Pole shift forces airports to make adjustments

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/40967742#40967742

Now, how is this going to work out on my gpsr, in terms of the
Magnetic Variation tables (lookup tables) that are already in my
receiver?

also, is this going to FUBAR everyone's maps, paper, survey, and
otherwise.

Lg

Nicholas wrote:

You might need a firmware update after a while, if your vendor bothers
to care enough about older models.

Not at all: Nearly all normal maps show geographic north, and then some
of them includes a little notice at the bottom, saying something like:

"Magnetic North is currently (2010) 1.1 degrees East of True North.
It increases by 0.2 degrees per year."

For highly precise topo maps, i.e. Orienteering competition maps, the
north lines do point to local magnetic north, which means that the maps
have to be updated every 5 years or so.

OTOH, since orienteering maps are all produced/drawn on computers these
days (check out HTTP://OCAD.COM) we normally print just the number of
maps we need for a particular event, including the courses on the printouts.

Terje
--
"almost all programming can be viewed as an exercise in caching"

On Thu, 13 Jan 2011 08:09:56 +0100, Terje Mathisen <"terje.mathisen at


Thanks for the reply, Terje

I just checked with *webupdate* Garmin program to see if they have new
firmware for my Oregon 400t. I'm using ver 4.52, and they have
nothing newer at the present time.

Someone will have to put in entirely New magnetic declination values
for the Earth, as they vary depending on where you are located. I'm
not holding my breath for this, but I would think it would be an
important priority for War Department to be abreast of this
development.

Lg

On Thu, 13 Jan 2011 02:44:07 -0600, Nicholas


It's been happening for millions of years, is a well known phenomenon
and isn't really a problem.

Airports change runway designations as a matter of course when the
difference between magnetic and true makes it necessary.
=20
--=20
Alan White
Mozilla Firefox and Forte Agent.
Twenty-eight miles NW of Glasgow, overlooking Lochs Long and Goil in =
Argyll, Scotland.
Webcam and weather:- http://windycroft.co.uk/weather

On Thu, 13 Jan 2011 09:07:07 +0000, Alan


If I'm trying to get to a waypoint and following the compass screen on
my gpsr, with inaccurate declination values in the lookup tables,
don't you think I will miss my target destination and end up in the
wrong place?