Points of the horizon

“Here, look,” Yakov Platonovich began the next day. - On the division card ...

“Degrees,” Vasya clarified.

Yes, all three hundred and sixty degrees. But there are other designations, with Latin letters. This is RUMBA.

Not only the card is divided into them, but also the horizon. Rumba show countries of the world and directions between them.

The course is most often determined in degrees - this is more accurate. But it is also possible in rumba. And when determining wind directions, you can’t do without rhumbs. Therefore, they are especially important on sailboats.

There are four main points: North, South, East and West. They point to the countries of the world. The most important of them are those that look at the poles: the North - it is called in the sea NORD (NORD) and denoted by the letter N - and the South, which bears the name SOUTH (SUD) and is denoted by the letter S.

The other two are East and West. East is where the sun rises, West is the side of sunset.

The East bears the name OST (OST) and it has a letter mark O (and sometimes this - O st).

West is called WEST (WEST) and its sign is the letter W.

The names are easy to remember. We hear the word "north" often, many people know that it is "north". There is even such an expression - "Nordic countries", these are areas near the Arctic Circle. (And the polar circles, before I forget, these are the north and south parallels of sixty-six degrees and thirty-three minutes. These are the boundaries of very cold regions. In winter there is a constant polar night, and in summer there is a solid day with a non-setting sun) ...

Well, remember what "nord" is?

And in the words "south" and "south" the letter "u" sounds equally loud, so it's quite easy to remember.

The word "ost" is like the middle of the word "east".

It remains to remember "west". It doesn't look like west. But we still won't forget, right?

By the way, remember: on maps and diagrams, it is customary to always depict the north at the top (which means that the south is below), and the east is on the right (the west, therefore, will be opposite, on the left).

I advise you to draw the main points. Like this:

As you can see, the main rhumbs divide the circumference of the card and the horizon into quarters. In these quarters, between the main ones, there are four more rumbas. They are called quadruple.

Between the north and east is ...

- Nord-ost! Xenia said cheerfully.

Between north and west...

- Nordwest! Anton hastened.

Between south and west...

- Southwest! Vasya couldn't resist.

- Between the south and the east ...

“South-east…” Slava finished condescendingly. Like, what is not clear here.

But Yakov Platonovich explained just in case.

- As you understand, it's the same as "northeast", "northwest", "southwest" and "southeast" ... But you noticed that they never say "east-north" or "west-south"? This is not accepted. Also, you will not hear the names "east-north" or "west-south". In the compound names of quarter rhumbs, those that look at the poles are always mentioned first.

“Probably out of respect for the poles,” Ksenya guessed. Because the axis of the Earth passes through them.

- Apparently so ... And now let's draw quarter rhumbs ...

Glory raised his hand:

- Excuse me, but, in my opinion, there are also north-north-east and east-north-east and all sorts of others ...

- There are. They are designated by three letters, therefore they are called three letters.

There are three-letter rumba between the main and quarter.

How are their names formed?

First, they take the main rhumb, close to which is the three-letter one we need. For example, S (south). Then they look to see which rhumb is next to "our" rhumb. Let's say SO (South-East). "Our" is in between. To give it a name, first the main rhumb is necessarily called, and then the quarter, so three letters are obtained - in this case SSO (south-south-east).

Now let's work with heads and pencils. Let's draw three-letter rumba in our scheme.

- Did you understand?

“Yeah,” Anthony breathed. With Vasya's help, he finished the drawing last. – Is it all rumba already?

- No, my dear, not all ... There are four main points, quarter points - also four, three-letter points already eight. So far only sixteen.

And between all these rhumbs, sixteen more are squeezed in ...

“Let them be empty,” whispered Anton. Yakov Platonovich laughed:

- They are not empty, but rather cramped. They got in, you know, and they also demand that everyone also be given a name.

“Three letters are not enough here,” Slava sighed.

“An explanation for first graders,” Ksenya teased Antoshka.

- Yes, I know what it is. odd numbers, he muttered.

Yakov Platonovich was delighted:

- So you know what these rumba are called! Exactly the same - not even! Their names are composed using the word "shadow".

