[PUP] Satellite Compass

[Ron Rogers]

Well, first it would good to know the reasons he offered to support 
installing this piece of equipment. The satellite compass is two GPS 
antennas - one on each side of the top of your pilothouse. The instruments 
computer can calculate the minute difference in the reception of the WAAS 
signal and provide a compass heading. Technautics offers a guidance system 
that combines a rate gyro device with a single GPS signal to offer course 
maintenance/correction - no fluxgate.

I guess the logic is that the Furuno device is cheaper than the cheapest 
true gyro compass. You're either looking up the technology/price line or 
down it.

Mike Maurice and others could tell us at what point in traveling North to 
Alaska for example do you run into compass/fluxgate anomolies?

Lastly, I believe all Simrad autopilots will accept GPS input so you can go 
waypoint to waypoint after careful study and while maintaining a watch and 
cross-check of radar, etc. Of course you would do this regardless of 
guidance source.

Are they suggesting that you have two autopilots? One a backup. A long-range 
cruiser should have some redundancy. So the backup for the satellite compass 
is a fluxgate?

Ron Rogers
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tim Johnson" <tim@timandclair.com>


|I am in the process of selecting the electronics to be installed in a
| Nordhavn 64 now under construction.  My electronics vendor is
| recommending that I use a Furuno satellite compass for navigation input
| into the autopilot (Simrad AP 25s).  These compasses are expensive (over
| $6K installed) and I'm not sure they are worth it.  Any comments from
| members of this list would be appreciated.