Can anyone recommend a decent quality compass?

[Dennis79]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking to purchase a compass. Can anyone recommend a good brand and/or things to look out for?

Looking to get a reasonable level of quality so the thing will last for some time.

[tlgerdes]

Pretty much anything from Silva will serve you well. They range in price from about $30 upwards.

[stephenb]

Yep, thumps up for the Silva brand :thumbsup: - been around for decades and I've used many of them over the years. You can get them anywhere.

[Baddad]

Hi Keith, :)

Beware boring facts follow :lol: Concept stolen from Jonathon. (Hope he doesn't mind)

The compass operates more accurately in the absence of magnetic materials. Well away from steel sheds, cars, etc.

Military compasses were stored upside down. If it was right side up, a vehicle going past the store would allow movement of the needle and the associated wear on the pivot.



Cheers Marty

[Wavytone]

iPhone 3GS. The modern swiss army knife. To this, add the "Theodolite" app, which uses the camera to sight through to a target, gives you altitude, tilt and bearing to 0.1 degree.

Use the Location app for terrestrial navigation, or "Starmap Pro" for astronomy. And, via the Emerald Chronometer "Mauna Kea", you have an atomic time standard in your hand. Add the i41CX+ calculator and the surveyors pack, and you have the complete survey station.

Oh, and it does phone calls, SMS, email and surfs the web as well if you need.

Magnetic compasses are so... 18th century.

[Omaroo]

LOL! Agreed. My iPhone's compass is way better sorted when it comes to calibration within areas containing metal - ie. car parks, fences, etc. Wave it around in a figure-8 and calibration in any given area is swift and easy. Also - BIG plus - because of the built-in GPS, magnetic declination is automatically calculated for wherever you currently are and applied to find true north.

StarMap Pro - check (although I prefer Voyager... ;) )
Emerald Chronometer - check (brilliant)
i41CX+ - check (use it ALL the time - a great HP-41C emulation)
Theodolite - just bought it - look great! :) Thanks for the H/U.

Did anyone mention "iPocket Tools 9 in 1" plumb bob to initially level your mount? :D

[Octane]

Bring on the haters!

H

[Jen]

Oh man i want one of those IPhones now lol :lol:

[freespace]

another +1 for the iphone here :D

[lacad01]

ditto :)

[erick]

My phone is just fine and has been for years - even has one of these new-fangled cameras built in - how about that!

A voice from the 18th century :P - yes buy a Silva. But I did buy a different make from the Katmandu shop recently for someone (Hi Jen) and it looked every bit as good as the Silva for a few dollars less. (The Silva outlet in Victoria Street, Melbourne suddenly vanished?)

[gmbfilter]

How well does it work out of reception???

[Omaroo]

As a compass, plumb bob, GPS, planetarium? Reception not required!

[taminga16]

I realise that this is an odd question, What do you want the compass for?

Electronics are only as good as the state of the batteries, Some years ago I crewed a 40ft yacht across Bass Strait, unbeknown to us at the time the owner was using a GPS as the sole form of navigation (he even failed to keep a running log), needless to say it lost power, we were fortunate that the weather was kind and were able to use some basic Coastal Nav, a compass and the lights on King Island and Cape Otway light to get us to Melbourne.

Compasses are so the future.(mine anyway)

Greg.

[taminga16]

If they were a bit heavier they would probably make great boat anchors as well. :)

[AstralTraveller]

Mine is a Suunto and it's fine. It's 'only' plastic but it seems durable. Adjustable mag dec, mirrored sighting and glow in the dark dial (very handy when trying to polar align at night). If you want really bullet-proof then a metal Brunton might be the go.

[Dennis79]

Just for general purpose use mainly, no particular purpose, I just want to know which way is north. I like to have my bearings.

It's first use will be to settle an argument, the missus reckons north is in one direction becasue that's the way the road north goes but I used the southern cross to get a rough idea of south and pointed in a completely different direction. Naturally I'm the idiot, the missus is struggling to understand that roads don't go in a straight line.:rofl:

[taminga16]

Dennis,
Check out the Silva and Suunto websites for their complete range, you will also find some useful information on how compasses work as well as some applications.

Good Luck.

Greg.

[Omaroo]

That's a great story Greg, but setting up basic polar alignment on a telescope mount is hardly Bass Strait life and death. ;)

Besides, if you need a phone, and you have to have it with you anyway (I do, I'm on call) then why not have extra features that will do the job? I don't have to carry around my lovely damped Suunto "GPS Plotter" compass anymore, and do I miss it? No. Could I still use it and know how to navigate with it? You betcha.

[taminga16]

Chris,
Dennis is looking for a compass, not a multi apps lump that happens to be able to make and take phone calls.

Greg.

[Omaroo]

With utmost respect, I think you've missed the point of the pro-phone people here. It's something that most people really do need in their lives these days anyway (heaven forbid - I wish I could lose mine sometimes, LOL!) - so most people already have one. If that's the case for Dennis, then there is a two-in-one solution that he might consider. "Boat anchor" isn't what I'd use to describe these devices. Maybe you'll get to use one one day! :)

I agree - all Dennis asked for was what we recommended as a brand and type of compass. Pretty simple device. I already mentioned that I used to use a Suunto - so I'll leave it at then then eh?

