Hi Keith, > The Silva company makes 4 different compasses and depending on where you > live or where you are going to visit makes the difference in which one you > are to use. I think that is because of the differences in declination (and maybe in inclination also). The magnetic and geographic northpoles are not at the same place, so you've always got a difference between the direction your compasses needle points to and the 'real' (geographic) north. Depending on where you are this difference (the declination) will vary. Good compasses will have a screw to adjust the declination for the point where you are. Inclination is a similar effect depending on the geographic length you are at. If you hold your compass vertical to the ground (and the needle is good) it will point to about the geographic length you are at. If you are on the equator it will point parallel to the ground (0 degrees) as the magnetic field of the earth is parallel to the ground there. At the poles it should point down to the ground where the magnetic poles are (90 degrees). At least that is what we learnt in geography in school. Visit my homepage at www.royal-ranger.com Allzeit bereit f�r Jesus, Fani Pioneer-Cmdr OP #78 Moetzingen/Germany _______ To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe rangernet" to [EMAIL PROTECTED] "Eat the hay & spit out the sticks! - A#1's mule" RTKB&G4JC! http://rangernet.org Autoresponder: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