- "Shadow on the wattle fence" ... - Anton grumbled again.

- Not. In this case, it means "close to ..." That is, close to one of the main points, to some country of the world. For example, "shadow ost", "shadow south".

Beginners sometimes get confused with the definition of these points, I remember, even the cadets got confused, but in fact there is nothing complicated.

First of all, remember: three-letter rumba (all sorts of OSO and WNW) do not need to be confused here. They do not participate in the definition of odd points (which are with a "shadow").

When you need to find out what some odd rhumb is called, we do this. First, we look at which main or which four-letter (that is, two letters) is closest to "our" odd. And we call him. For example NO...

Then it is necessary to determine in which direction "our" rhumb deviates from this NO. North, east, south or west? That is - to which chapter of the rumba? You don’t need to look at the rest now, only the cardinal points are important.

Let's say it deviates to the north, to N. In other words, "the shadow of the north." So it turns out: north-east-shadow-north. Or NOTN. Because the word "shadow" here is denoted by a small Latin letter t (te).

Well, let's get back to pencils. Let's supplement our drawing with odd points and their names.

When they finished drawing, Anton asked in an exhausted voice:

– Will there be more rumbas? Or everything, finally?

- Everything. True, sometimes they say "half a rumba", "a quarter of a rumba", but we will not mark these divisions.

“Ugh…” Antoshka breathed.

- Don't sigh. If it is difficult to figure it out right away, you will understand over time ... Remember the spars. It seemed, how many strange names there! But once you understand the spar system, everything else becomes easier. You will understand here too ... And now let's get back to the compass.

What we drew on the board and in notebooks - that is, the rhumbs - is also applied to the compass card (although the three-letter and odd rhumbs are not marked with letters, but sailors remember them without it).

On ancient compasses, the cards were colorfully painted, the northern rhumb was often decorated with the image of a lily - this was a symbol of the right course. Now the cards look simpler, which is good: the variegation and patterns only distracted the navigator and helmsman ... And now look. I recently took a picture of an old compass card that I found among the books, and printed out a few pictures - for each of you. Put these cards in your notebooks, they will come in handy for your classes.

- Grandpa, what a fine fellow you are! Xenia exclaimed.

“Yes, that’s for sure,” Yakov Platonovich grinned. - And now let's practice in determining the courses ... Slava, did you bring what I asked for?

- Certainly! Slava ran out the door and returned with a long roll of newspaper. He threw off the paper, under it was a half-meter board, cut out in the shape of a ship's hull. Slava said he had been working on this thing all evening.

- Wonderful! Let's put her on deck! - ordered Yakov Platonovich. Let's put a compass on it. That's it ... Let's imagine that this is a real ship with a compass. On the move ... Well, who's to say what course he is going?

Four of them bumped their heads over the compass glass so that the bowler hat hummed slightly.

“North-west course,” Slava was the first to realize. Or three hundred and fifteen degrees.

- Very good. Vasya, slightly turn the ship to the north. So that the course thread moves to the right by one point ... What now?

- Now ... now ... It seems that the north-west shade-nord ... Yes! And in degrees ... I think three hundred and twenty-six.

- More precisely - three hundred and twenty-six and another quarter. There are eleven and a quarter degrees in one rumba. If you don't believe me, divide 360 ​​by 32 rumba.

“We believe,” Anton said hastily.

- That's the same ... And now work out yourself with this ship. Let it go in different directions, and you determine the courses ...

And the exercises began.

Of course, the ship was from a simple board, but the compass is real! Wiping their jeans on their knees, sailors crawled up and down the floorboards.

Just heard:

“South-west-shadow-west… No, just south-west, you moved it by accident!” There is so much space in the sea, and you are pushing. And now the course is north-east! Forty-five degrees!

“Let’s turn to the north and sail to the North Pole!” Anton advised.

“But there’s a terribly strong magnetic declination there!” Xenia was scared.

– The compass will not work properly.

- And we will turn on the gyrocompass! Vasya decided.

