[TowerTalk] And now for something completely different (TrueNorth)

[TexasRF at aol.com]

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 at copper.net writes:

ORIGINAL  MESSAGE:

On Sat, 16 Sep 2006 18:49:14 -0500, "Jim  Miller"
<JimMiller at 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
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