Hand Bearing Compass

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I am just compiling my wish list for Christmas.

I always charter and the handheld copasses are pretty useless, so this is one of my stocking fillers, no jokes about weekend dressing, and would like to hear opinions based on practiacal use of.

TA
 
I've used a lot over the years - as , no doubt - have many others on here.

First, The Personal Electronic ( fluxgate ) devices are unsatid=sfactory in practice. They need to be held level and stable, for their wizardry to work. That doesn't happen at sea.

Next, the best I've used - and the one I keep and carry - is the Capstan Model: HC 1200 by Rigel of Southampton.
 
Very much like my Plastimo Iris 100 for lots of reasons (not all relevant to you):

Nice big arm's length compass - important with eyes like mine.

Mounts in the cockpit as a second (starboard) steering compass - useful when your tiller-steered boat likes to sail on her ear.

When so mounted it is perfectly placed to wedge the handheld GPS against the log display.

If it was the version with the light it'd be perfect. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
second the Iris 50 and definitely buy the holder, but mine cost about thirteen quid, where did you get one for £7
 
Another vote for the Iris 50 fine for specs wearers ,shine a torch on it for a minute prior to night use.

I used to have a Suunto commander have tried the Autohelm personal compass,Silva and a few others, favourite is the Iris.
 
SW
as usual, a jumble. Possibly Ipswich but more probably North Weald.
Wondrous exotic place names for you to conjure with in the frozen wastes.
Judicious purchase, as I couldnt find the compass at the right price at the time, but I knew I would buy one at some stage.
 
I wouldn't write off considering a fluxgate handheld (assuming any are available, I know the Autohelm one is discontinued) as I personally have never had a problem with keeping them reasonably level.

That because most of us, when the boat rolls, automatically as a natural reaction keep our torsos vertical and manage that as the boat rolls. If one doesn't do so if standing on ones own sea legs then you fall over, and if propped but not sitting most still instinctively keep torso vertical (I have never taken a bearing sitting except in calmish conditions when able to sit up on the cockpit coamings without having to hold on, but maybe some do).

Furthermore, if wanted for chartering, as said, then that will most often be in reasonably sheltered waters with no heavy sea conditions.

I find the big advantage of a fluxgate is that one can send a string of readings to memory and thus have a good idea of the accuracy of the bearing by reviewing them. But in the end the choice is personal and I would suggest trying a variety of compasses based on the suggestions.

John
 
".....When so mounted it is perfectly placed to wedge the handheld GPS against the log display....."

I like the Plastimo, for similar reasons to my Rigel. However, I wonder how you cope with the significant induced deviation, in the above config?

I recall leaving 'Pullers' - south of Oban - one morning and heading off heading towards Colonsay ( SW ) on the horizon, and noting the bulkhead compass reading about 330. After a wee investigation, the HBC ws found stuffed into the top of the fire blanket container, just on the inside of the bulkhead, behind the steering compass . Deviation was over 90º, just what's wanted in a rain squall......
 
Why not ask for a decent pair of bins with an inbuilt compass and kill two birds with one stone? Now I have mine I hardly ever use my sestrel ex RN prismatic anymore but have never found a "plastic fantastic" any good in comparison with it. Still to be seen at boat jumbles....
 
The old autohelm fluxgate was actually a very good compass. However, you did need to allow for its design limitations. The best thing about it was the 9 memories. If you used it by storing the same bearing 3 times, and then roughly averaging the result you got very good fixes indeed. Wish I had one.
 
I've got an Autohelm PC & I wouldn't trade it in for one of the old fashioned types. So much easier to use & so much more accurate.

The idiots who complained about the need to keep it flat are those same fools who are seduced by the digital readout. You know cos it gives you a readout in numbers you demand accuracy to the third decimal place when an analogue readout is acceptable to within 5 degrees.

The same is true when they use a GPS & compare its positional accuracy with a Sextant.

Like you say use the 9 memories sensibly & you can't beat them.

Martin
 
Ah, well, now. Here's one idiot who knows his limitations - and the limitations of his kit.

.....Used to earn my living with a sextant, and regularly ( at least once a month ) used one to do a 1200-1500 nm trip out into the Atlantic and back, and on the return was required to navigate my ( er, The Queen's ) vessel down a 'lane' 2 miles wide, arriving within 30 seconds of planned ETA. And if I couldn't, I was out of a job until I could. Oh, and there were scores of others doing exactly the same.....