“Unfortunately, even hydrocompasses do not work very well near the poles,” Yakov Platonovich noted. - We have to use special devices. For example, a solar compass. It focuses on the sun, which in the polar regions does not set around the clock in the summer.

With such a compass in 1928, the famous traveler Roald Amundsen flew on the Latham seaplane to look for the expedition of the Italian General Nobile, who had an accident in the Arctic on the Italia airship ... In this flight, the plane with the entire crew died. But, of course, the compass is not to blame. Something happened to the car itself...

“We don’t have a solar compass,” Vasya reasoned. - Turning south. Why is this quiet running? Raise trumpets on all masts!

We don't need the cold these days!

The south wind is blowing in our stern!

– happily composed Anton.

“Wait, wait, my dear,” Yakov Platonovich became worried. “You have gone south. This means that the north wind is blowing in your stern!

“Excuse me, but how is that? Slava doubted. - After all, the winds are very often called the same as the rumba! I read! Wet "south", stormy "north", ferocious "north-east" ... the one that is called "boron" in Novorossiysk. This means that they should blow in the direction where this rhumb points.

- And here, my friend, you make a mistake typical of land citizens. There is a difference between courses and winds. When they say "the course of the ship is south", it means the ship is heading to the south of the city. And when they say "blowing south", it means the wind is from the south.

To remember this, the sailors came up with a saying: "The ship sails out of compass, and the wind blows in compass."

“Understood,” Vasya sighed. - So, with the south wind, we will not get south.

- You will get there, but only if you go to lava and rovk, like a snake. Zigzags ... But we'll talk about this when we take up the course with m and i gals with respect to the wind.

- What is it? – cautiously asked Anton.

– What a sailor needs to know how to given name. But more on that tomorrow. In the meantime, practice with the compass.

“North-north-west course!” - determined Xenia. “Straight at the sea monster named Syntax!”

Blue was offended and left the room. Vasilisa behind him - to console.

The compass was not interested in cats. Maybe they don’t need them at all: they say that cats have a device inside that helps them determine where north and south are without instruments. But, firstly, this has not been proven, and secondly, it has nothing to do with the science of navigation. But it has to do with

East).

Rumbas as directions have their own names (the “shadow” component is borrowed from Dutch, where it is a preposition merged with the dative article - te + den = ten):

In meteorology, the division of the circle into 16 parts is used, there are no shadows.

№	old designation	new designation	title	"land" title	injection
0	N	N	north	north	00 0.00°
1	NtO	NtE	north-shadow-east		0 11.25°
2	NNO	NNE	north-north-east	north northeast	0 22.50°
3	NOtN	NETN	north-east-shadow-north		0 33.75°
4	NO	NE	northeast	northeast	0 45.00°
5	NOtO	NETE	north-east-shadow-east		0 56.25°
6	ONO	ENE	east-north-east	east-northeast	0 67.50°
7	OtN	EtN	east-shadow-north		0 78.75°
8	O	E	ost	East	0 90.00°
9	OtS	ETS	east-shade-south		101.25°
10	OSO	ESE	east-south-east	east-southeast	112.50°
11	SOtO	SEtE	south-east-shadow-east		123.75°
12	SO	SE	southeast	southeast	135.00°
13	SOTS	SEtS	south-east-shade-south		146.25°
14	SSO	SSE	south-south-east	south southeast	157.50°
15	STO	StE	south-shadow-east		168.75°
16	S	S	south	south	180.00°
17	StW	StW	south shadow west		191.25°
18	SSW	SSW	south-south-west	south southwest	202.50°
19	SWtS	SWtS	southwest shadow south		213.75°
20	SW	SW	southwest	southwest	225.00°
21	SWtW	SWtW	southwest shadowwest		236.25°
22	WSW	WSW	west-south-west	west-southwest	247.50°
23	WtS	WtS	west shadow south		258.75°
24	W	W	west	west	270.00°
25	wtn	wtn	west shadow north		281.25°
26	WNW	WNW	west north west	west-northwest	292.50°
27	NWtW	NWtW	northwest shadowwest		303.75°
28	NW	NW	northwest	northwest	315.00°
29	NWtN	NWtN	nord-west-shadow-nord		326.25°
30	NNW	NNW	north-north-west	north-northwest	337.50°
31	NtW	NtW	north shadow west		348.75°

