Calibration: Instructions For Compass, Depth Sounder, Log And Wind

Calibration: Instructions For Compass, Depth Sounder, Log And Wind
Calibration: Instructions For Compass, Depth Sounder, Log And Wind

Video: Calibration: Instructions For Compass, Depth Sounder, Log And Wind

Video: Calibration: Instructions For Compass, Depth Sounder, Log And Wind
Video: Compass Calibration- The Easy Way 2024, March
Anonim

It's wet and cold, every few minutes the stern crashes into the uncomfortably steep wave - obviously there are more pleasant courses than this bumpy cross. But an end is in sight. According to the plotter, there are only a few minutes left, then the lay line on the display has crawled over the hook and the system reports: Time to turn! According to the calculation, the course on the new bow is clear. So let's go around, fight the last mile to the waypoint and then finally fall off. But as soon as the sails are trimmed over the stay and on the new bow, the wind seems to have turned with it. There can be no more talk of a neighbor to the headland; it is easily missing ten degrees. The wind indicator also shows a spin as confirmation.

A turn later, the same game, again the wind seems to peal just in maneuver. Just bad luck, or is there some system behind it? A look at the compass does not really provide any insight. According to the steering compass, the boat runs around 200 degrees, the autopilot shows 190 degrees, and the GPS reports a course of 220 degrees above ground.

Such deviations can almost always be explained by incorrectly adjusted instruments, sometimes even by incorrect installation. A single measurement error propagates across several values: With the wrong speed through the water, the system calculates the wrong height in the true wind, thus wrong turning angles and the wrong geographical wind direction. The cruising sailor suddenly cannot reach the waypoint that was believed to be safe before the turn, and the regatta skipper sees wind changes where there are none.

This widespread problem can hardly be avoided completely, but it is possible to trim the values measured by the compass, echo sounder, log and wind so that their display comes as close as possible to the actual values. However, the whole thing is associated with a considerable amount of time and calculation.

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