[TowerTalk] THANKS MIKE! RE: something really completelydifferent..andsimple... (True North)-

Sun Aug 27 12:36:32 EDT 2006

You probably weren't off all those years.  Declination changes gradually over time.  I remember that Minnesota's was 4º about 30 years ago.  Now it is 1.241º according to the website.  Gets easier all the time to find true north! 

73 de Orcy WØQT
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: K6XN 
  To: 'Mike, K6BR' ; towertalk at contesting.com 
  Sent: Saturday, August 26, 2006 6:55 PM
  Subject: [TowerTalk] THANKS MIKE! RE: something *really* completelydifferent..andsimple... (True North)-

  Mike

  I absolutely agree with your advice to those on the east coast and others
  having a negative magnetic declination. I apologize for the unintended
  possible confusion. Thanks also for the URL to find declination by zip code
  and date! I tried it and it turns out I have been off by 2.5 degrees all
  these years!!!  :-)  73, Ted, K6XN

  -----Original Message-----
  From: towertalk-bounces at contesting.com
  [mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Mike, K6BR
  Sent: Saturday, August 26, 2006 12:22 PM
  To: 'K6XN'; 'Robert Chudek - KØRC'; towertalk at contesting.com
  Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] something *really*
  completelydifferent..andsimple... (True North)-
  Importance: High

  Ted,

  It might be worth adding that your example will be the opposite for folks on
  the east coast with a minus declination. If the instructions are followed in
  the link below, it will be possible to know your declination, if any by
  entering your zip code.

  http://www.thecompassstore.com/decvar.html#

  Mike k6BR

  Bob and Team

  Here at my location in California the magnetic declination is approx 17
  degrees. I simply point or adjust my rotor controller to indicate 17 degrees
  and adjust the antenna(s) to point *Magnetic North* using a military
  compass. It seems to work just fine every time for every antenna and rotor
  combination. When I rotate my antenna to point true north according to the
  rotor controller indicator it then points to true north. Thereafter my
  rotor/controller/antenna ensemble pretty accurately points where I want them
  to point. Simple but it works...and works well. Try it...great for Field Day
  operations and mountain top VHF contests too....!  :-)

  GL and 73, Ted, K6XN

  -----Original Message-----
  From: towertalk-bounces at contesting.com
  [mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Robert Chudek - KØRC
  Sent: Friday, August 25, 2006 8:03 PM
  To: towertalk at contesting.com
  Subject: [TowerTalk] And now for something completely different (True
  North)- was Re: Mast -- Drill or not?

  HEY!!! Did I hear someone asking how to determine "True North"?!?!?!?!?  It
  was kinda hard to hear over the S-9 Hoot Owl thread and +20 dB generator
  noise right now... :-)

  As everyone knows, there's been enough threads regarding finding "True
  North" to weave a fine pair of socks... But that aside, you can use Goggle
  Earth to determine "that direction" using their tool to zoom into any
  location in question. The map defaults to N/S orientation.

  I verified my antenna alignment by picking a known object a half mile away
  from my tower. In my case it happens to be the east side of a church down
  the road. Not all areas on earth have been mapped with high resolution yet,
  so this technique might not work for everyone.

  Credit goes to my late father who taught me this "lining up" technique when
  we were fishing on Mille Lacs Lake (about 27 miles across) locating specific
  fishing spots. This in the 1950's, way before GPS.

  73 de Bob - K0RC in MN

  Message: 1
  Date: Fri, 25 Aug 2006 09:01:21 -0700
  From: "Michael" <noddy1211 at sbcglobal.net>
  Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Mast -- Drill or not?
  To: <wa3afs at inav.net>, <towertalk at contesting.com>
  Message-ID: <000d01c6c85f$b62c9060$0f01a8c0 at Mikes2>
  Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

  http://www.thecompassstore.com/decvar.html#

  Try the above link to work out your Declination, there is a link on the
  site to a calculator.  I doubt you would be as much as 30 degrees off
  true north, I am 18 degrees here by SFO.
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