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Synonyms:

See what "Rumb" is in other dictionaries:

- (English rhumb). 1) one of the 32 directions of the compass, further subdivided into halves and quarters. 2) part of the horizon = 11.25 deg. or 1/32 of a circle. Dictionary foreign words included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910. RUMB 1) 1/32 ... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

A; m. rhumb] Mor. 1. The division on the compass circle, corresponding to 1/32 of the horizon, to determine the position of the ship in relation to the cardinal points. 2. Direction to the points of the horizon relative to the cardinal points; angle between two... encyclopedic Dictionary

- (Point of compass) constant and quite definite in this place earth, the position of the true meridian, which determines the direction of the true N S and its perpendicular direction O W, allows the navigator to accurately orient with respect to these ... ... Marine Dictionary

The angle between the north or south direction of the magnetic meridian (compass needle) and the given direction. The true rhumb is counted from the sowing. or south. direction of the true (astronomical) meridian. Rumbas are counted to the right and to the left of the meridian ... Geographic Encyclopedia

rhumb- compass point Letter designation the direction indicated on the compass cards, allowed, but not required. There are 32 rhumbs on a full circle, which are equally distant from each other on the card, resulting in an arc between the two ... ... Technical Translator's Handbook

RUMB, rumba, husband. (from the Greek. rhymbos circle, circular motion) (mor.). Each of the 32 divisions on the compass circle corresponds to each 1/32 of the horizon. Keep a course on such and such a rumba. Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov. D.N. Ushakov. 1935 1940 ... Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov

RUMB, a, husband. (specialist.). 1. The direction to the points of the visible horizon relative to the cardinal points or the angle between two such directions. 2. Division on the compass circle, corresponding to 1/32 of the circumference of the horizon. | adj. rumba, oh, oh. Explanatory … Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov

Angle, stroke Dictionary of Russian synonyms. rhumb n., number of synonyms: 2 corner (27) stroke (21) ... Synonym dictionary

- (English rhumb) the direction to the points of the visible horizon relative to the cardinal points or the angle between two such directions. In geodesy, the angle between the meridian and the given direction, counted from the meridian in both directions from 0 to 90. ; in the sea ... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Rumb, a (division on the compass circle) ... Russian word stress

M. 1. The measure of the angle of the circumference of the horizon, divided into 32 parts. ott. A division on a compass circle corresponding to 1/32 of the visible horizon (in marine navigation). 2. Direction to the points of the visible horizon relative to the cardinal points (from ... ... Modern Dictionary Russian language Efremova

Books

• Afghanistan. When the Winds of War Blow, Alexander Manachinsky, The book is dedicated to military history Afghanistan from ancient times to the present day. Located at the intersection of the strategic interests of the great powers, for thousands of years the country ... Category: XX - XXI century Series:

Compass- a device for determining horizontal directions on the ground. It is used to determine the direction in which the sea, aircraft, ground vehicle is moving; the direction in which the pedestrian is walking; directions to some object or landmark. Compasses are divided into two main classes: magnetic compasses such as arrows, which are used by topographers and tourists, and non-magnetic, such as a gyrocompass and a radio compass.

Design Description

To determine the direction in the compass, there is potato- This is a circular scale with 360 divisors (each of them corresponds to one angular degree), marked so that the report is kept from zero in a clockwise direction.

Usually the direction to the north (north, N) corresponds to 0 °, to the east (east, O, E) - 90 °, to the south (south, S) - 180 °, to the west (west, W) - 270 °. These are the main compass points(countries of the world).

Between them are "quarter" rumba: northeast, or (45°), southeast, or (135°), southwest, or (225°) and northwest, or (315°).

Between the quarter and main are located 16 "basic" points, such as, north-north-east and north-north-west (once there were 16 more rhumbs, such as "north-shadow-west", which were simply called rhumbs).

