Greg Milsom wrote: > > Is anyone aware of a shareware or freeware program available on the web > that will compute the magnetic variation for various Longitude and > Latitude coordinates? I am trying to orient my homemade dial and come up > with slightly different variations depending on who I talk to. Anywhere > from 9d W to 10.7d W. My coordinates are 39d N and 77d W. Is there a > 'simple' or maybe not so simple formula that I could program an Excel > spreadsheet to calculate. Thanks. > -- > > Fiddler's Green > We Design and Install Renewable Energy Systems > "Solar Energy...Live the Good Life!" > Greg Milsom, Owner > PO Box 1200 > Bowie, Maryland 20718 > Phone/Fax: (301) 210-7669 > http://www.radix.net/~green Greg, I wouldn't waste my time by aligning your dial to a compass. It is real tough to get it accurate enough. Better to use the shadow of the sun to align your dial. There are several techiques and most use software to find the direction to the sun at a given time. NASS has a program (Dialist Companion) which will help align a dial.
Good luck bob
