n/s axis, twist until correct, do same on e/w axis, then lather, rinse and repeat until happy.

Gps, at rest, will not show you an accurate heading.  At slow speeds, the heading will sway quite a bit unless you have a higher-end gps with external antenna/fluxgate compass.

Like this?

~Bouché

Like this?

~Bouché

Where we're going, we don't need roads.

I did mine a couple weeks ago. Ritchie with a backlight on my Hobie Revo 13.

Did you calibrate it? I read about two methods, neither of which looked good for kayak use.

Not yet. I haven't had the boat out yet. I haven't gooped it in yet either. It's easy enough, go on n/s axis, twist until correct, do same on e/w axis, then lather, rinse and repeat until happy.

Calibrate to what, your gps on the ff?

I did mine a couple weeks ago. Ritchie with a backlight on my Hobie Revo 13.

Did you calibrate it? I read about two methods, neither of which looked good for kayak use.

Not yet. I haven't had the boat out yet. I haven't gooped it in yet either. It's easy enough, go on n/s axis, twist until correct, do same on e/w axis, then lather, rinse and repeat until happy.

Calibrate to what, your gps on the ff?

That or navigating between landmarks on a known magnetic course. The FF gps is less accurate like Ken points out, the ways to do it on a kayak aren't the greatest. But that's how I plan to do it.

I used my iPhone compass to point my kayak north and then adjusted the compass. Then I turned it south and adjusted it half of the error. Then I did the same for east and west. I don't have any known routes to test it on. The gps sucks while moving but I'll see how it works from a stand still. Put a waypoint on a landmark and then use my compass to follow the route suggested by the gps. With the distances involved a small error probably won't matter that much. It's hard to paddle a perfect course even if the compass was calibrated to dead on balls accurate. The error in my steering will probably be larger than the error in the compass calibration.

I did mine a couple weeks ago. Ritchie with a backlight on my Hobie Revo 13.



Wired in and back lit.

I did mine 6 years ago...




http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=30103.30

I did mine a couple weeks ago. Ritchie with a backlight on my Hobie Revo 13.

Did you calibrate it? I read about two methods, neither of which looked good for kayak use.

Not yet. I haven't had the boat out yet. I haven't gooped it in yet either. It's easy enough, go on n/s axis, twist until correct, do same on e/w axis, then lather, rinse and repeat until happy.

Calibrate to what, your gps on the ff?

That or navigating between landmarks on a known magnetic course. The FF gps is less accurate like Ken points out, the ways to do it on a kayak aren't the greatest. But that's how I plan to do it.

Is this the same as adjusting for declination, 15 degrees easterly?  Or just forget the details and remember your launch degrees and 180 degrees to return?

No declination for this kind of compass. It always shows the direction you are pointed based on magnetic north. The calibration takes out errors from nearby metal or magnetic currents etc.

Looks like I've got some more calibrating to do. I seemed to be about 18 degrees off. I checked the FF and it is set to magnetic north. Maybe I was too close to my truck when I set it up. 

Did you check its relative position and compare with FF battery connected plus off/on to see if it varied?

I'm curious if it changes and if so how much. I haven't mounted mine yet, I've just had a handheld model before.

I had a nice Suunto model for a few years, but it died.

I moved on to these cheap little Bending Branches units:

http://www.austinkayak.com/products/743/Bending-Branches-Compass.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Shopping:%20ACK%20PLA&scid=scplp743_2598_1&sc_intid=743_2598_1&gclid=CLXBpPePh9MCFUkbaQodAbcCVg

Amazing!

I will add this:  having a deck-mounted compass is an incredible benefit in our sport.  I would not go without one.

I had a nice Suunto model for a few years, but it died.

I moved on to these cheap little Bending Branches units:

http://www.austinkayak.com/products/743/Bending-Branches-Compass.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Shopping:%20ACK%20PLA&scid=scplp743_2598_1&sc_intid=743_2598_1&gclid=CLXBpPePh9MCFUkbaQodAbcCVg

Amazing!

I will add this:  having a deck-mounted compass is an incredible benefit in our sport.  I would not go without one.

These look really good in that if it breaks or otherwise fails you can replace it cheaply 3 times before you spend as much as I did on the ritchie.

Also, I read the reviews.  There was this one star review:

By: Mark  Date: May 22, 2016  Rating Stars
Verified Buyer

Ordered this Compass thinking it was the perfect size for a kayak. Through first one came and North was pointing due South. Ordered a replacement, the second one had the same issue. Poor quality from manufacturer. ACK has been great to deal with however! They did their best to correct the problem.

Another victim of the direct read compass. 

Did you check its relative position and compare with FF battery connected plus off/on to see if it varied?

I'm curious if it changes and if so how much. I haven't mounted mine yet, I've just had a handheld model before.

Yes I did some checking. I tried turning the FF off and on. Pulling the tray under the hatch with tackle and knives. When I got back to shore I moved the FF. Nothing had much if even any effect on it. I'm not going to try too much yet. If Wilderness ever gets those lithium batteries in, I'll be adding a battery close to the compass and rerouting the power wire. I'll give it another try after those changes are made.