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Compass Location Recommendation

Started by Sugar_Magnolia, December 16, 2017, 09:39:02 AM

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Sugar_Magnolia

I will be adding a compass to my boat this year. It will be going on a skip top. I have done a search and it looks like the wiper motor interferes with accuracy if mounted on the dash. One suggestion I read about said to maybe mount it centered up on the skip top. Has anyone done this? Or is there a better place to mount it? Also, it looks like a Ritchie was mentioned quite a bit. Is this the brand I should be looking at? Other recommendations? Any replies appreciated.
2015 21' Arima Skip Tower 140 HP Suzuki

Diablo

That's a really good question. The wiper motor does indeed interfere with a compass mounted near it. I removed the motor, after I had put a new one in, because the compass is way more important than the wiper to me.
What's important to me is straight on look at the compass when you are running. Now because your electronics are usually mounted right in front of the helm, which I like. Where do you put the compass? When sitting and running how would it be to look up to check the compass? So I guess I would want it right above the helm as far forward as possible with a bulkhead mount type in a custom enclosure. Most compasses are made to view from above, bulkhead mounts can be viewed from the side. It will be interesting what others have done.  :twocents:

https://www.fisheriessupply.com/instruments-and-navigation/compasses
'98 19SR  '15 E Tec 115, '10 Honda 8
'67. 23 Tollycraft, 283 Chevy
'04  14' Western, '15 Tohatsu 10
'87  37 Roughwater two 8.2 Detroit diesels SOLD
'88 17SR  '90 Johnson 90, Honda 8, SOLD

StreamFixer

I ended up wrapping degaussing foil around the wiper motor.  Seems to do the job, at least enough that I could adjust to compass to compensate and give me a functioning unit..  Consistently about 15 degrees off in one direction so easy to compensate.  Does not matter if the motor is running or not. 



StreamFixer
'01 Hewes Sportsman 18
'14 Yamaha 90
'01 T8 w/ solas 4 blade
'19 Minn Kota 80# (Alterra)
'97 19SC w/ Salt Boss Top


"By the grace of God we travel upon the rivers and sea..
They, like He, are mightier than me."  Mike Jesperson aka 'Nalu

croaker stroker

This may sound silly, but why do we need a compass ?

In the age of cellphones, GPS, Electronic Compasses....are magnetic compasses becoming unnecessary as well ?

Compasses are not much good unless you know your location (time, speed and heading from port) and have a good chart and navigation tools and know how to use them.

:anyone:

1987 - 17' Sea Pacer - 2004 Evinrude 90 E-tec
1985 - 15' Sea Sprinter - **SOLD**

"Ex Tridente Pax". 🇺🇸

DevMah


In Canada dependant on the size of vessel it becomes a requirement...
Here are a few links one on how to locate the other is shielding material.



https://goneoutdoors.com/shield-marine-compass-magnetic-interference-5811784.html

https://www.aircraftspruce.ca/catalog/inpages/magneticcompassshield.php


Dev
2015 21' Sea Ranger w 150 Yammy  (Tight lines) Sold
2012 Lund 1650SS  w 2012 60HP Mercury-Sold

croaker stroker

Looks like in Canada, it's over 26 feet.

USCG "required equipment" up to 165 feet....no magnetic compass is mentioned.

Surely there must be a rule requiring a magnetic compass for 100 foot boats ??   :anyone:
1987 - 17' Sea Pacer - 2004 Evinrude 90 E-tec
1985 - 15' Sea Sprinter - **SOLD**

"Ex Tridente Pax". 🇺🇸

DevMah

Quote from: Croaker Stroker on December 16, 2017, 03:54:15 PM
Looks like in Canada, it's over 26 feet.

USCG "required equipment" up to 165 feet....no magnetic compass is mentioned.

Surely there must be a rule requiring a magnetic compass for 100 foot boats ??   :anyone:

Correct...

http://www.tc.gc.ca/media/documents/marinesafety/TP-511e.pdf

Regards,

Dev
2015 21' Sea Ranger w 150 Yammy  (Tight lines) Sold
2012 Lund 1650SS  w 2012 60HP Mercury-Sold

First Cabin

I contemplated this for quite a while.  Finally decided on mounting my compass with Velcro....  Should I need it, I pull it off and hold it in my hand.  There are just too many things in my boat that cause interference.
First:  1982 15' SeaHunter, Yamaha 70 2-stroke, Yamaha F6
Second:  1987 17' SeaRanger, Merc 90 2-stroke, Yamaha F8
Current:  2002 17' SeaChaser, Yamaha F100, Yamaha T8

Threeweight

#8
You guys need to travel further offshore. 

Try holding a course over a long (30+ mile) distance in ocean swells, wind, and fog without using a compass.