Hey Dennis - maybe you should explain what you want it for - otherwise you'll be sold a rubberised, weather-proofed brass-plated nitrogen-filled, prism-equipped, multi-scale thing that really is a boat anchor. IS it just to set up your mount with, or is it for hiking or canyoning or some such energetic outdoor pursuit? That'll determine what you should be recommended, no?

[JimmyH155]

I wouldnt trust anything electric. Murphy's Law states that when you most need it, the batteries will fail, or you will get it wet, or you will drop it.
MY ADVICE

Go to a large YACHT CHANDLER (or Yachting magazine) and get a hand bearing compass. Will cost you - wont be cheap. These are designed to be RUGGED and WATERPROOF:) and used by yachties.:)
I bought one over 20 years ago and it is still working brilliantly. You hold it to your eyes and look through to the very accurate scale. Mine was filled with Tritium gas so could see at night. (gas long ago leaked out though.) Heavy rubber sheathing all round, and was neat, you put it round your neck on a string.
You will always be able to get the magnetic variation for your area off the .net, then apply the adjustment (ie in Brissie variation is 12 degrees east, so to point directly south, you set the compass to point 180 - 12 = 168 degrees:D)
Good old 18th century stuff for me. Capt'n Cook managed with no worries, mate:P

[Robert9]

Use your watch! Point the 12 at the sun and bisect the angle between the sun and the hour-hand. Bingo - due north.

[gary]

No quite there yet ...

Despite the triumph of integrated circuit fabrication that modern multi-axis
magnetometers are, the reliability in accuracy of the bearing reading in
devices employed in mobile phones such as these is typically in the order
of 1.4 degrees in each axis.



Even though the magnetic compass has probably been around since about the
2nd Century AD, today's electronic compasses still rely on the the Earth's
magnetic field. :thumbsup:

[Nesti]

What's it being used for?

I can't offer any advice for anything other than for pure navigation, and then there really is only one choice [for me]. Forget gadgets and batteries to run the gadgets, or even cheap compasses. If you want something for a long time, try the Silva Prismatic.

There's a reason why they've kept their price over the years. Mine lasted me 13 years...I carried it for hundreds perhaps thousands of hours. It's good in mud, rain, dust and heat. I've had it in my pocket going over brick walls etc, you name it.

Use a lanyard with it and cover it with a sock cut in half (put a hole in the top and thread the lanyard through that so when it hangs the soc natually covers it)...it'll last you for years.

Used properly, it's insanely accurate. The only negative is that you have to keep the card pretty flat (level with the ground) to get the accuracy.

You can dial in the Mag variation and take bearings off a map in a few seconds. Read off the card (through the prism) of two distant features (hills say) and with practice you can get your position down to 10m (resections).

The prism has florescent paint, so you can navigate at night or you can read off the bearings on the card (so long as you have enough light to see the feature you are taking the bearing off). If you're good at converting paces to meters (map meters), you can safely navigate a winding corridor off a mountain in zero visibility (put my faith in mine on Ben Nevis in Scotland, total white-out and got down in one piece).

The prism can be unscrewed and replaced if damaged or requires cleaning.

Card displays Degrees and Mils...but you'll probably never get to use Mils (Mils is a better system).

http://criticalaccessories.com/index.php?main_page=product_free_sh ipping_info&products_id=141&zenid=d45f6e08ad6c1bff491c52c6d45f8 209

[Jen]

:hi::hi: Hi Eric :D
yeah Eric got one for me isnt he a lovely fella ;)

[TrevorW]

Problem is mines a digital :lol:

[Ric]

Speaking from an RFS point of view, none of us leave the station without a trusty Silva or Suunto in our pockets.

All of our trucks are equiped with GPS and we are trained to use them but we are still trained every month or two with map and compass which is still the most reliable in my books.

[AstroJunk]

Grade-A boring fact Marty:thumbsup:

[Rick Parrott]

Depends what it's for...
Any compass used by SCUBA divers are good; they are calibrated for local magnetic deviation (within reason); a bit expensive (around $90 or so from a dive shop), but they do get you home (always important underwater!).
I have seen the cheap ones that junkstores and car auto accesories places often have - they can be out as much as 90 degrees or more!
So... dive shop, or camping store or similar I think!

[AstralTraveller]

I circulated the information about using an iPhone as a basic survey station to the staff here at the School of Earth and Enviromental Sciences and found out that it has already been done. We run a subject with a week long geological mapping field trip. One of the students' tasks is to measure strike and dip of rock strata, normally using a Brunton compass ($300+ each). Last year some students used an iPhone and their data was as good as that obtained with the Bruntons. Of course there is always user error in student data and the undulations on the surface of any outcrop mean that even experienced users will get slightly different results. So while I wouldn't use an iPhone to build roads, fly aircraft or scuba dive it seems that for some application they may be perfectly acceptable.