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Re: [TowerTalk] Finding True North

To: "towertalk@contesting.com" <towertalk@contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Finding True North
From: Randy <randy@gte.net>
Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2008 20:23:33 -0500
List-post: <towertalk@contesting.com">mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
Some day, science will give us a plastic owl, mounted on roller 
bearings, with an internal magnet aligned
with its beak, so the *owl* will point true north.

73,
Randy
KZ4RV

Richards wrote:
> Oh great!     So what do I do if I don't have a tower...?
>
> ================  Richards- K8JHR  ===============
>
> Jeff Carter wrote:
>   
>> >From the ARRL's Contester's Rate Sheet for March 26, 2003:
>>
>> Something we all need to know is an exact method for finding True
>> North.  Having observed several in-depth discussions on this topic, I
>> believe that I have distilled the assembled wisdom of many emails into
>> the following guaranteed 13-step process:
>>     
>
>
>   
>> 1 -- Stack all patio furniture in the garage.  No particular reason,
>> just do it.
>> 2 -- Don your tower climbing belt, which must include two gorilla
>> hooks and a positioning lanyard, lots of caribeeners, a Danforth
>> anchor and a planetary gearhead.
>> 3 -- Prepare some epoxy and obtain 200 meters of Thelman wire.
>> 4 -- Use a slingshot, fishing rod, or potato gun to fling the Thelman
>> wire through the top of the tower.  Secure it to a  convenient guy
>> anchor with a caribeener and a Singapore Sling tied in a Four-In-Hand
>> Knot.
>> 5 -- Climb the tower.
>> 6 -- Return down the tower to pick up the Plastic Owl.
>> 7 -- Climb the tower.
>> 8 -- Return down the tower to brief the ground crew and agree on hand
>> signals.  Name the Plastic Owl.
>> 9 -- Go to the bathroom and climb the tower again in that order.
>> 10 -- At the top of the tower, scare away the birds by securing the
>> Plastic Owl to the wasp's nest using the Danforth anchor. Attach the
>> planetary gearhead to the Thelman wire using the epoxy.
>> 11 --Clip your positioning lanyard to the gearhead and spin around the
>> tower twice saying, "There's no place like home, there's no place like
>> home."
>> 12 -- Yell down to the ground crew and have them point to True North.
>> Take the average of the directions in which they point and compute the
>> vector cross-product.  You may ignore your estimated direction because
>> you're a scalar. (Sorry, obscure math joke.)
>> 13 - Mark a large "X" on the side of your tool bucket.  This is True
>> North and so shall it always be.
>> _______________________________________________
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> TowerTalk@contesting.com
>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
>>
>>     
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