GPS is great at telling you where you are.  Not so great for telling you what course you need to hold to to compensate for wind, current, etc.. and arrive at your intended destination in the shortest amount of time, and with the least fuel consumed.


Former Sea Chaser 17 owner
Defiance 250 Admiral, twin Yamaha 150's and T9.9

"Never turn your back on fear. It should always be in front of you, like a thing that might have to be killed."
       --- Hunter S. Thompson

fishmiester

 :yeahthat: Your battery's will never go dead in your compass, when you can't see land. In a lot of places you don't have cell service offshore. I guess I'm just old school. An "old salt" fisherman from Alaska taught me how to read and follow a chart a long time ago. I do enjoy my state of the art chart plotter, and use it all the time, but will never get rid of my compass. Try telling the Coast Guard what your lat lons are when your chart plotter quits. It's a big lonely ocean out there.
If it swims, Ill  chase it
84 17' Seachaser, 2010 90hp Tohatsu tldi, BF15 Honda Custom welded kicker bracket.#lovethisboat

StreamFixer

We were trapped in a white out about 3 miles off shore near Neah Bay last May (near Strawberry Rock for those familiar with the area).  Less than 50 meters visibility.  Needed to go 2 or 3 miles West before turning North.  Yes the chart plotter worked, however, it was only a fuse away from losing power.  Plus compass gave us immediate direction...

We had charts and a good idea where we were before the fog closed in.  Less than 10 minutes from 10 miles vis to less than 50 meters.

Needed to hit the Tatoosh Is. slot or get around it before the winds were scheduled to pick up. 

If you do not see the value of a compass, don't carry one.  Your call...   :facepalm:

StreamFixer
'01 Hewes Sportsman 18
'14 Yamaha 90
'01 T8 w/ solas 4 blade
'19 Minn Kota 80# (Alterra)
'97 19SC w/ Salt Boss Top


"By the grace of God we travel upon the rivers and sea..
They, like He, are mightier than me."  Mike Jesperson aka 'Nalu

straiteagle

I've been in fog where you couldn't see 20ft.  With halibut fishers all around us, going so slow that the GPS wouldn't register the course over water, especially on start up- had to use the compass and took 2 hours to go 7 miles from the Dungeness lighthouse to Sequim Bay.
2005 Sea Legend, 200HP Suzuki,15HP EFI Suzuki

sfever

Don't all phones now have a magnetometer in them so if you just download a free app and you have a compass? I have a Samsung 7 with a compass app so even without cell coverage you always have a compass.

Sugar_Magnolia

Quote from: sfever on December 17, 2017, 01:51:06 PM
Don't all phones now have a magnetometer in them so if you just download a free app and you have a compass? I have a Samsung 7 with a compass app so even without cell coverage you always have a compass.
I have a compass on my iPhone and that is what I used to a certain extent last year.
2015 21' Arima Skip Tower 140 HP Suzuki

DevMah

Quote from: dirty_bird on December 17, 2017, 02:11:07 PM
Quote from: sfever on December 17, 2017, 01:51:06 PM
Don't all phones now have a magnetometer in them so if you just download a free app and you have a compass? I have a Samsung 7 with a compass app so even without cell coverage you always have a compass.
I have a compass on my iPhone and that is what I used to a certain extent last year.

You might want to read this post in quora about the accuracy of using you phone as a compass.

https://www.quora.com/Does-the-smart-phone-compasses-correct-for-magnetic-declination


Dev

2015 21' Sea Ranger w 150 Yammy  (Tight lines) Sold
2012 Lund 1650SS  w 2012 60HP Mercury-Sold

StreamFixer

Interesting closing comment...

"So while declination is accounted for in smartphone compasses, the margin of error is still too big for anything other than a general estimate of where true north is."

You are certainly welcome to your opinion, and to hang your life on a cell phone compass app, but I'll stick to my Richie...

StreamFixer
'01 Hewes Sportsman 18
'14 Yamaha 90
'01 T8 w/ solas 4 blade
'19 Minn Kota 80# (Alterra)
'97 19SC w/ Salt Boss Top


"By the grace of God we travel upon the rivers and sea..
They, like He, are mightier than me."  Mike Jesperson aka 'Nalu

DevMah

#16
Quote from: StreamFixer on December 17, 2017, 06:10:17 PM
Interesting closing comment...

"So while declination is accounted for in smartphone compasses, the margin of error is still too big for anything other than a general estimate of where true north is."

You are certainly welcome to your opinion, and to hang your life on a cell phone compass app, but I'll stick to my Richie...

StreamFixer


I will second that with using my Richie...
Dev
2015 21' Sea Ranger w 150 Yammy  (Tight lines) Sold
2012 Lund 1650SS  w 2012 60HP Mercury-Sold