Anyone else's compass wrong again?

Last year there was a mega thread on compasses being wrong (or not depending on where you lived). I did not see any anomalous movement in my compass
So ever siince then I have kept an eye on an Army type compass I have set up in my front room.
So over the last year I know what is normal for my area.

In March of this year (2012) my compass suddenly started to be 8-10 degrees off. It was pointing more East than normal. It occurred from 3rd March to 8th March 2012.
I took photos and when I learn to embed photos I will share them with you.

Well I waited to see if anyone else had noticed a problem but no threads appeared. I was a bit busy in March so I didn't start a thread on it. And I thought, as this anomaly only lasted a few weeks in March 2011, I thought that was to be the end of the problem.

But the anomaly has occurred again, from 7th April until now; 12th April. About 8 degrees more East again.


Has anyone noticed their compasses are off, and by how many degrees, and where approx in the World?

Or is it just my house?

Also any ideas what could be causing this anomaly?

I can't find my compass right now, but my iPhone compass looks right.
I can't say it's not off by any degrees though. North looks to be about where it should.
I'm near Vancouver Canada

My Compass is always off, Then again i did get it with a happy meal....

Honestly, in a fairness my boat compass (which i would be ecstatic to find in a happy meal box) was off 9Deg yesterday, I compensated with SatNav and gps, But still for such a normally accurate piece of kit it made me wonder

maybe buy a new compass and compare them. it could be your compass is on it's last legs.

reply to post by violet


would never rely on modern tech to actually be accurate. darn world has me so spooked. when i find my grandpops compass i will look. i noticed last year though the directional "north" actually appeared 6-8 degrees off in the west region. if i could actually see the sun here in oregon i would give u a more accurate answer but until then stars and flags

I have an old Nazi compass my uncle brought back from the war....

I will check it out...i wouldn't trust electronic ones either....did I just say that...ats is getting to me.

Mine is off about 10 degrees to the west...

I'd take a picture but there really is no point of reference... and someone will come around either way and say it's "broken" or "you don't know how to read it" or "blah blah blah I'll naysay whatever is said just to be a contradictory _________"...

reply to post by SwissMarked


lemme go to work tomorrow and i will line up every last compass on the shelf to the directional "north" and take pics lol that would freak people out . all the compasses are off about 10 degrees.

Originally posted by violet
I can't find my compass right now, but my iPhone compass looks right.
I can't say it's not off by any degrees though. North looks to be about where it should.
I'm near Vancouver Canada

Depending on what app you run it can change depending on it's going with true north or magnetic north.. some apps let you see both..

Mine seems ok at the moment.. but it did read a few degrees off a few months back

Don't trust the compass? Take a glass of water, magnetize a sewing needle, float the needle on something small and light in the water. i.e. sliver of cork, small piece of foam. You get an instant, no BS, honest, compass.

Originally posted by MissCoyote
reply to post by SwissMarked

 

lemme go to work tomorrow and i will line up every last compass on the shelf to the directional "north" and take pics lol that would freak people out .

all the compasses are off about 10 degrees.

It would really get people going bananas if they were all pointing in different directions...

A lot of major cities have streets that run directly north/south and east/west as mine does... so there's no doubt in my mind it's off... but cynics will always blame the operator or equipment... just the way of the world...

sorry dawg, my compass is DEAD ON, nottings changed, i'll take a picture if you want lol

reply to post by AriesJedi




Magnetic anomaly map for just Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.



For the world greatly reduced in size.

Could be normal where you are or not normal. Your likely seeing a local anomaly and no doubt as you can see from the maps, this is pretty common. The accuracy of a compass is not to reliable. Try GPS.

There are reasons we have True North, and Magnetic North. At least one of them varies.

My magnetic compass is (still) pointing about 10 degrees east of true north. Just like it should.

It can help if you make sure you are not standing near any large metallic objects or something really obvious like a loudspeaker. It also helps if you do not use the compass in your phone.

www.ngdc.noaa.gov...

Originally posted by zayonara
Don't trust the compass? Take a glass of water, magnetize a sewing needle, float the needle on something small and light in the water. i.e. sliver of cork, small piece of foam. You get an instant, no BS, honest, compass.

Finally, thank you zayonara,
used to do this as a child using my lego magnets.Spent many an hour stroking the needle in one direction. Will do it again tomorrow and compare to my shop bought compass.

have to laugh at those who believe that an iPhone App wouldn't dare lie to them.

reply to post by Phage


I was 9Deg out on top of that Phage, At the same time there were many different factors that could have affected my nautical compass at the time, Thought nothing of it

Next time you notice the deflection on your compass look at the current magnetosphere simulation.

www2.nict.go.jp...

Lately the sun has been wreaking havoc on our magnetosphere. This is happening while our magnetic strength is dropping worldwide. It is said by some geologists that this happens right before we get a magnetic pole shift which is way overdue. There is no data available to tell us what will happen to the planet if the polarity changes. Maybe nothing noticeable or maybe global weather changes that would turn desserts into oceans.

Magnetic north has been on the move for a long time and has been accelerating over the last century. There has been a polar anomaly in the south region that has been growing and new north's pop up and retreat all over the globe. The reversal is close and your compass will be useless the way you are used to using it.

Just remember to check the magnetosphere when you see the anomaly next time and take a snapshot to put with your thread or just copy the link onto the page. I don't know how to make stuff show up on the page, but there are others here that can help with that.

I keep a set of magnets hanging from a string in my computer room that point north. If we are experiencing computer problems or satellite issues I always look to see if there is a fluctuation in the magnetosphere.

reply to post by randomname

Really??? Didn't know compasses had a life expectancy, thought they worked off the principles of magnetism, maybe I'm confused or uninformed or both!

Check, maybe they were firing up the LHC again! Damn mini black holes will do it every time!