Here is a golden opportunity for a talented computer programmer! If Polaris
makes the rotation as described then it passes right through true north twice
per rotation. The needed software will tell us just when this happens and we
can run outside to complete our exact antenna azimuth calibration.
A sub routine can tell us what the offset is on a real time basis so we can
use Polaris at any time for accurate calibration.
The deluxe version of the program will offer the azimuth for other easily
recognized stars and the sun as well for a complete suite of calibration
sources. I bet the telescope watching crowd already have this software.
Who will cash in on this first? I can't wait for my copy of the program!
73,
Gerald K5GW
In a message dated 9/17/2006 10:41:37 A.M. Central Daylight Time,
dezrat@copper.net writes:
ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
On Sat, 16 Sep 2006 18:49:14 -0500, "Jim Miller"
<JimMiller@STL-OnLine.Net> wrote:
>According to "true north", is the North Star really at 0.00 degrees from
>north? Is it our actual "true north"?
>73, Jim
------------ REPLY FOLLOWS ------------
According to Wikipedia, Polaris is 42 minutes of arc away from true
north, so as the earth rotates, it describes a circle around true
north of that radius. For ham purposes, that should be close enough to
true north for antenna aiming. I don't know of any HF antennas that
are anywhere so narrow that that much error would cause a problem, or
even be noticeable.
Bill, W6WRT
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
|