TheCompass
Not all compass will work in all latitudes. In fact a compass is next to useless the closer you
get to the poles. At the poles the pointer wants to DIP or point down to the ground.
The gimbals supports are designed to react to gravity and hold the compass body level.
The card bearing is a loose fit to allow the card to rotate and tilt. But only so much tilt can
be accommodated. In some compass the magnets are mounted below the card on a tilt to
reduce the card tilting. This tilt will reduce the compass sensitivity or accuracy so a trade off
has to be taken into account to much tilt and the compass will swing and have a difficulty
finding north, no tilt and the card won't float horizontal and be hard to read. As you get
closer to the poles the tilt increases till the bearing is rubbing on the card support post.
This rubbing reduces the cards ability to swing completely to the proper sensed direction.
What's the solution? There isn't one even a gyroscopic compass will tilt the closer you get to
the poles, but for a different reason. Take your GPS along.
The only place a compass card floats on the horizontal is at the equator.
Email: ernie@stonecutter2.com