Thanks for choosing Furuno. Quality does matter particularly when at similar price points. Get a good location for the fluxgate and it can give you good service.
Radar overlay won’t turn on
- Thread starter Foulweather Jack
- Start date
Foulweather Jack
Member
So I had the opportunity to go out yesterday and calibrate the heading sensor. The only difficult part is that it is mounted in a part of the boat that is difficult to reach, requiring some disassembly to access. But in any case, the calibration process was straightforward: I simply followed the instructions on the manual
It appears that there is approximately 5-10 degrees of deviation on the heading sensor as compared to my magnetic compass.
This begs a few questions:
In order to correct the deviation, I’ve learned that I can do that by pressing buttons on the heading sensor itself (difficult to do because of its relative inaccessibility) or by correcting heading deviation on one of the “setup” menus on the touchscreen. For reasons of simplicity, I simply corrected for the deviation on the touchscreen, but I’m wondering: does it matter whether it’s done from the heading sensor or from the touchscreen (I suspect it doesn’t matter, but I’m not sure, hence my question)?
Which do I trust as accurate, the heading sensor, or my standard magnetic compass?
And if I trust the compass as the gold standard, do I need to somehow correct my compass for deviation?
I suspect this is all rather basic for many of you, but I’m trying my best to learn. I suspect a satellite compass may be in my future.
It appears that there is approximately 5-10 degrees of deviation on the heading sensor as compared to my magnetic compass.
This begs a few questions:
In order to correct the deviation, I’ve learned that I can do that by pressing buttons on the heading sensor itself (difficult to do because of its relative inaccessibility) or by correcting heading deviation on one of the “setup” menus on the touchscreen. For reasons of simplicity, I simply corrected for the deviation on the touchscreen, but I’m wondering: does it matter whether it’s done from the heading sensor or from the touchscreen (I suspect it doesn’t matter, but I’m not sure, hence my question)?
Which do I trust as accurate, the heading sensor, or my standard magnetic compass?
And if I trust the compass as the gold standard, do I need to somehow correct my compass for deviation?
I suspect this is all rather basic for many of you, but I’m trying my best to learn. I suspect a satellite compass may be in my future.
gtstang462002
Furuno Super Fan
Compasses as a whole are not actually pointing at true north, but magnetic north. Which actually shifts a little. Here on the east coast we are somewhere around a 10.5 degree difference between magnetic and true north. Charts are printed in true north and we have to actually do the declination change between the 2.
Foulweather Jack
Member
Thanks, gtstang. I’m aware of the difference between magnetic and true north; what’s puzzling me is the difference between the observed “magnetic heading” on my heading sensor and the observed heading on my magnetic compass.
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