Quote:
Originally Posted by charliehows
?? I've got 2 handhelds, they both give pretty accurate bearings once left sitting in the cockpit for a few seconds, as well as lat/long, sog, eta, etc, etc ( about 100 other useful functions). Couple of people stating categorically that they dont work as a compass - have you ever actually used one these things?
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I think the people stating that didn't realize the OP was not talking fixed-mount GPS/chartplotter, but a handheld
GPS with a built-in
fluxgate. The OP clarified that in later posts. There are quite a few older handheld
GPS units which do not have fluxgates, and that was what those guys were thinking of.
A handheld GPS with
fluxgate compass must be treated just like a hand bearing compass. Thinking it is just as good as a binnacle-mounted compass is absolutely wrong. As others have mentioned, a properly swung binnacle compass will always show the vessel's heading (unless you hold a magnet near it!).
A handheld GPS with fluxgate will always show bearing - where it's pointing (assuming it's held level. If your
boat is pointed due west, your handheld GPS/fluxgate compass will show 270 - only if it's pointed that direction. If you're pointing it towards the mark you're heading towards, it's indicating the magnetic compass bearing to that mark - which is not necessarily the actual heading of the
boat. So, it you want to be a good strategic
racer, you should have both on your boat - a binnacle compass (or a fixed-mount fluxgate compass - whichever one it should be properly swung), and a hand-held bearing compass or GPS equipped with fluxgate compass.
Every modern smartphone contains a GPS receiver, fluxgate compass, and an accelerometer, so you'd think that would
work as well for Wednesday night
racing. But very few have daylight visible screens, and those that do would run down their
batteries before you got back to the yacht club.