Wednesday, June 17, 2026

Google Maps Compass is Magnetic

I assumed that since it had access to GPS that the little magnet symbol pointed true north. No. I should have realized this when trying to use it next to my Losmandy mount whose electric motors confused it horribly. 

The last couple times I have tried to use the goto feature, the first alignment star was a good ten degrees off. Because my polar axis was aimed at magnetic north, not true north; the 11 degree difference meant that sewing to Vega was about 10 degrees off. Unfortunately, Polaris is simply not visible at any hour for which I have to energy for which to stay up. Tomorrow i will make a North marker out front with a compass and a protractor.

No comments:

Post a Comment