[TowerTalk] FW: Magnetic Declination

[Dave, AA6YQ]

If you know your QTH's latitude and longitude or grid square and your PC's
time is accurate (using a freeware internet-accessible atomic clock like
AboutTime http://www.arachnoid.com/abouttime/index.html ), DXView will tell
you when the sun is exactly true north of your tower - see
www.qsl.net/dxview . If your rotator has a PC interface, DXView will control
it for your, displaying your beam heading and the solar terminator on a
world map. And its free.

   73,

       Dave, AA6YQ

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-towertalk@contesting.com
[mailto:owner-towertalk@contesting.com]On Behalf Of Ted Huf W4ZE
Sent: Saturday, September 22, 2001 3:53 AM
To: towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: [TowerTalk] FW: Magnetic Declination




In the process of putting up my new tower, it occurred to me that I did not
know where true north was.  With my trusty Boy Scout compass, I said well it
must be right over there.  As one can image, with all these computer
assisted radios and rotators, I had better get it right. Then I remembered
about magnetic declination.  As any school boy or girl knows, the magnetic
North Pole is not the same place as the true North Pole and your compass
heading must be corrected.  This may not seem like a big deal, but it is 8.5
deg error at my QTH in PA.  For Portland, OR it is almost 18 deg. and 16.5
in Portland, ME.  This web page calculates the magnetic declination for any
location and date.  I hope it is helpful for you who desire accurate beam
pointing.

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/seg/gmag/fldsnth1.pl

73
Ted
W4ZE
w4ze@arrl.net


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List Sponsored by AN Wireless:  AN Wireless handles Rohn tower systems,
Trylon Titan towers, coax, hardline and more. Also check out our self
supporting towers up to 100 feet for under $1500!!  http://www.anwireless.com

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