Swinging and calibrating your Compass
April 15, 2025 · 10 min · 6K views
What this video covers
Leon Schulz swings and calibrates a new Kassnerst & Platt compass aboard his yacht, walking through the full two-stage process: coarse deviation compensation using built-in adjustable magnets, then a 360-degree deviation table.Watch The compass is a custom-ordered unit with white compass rose cards designed for reading sun shadows in celestial navigation and for the RYA Yachtmaster Ocean exam.0:13 Schulz aligns the compass to the ship's heading using marks drilled through the mounting holes, then uses a non-magnetic screwdriver to adjust two internal magnet screws — one perpendicular to the ship's axis for north/south headings, one parallel for east/west — correcting each axis in turn and splitting residual error between opposing headings.0:38 A Furuno SC33 satellite compass, set to output magnetic headings, serves as the reference throughout, making deviation measurement a direct comparison read.2:43 After iterating through north, east, south, and west, Schulz steers the autopilot through a full 360 degrees in 10-degree steps to build the deviation table.7:47 The result: a maximum deviation of 3 degrees (minus 3 degrees at 120-degree heading), with near-zero deviation on most headings.8:33 A consistent 1.5-degree negative offset across all headings indicates the compass or satellite compass is slightly misaligned to the ship's centerline, correctable electronically via the Furuno plotter.9:35
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