I used to calibrate ( 'swing' ) compasses as part of the job, and I was measuring compass errors to around 1/100 of a degree. Same with all my mates. So I reckon that, in good conditions and with a reliable HBC which gives me 'repeatability', I can usually fix my position to better than 0.2 nm. Same with all my mates.

But for real accuracy, give me a couple of good visual transits. That's good for the width of the cockpit.....
 
Been there, done that as well. Gyroscopic compass, a proper pelourus, and relatively small motion makes position fixing pretty simple.

A small boat being heaved around, will also affect the acuracy of the small hand held compass, and most of them take a finite time to get back to correct angle after a slam from a wave. Thus getting a three point fix can take a little while to ensure the bearing is accurate.

The little fluxgate is inherently not as accurate as the hand held compass - accepted. but the ability to very quickly take 3x3 bearings and then mean them for a 3 point fix is playing to the strengths of the device, and the results would surprise you.

BTW you should try doing those accurate positions usig the systems available before the electronic devices became available - Horizontal sextant angles etc. Now I havent used one of them in a long time.
 
[ QUOTE ]
".....When so mounted it is perfectly placed to wedge the handheld GPS against the log display....."

I like the Plastimo, for similar reasons to my Rigel. However, I wonder how you cope with the significant induced deviation, in the above config?

I recall leaving 'Pullers' - south of Oban - one morning and heading off heading towards Colonsay ( SW ) on the horizon, and noting the bulkhead compass reading about 330. After a wee investigation, the HBC ws found stuffed into the top of the fire blanket container, just on the inside of the bulkhead, behind the steering compass . Deviation was over 90º, just what's wanted in a rain squall......

[/ QUOTE ]

Not sure if I understand you here BB. Assuming HBC stands for hand bearing compass you noted significant deviation caused by another magnetic compass.

I don't pretend to understand everything inside a GPS but there doesn't seem to be anything in mine which upsets the compass. Or perhaps.. nah. I dunno.
 
That's rubbish, I can get my position to a couple of feet, even in the dark.


Oh, you are not talking about a GPS are you?
 
OK, I'll try again. The Hand Bearing Compass ( HBC ) wrongly stowed very adjacent to the steering compass, caused deviation of the steering compass of around 90º.

When I read the original post, I offered up my little Garmin GPS12 to my Rigel HBC, and the displayed bearing in the latter changed by about 25º. It's misleading for some 'navigation authorities' to write that your HBC is free from deviating influences. That can only be true if that compass is checked, in the position intended for use, ensuring the user is not carrying deviating material as above.

Lots of stuff will cause unexpected compass deviation, both in the steering compass and the HBC - and that is often significant. E.g. a torch in one's oilies jacket pocket, a Walkman or MP3 player, cockpit speakers, a handheld VHF on a cord around the neck..... even a handful of 'coppers', due to their nickel content.

It's an awareness thing. Navigation geekery...
 
A few years back A yacht bound for the return passage to the South Coast of England from South west Ireland ended up in the Bristol Channel .

Turned out that the owner (who was no fool and had an up to date deviation card) had not noticed that his novice crewman had stowed the seagull outboard in the opposite cockpit locker to normal giving a huge deviation which after a 24 hour passage had him totally confused.

Another wooden boat was converted for wheel steering .The binnacle was a teak work of art with cup holders and a locker built into the base.Locker just large enough for a metal toolbox /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
 
"" A few years back A yacht bound for the return passage to the South Coast of England from South west Ireland ended up in the Bristol Channel .

Turned out that the owner (who was no fool and had an up to date deviation card) had not noticed that his novice crewman had stowed the seagull outboard in the opposite cockpit locker to normal giving a huge deviation which after a 24 hour passage had him totally confused.""

Makes a good case for regularly plotting your position on a chart I reckon!!
 
"Makes a good case for regularly plotting your position on a chart I reckon!! "

With no GPS on board, would that really have helped? A sextant sighting might have put him to rights, but how many people would bother on a trip like that? Wouldn't most people set off on a compass bearing and expect to wind up with a landfall within 10 miles of where they expect. Surely plots would be EPs at best, so no help under those circumstances?

(Not being picky, rather trying to understand & maybe learn something, 'cos one day my GPS will pack up on me, and it will be at the most inconvenient time possible)
 
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