Compass placement / accuracy

[CraigH@KRPH]

My new to me 6A has an electric remote compass mounted in the panel. Unfortunately, it's not working at the current time. If the fix proves to be expensive, I'm considering going with a standard compass. However, I've heard from several that it's pretty hard to get a compass to read reasonably accurate in the cockpit of a 6/6A/7/7A. Is this true? Any suggestions as to possible placement? Would a vertical card hanging from the bar that runs down the windshield work?

[vlittle]

Craig, my experience was that mounting the compass on the support bar was best.

I used a handheld compass to find a neutral point and mounted the whiskey compass at that point.

Nevertheless, I get up to 10 degree error when I have large electrical loads switched on (landing lights). You'll need to calibrate your compass with and without electrical loads.

With my Dynon remote compass and GPS, the whiskey compass is relegated mostly to a 'power fail' device, where their won't be any stray magnetic fields anyway.

Vern Little

[N523RV]

Craig,

I'd be interested in knowing the manufacturer of your remote compass.. that would be nice to have.

I can tell you ONE place not to mount it... near your HOBBS. Each time my hobbs ticks off a 1/10th, my compass does a little jitter. The compass is mounted right above the hobbs in my panel.

[CraigH@KRPH]

Matthew,

I'll post it once I find the paperwork and can figure out what make/model it is. It was built in 1995. I just bought the plane from Ralph Koger and have only had it in my possession 1 day. He sure did a nice job on the plane!

[markscogg]

Use the SIRS that Van's (and others) sell with the bracket made for the slider brace.
No more than 3 degrees out on any heading after swinging.

[CraigH@KRPH]

Originally Posted by markscogg

Use the SIRS that Van's (and others) sell with the bracket made for the slider brace.
No more than 3 degrees out on any heading after swinging.

My brace is the older non-stainless steel brace. Wouldn't that cause some squirrelly readings?

[CraigH@KRPH]

Originally Posted by N523RV

Craig,
I'd be interested in knowing the manufacturer of your remote compass.. that would be nice to have.

I finally figured it out. It's from Century Instrument Corp in Wichita KS. The model in my panel is the F-114. I'm going to give them a call on Monday and see if they think the problem is likely the remote unit or the compass face itself. Before going completely dead, it would work sometimes if you rapped on the glass. I'm guessing it's something wrong with the pointer itself but would like to get a more educated opinion before ordering a replacement.