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gyro compass

These are a large instruments with repeaters at the helm and bridges that measure the true heading of the vessel.

They also have a gyro error that must be applied, although the behavior of this error with heading change is different from those of a magnetic compass, often being an offset that will apply to most headings. Gyro compass error is checked routinely, often by taking bearings to the North Star with an azimuth ring with a simultaneous view to the gyro reading. The Nautical Almanac has a table that tells us how much that bearing differs from 000º at any time of observation.



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