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Lesson 9: Magnetic and Gyro Compasses

1) The document discusses magnetic and gyrocompasses, including their operation, errors, and conversions between magnetic and true bearings. 2) Magnetic compasses point to magnetic north and are affected by variation and deviation errors from the Earth's magnetic fields and a ship's metallic structures. Gyrocompasses point to true north using a high-speed spinning gyroscope. 3) Gyrocompasses are more accurate than magnetic compasses but require electrical power and maintenance. Errors in gyrocompasses are expressed as small east or west deviations, and various methods can determine the gyro error amount.

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Adil Ahmed
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571 views

Lesson 9: Magnetic and Gyro Compasses

1) The document discusses magnetic and gyrocompasses, including their operation, errors, and conversions between magnetic and true bearings. 2) Magnetic compasses point to magnetic north and are affected by variation and deviation errors from the Earth's magnetic fields and a ship's metallic structures. Gyrocompasses point to true north using a high-speed spinning gyroscope. 3) Gyrocompasses are more accurate than magnetic compasses but require electrical power and maintenance. Errors in gyrocompasses are expressed as small east or west deviations, and various methods can determine the gyro error amount.

Uploaded by

Adil Ahmed
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Lesson 9: Magnetic and

Gyro Compasses

01/25/21
Lesson 9: Magnetic and
Gyrocompasses
 AGENDA:
– Directional reference systems
– The Magnetic Compass
– Magnetic Error (Variation and Deviation)
– Compass Conversion (T  M)
– The Gyrocompass
– Gyrocompass Error
 Applicable reading: Hobbs pg. 148-176.
Directional Reference
Systems
 Directional References
– Relative Bearings (R) = bearings measured with
reference to the ship’s longitudinal axis
– Magnetic Bearings (M) = bearings measured with
respect to magnetic north.
– True Bearings (T) = bearings measured with respect to
true of geographic north.

 Ship’s Head (or heading)


– a special bearing denoting the direction in which the ship
is pointing.
000 T

270 T 090 T
270 R
180 T

000 R
180 R

090 R
Magnetic Compasses
 Operation -
– Magnets within the compass tend to align themselves
with the earth’s magnetic lines of force.
 Construction -
– The compass consists of a circular card, graduated with
360 degrees around the face.
– A pair of magnets is attached to the underside of the
card, beneath the north-south axis.
– The card floats in the fluid to reduce friction and
dampen the vibrations caused by ship’s movement.
Magnetic Compasses
Advantages of Magnetic
Compasses
 Little maintenance required
 No power source required
 Durability
Disadvantages of Magnetic
Compasses
 Does not seek True North
 Affected by surrounding materials
 Cannot be used near the poles
Magnetic Compass Error:
Variation
 Variation: the angle between a magnetic
line of force and a geographic (true)
meridian at any location on the earth.
 Variation exists because the earth’s
magnetic and geographic poles are not in
the same location.
 Magnetic anomalies in the earth’s crust
also contribute to variation.
True North Pole Magnetic North Pole
Notice that the
two poles
aren’t together.
The magnetic
compass points
to the magnetic
pole, and this
gives us
VARIATION.
Magnetic Compass Error:
Variation
 Variation also changes from year to year
as the earth’s magnetic poles tend to
wander.
 Variation is printed inside compass roses
on all navigation charts.
 Always use the compass rose nearest
your current DR position.
Magnetic Compass Error:
Variation
Magnetic Compass Error:
Deviation
 Deviation: the angle between the
magnetic meridian and the north line on
the compass card.
 Deviation is caused by the interaction of
the ship’s metallic structure and
electrical systems with the earth’s
magnetic field.
DEVIATION
A ship’s compass also
must deal with
magnetic forces from
the ship itself. The
sum total of these
forces pulls the
compass slightly away
from magnetic north,
producing
DEVIATION.
Magnetic Compass Error:
Deviation
 Deviation can be compensated for but
never eliminated.
 A compass table is used, which provides
the value of deviation for every 15 degrees
of ship’s head.
 Entering argument for the table is oM and
degaussing on or off (DG ON/DG OFF)
Magnetic
Com pass Error: 154 in Hobbs

Deviation
Compass Conversions
 Converting Compass to True

C D M V T (AE)
Can Dead Men Vote Twice (at elections)?

 Converting True to Compass


T V M D C (AW)
True Virgins Make Dull Companions (at weddings)
Gyrocompasses

 A north-seeking gyroscope
 The gyro spins at a very high velocity, and
its spin axis remains aligned with
terrestrial meridians.
 The gyro has three axes:
– spin axis
– torque axis
– precession axis
Gyroscope Theory
age 160 in Hobbs
The
Gyro compass
Repeater
Gyrocompass
Advantages
 Seeks geographic (true) north instead of
magnetic north.
 Can be used near the earth’s magnetic
poles, where magnetic compass is useless.
 Unaffected by surrounding material.
 Signal can be fed to other systems (INS,
fire control, automatic steering)
Gyrocompass
Disadvantages
 Intricate electronic instrument.
 Requires a constant source of electrical
power and is sensitive to power
fluctuations.
 Requires periodic maintenance by highly
skilled technicians.
Gyrocompass Error

 Although the gyrocompass is a very


accurate instrument, it normally has a
small error associated with its readings.
(normally less than 1o)
 Like the magnetic compass, this error is
expressed as east or west.
Page 163 in Hobbs
Gyrocompass Error

 To remember how to use the gyro error,


two memory aids are commonly used:

If Gyro is best (higher), error is west;


If Gyro is least (lower), error is east.

Also,
G.E.T. -- Gyro + East = True
Determining Gyro
Error
 Methods of determining gyro error:
– Celestial Methods (to be discussed later)
– Observing a visual range.
– Observing bearing to an object while at a known
location.
– Heading while pierside
– Trial and error adjustment of three or more
simultaneous LOPs.
– Compare to gyrocompass of known error.
Homework #5
Ch 9: S1: 2, 6
S3: 2, 4, 8, 16
Ch 10: S1: 4, 5

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