History of occurrence

Model of a Chinese compass from the Han Dynasty

The word "compass" itself comes from the ancient British "compass", meaning "circle". Most modern historians claim that the compass was invented in China in the 1st century BC. BC e. Although there is evidence that this device existed as early as the 2nd millennium BC. e. In any case, then the compass was a small piece of magnetized metal that was attached to a wooden plank that was in a vessel of water. Such a compass was used when driving through the deserts. It was also used by astrologers. The history of the discovery of the compass says that it appeared in the Arab world in the 8th century, and in European countries - only in the 12th century. The Italians were the first to adopt this device from the Arabs. Then the Spanish, Portuguese and French began to use the compass. The Germans and the British were the last to learn about the new device. But even at that time, the compass device remained as simple as possible: the magnetic needle was fixed on a cork and lowered into the water. It was in the water that the cork, supplemented by an arrow, was oriented accordingly. In the XI century. all in the same China, a compass needle appeared, which was made from an artificial magnet. As a rule, it was made in the form of a fish.

Road compass and sundial, 18th century

The history of the compass was continued in the XIV century. The baton was taken over by the Italian F. Gioia, who managed to significantly improve this device. In particular, he decided to put a magnetic needle on a vertical hairpin. This simple, at first glance, device helped to significantly improve the compass. In addition, a coil was attached to the arrow, divided into 16 points. Two centuries later, the division of the coil was already 32 points, and the box with the arrow began to be placed in a special gimbal. Thus, the pitching of the ship ceased to affect the compass. In the 17th century the compass was equipped with a rotating ruler, which helped to more accurately count the direction. In the XVIII century. he had a direction finder.

But the history of the creation of the compass does not end there. In 1838, a way was found to neutralize the influence of the ship's iron products on this device. And in 1908, a gyrocompass appeared, which became the main navigational instrument. It is he who always points to the north. Today, the exact direction of movement can be found using satellite navigation, however, many ships are equipped with magnetic compasses. They are used for additional verification or in case of technical problems. Thus, the history of the creation of the compass has not even hundreds, but thousands of years.

Kinds

magnetic compass

In the device indicating the direction, there must be some reference direction, from which all others would be counted. In a magnetic compass, this direction is the line connecting the North and South Poles of the Earth. In this direction, the magnetic rod settles by itself, if it is suspended so that it can freely rotate in a horizontal plane. The fact is that in the Earth's magnetic field, a rotating pair of forces acts on the magnetic rod, setting it in the direction of the magnetic field. In a magnetic compass, the role of such a rod is played by a magnetized needle, which, when measured, itself is set parallel to the Earth's magnetic field.

Arrow compass

SWITCH COMPASS with a lock for an arrow. 1 - magnetized arrow; 2 - glass or plastic cover with compass directions marking; 3 - stone (hour) thrust bearing; 4 - arrester for fixing the arrow in the non-working position; 5 - axis.

This is the most common type of magnetic compass. It is often used in a pocket version. The arrow compass has a thin magnetic needle mounted freely at its midpoint on a vertical axis, which allows it to rotate in a horizontal plane. The northern end of the arrow is marked, and a card is fixed coaxially with it. When measuring, the compass must be held in your hand or mounted on a tripod so that the plane of rotation of the arrow is strictly horizontal. Then the north end of the arrow will point to the earth's north magnetic pole. A compass adapted for topographers is a direction-finding device, i.e. azimuth measuring instrument. It is usually equipped with a spotting scope, which is rotated until aligned with the desired object, in order to then read the azimuth of the object from the card.

liquid compass

liquid compass

The liquid compass, or floating card compass, is the most accurate and stable of all magnetic compasses. It is often used on ships and is therefore called a ship. The designs of such a compass are varied; in a typical embodiment, it is a liquid-filled "pot" in which an aluminum card is fixed on a vertical axis. On opposite sides of the axis, a pair or two pairs of magnets are attached to the bottom of the card. In the center of the card there is a hollow hemispherical protrusion - a float that weakens the pressure on the axle support (when the pot is filled with compass fluid). The axis of the card, passed through the center of the float, rests on a stone bearing, usually made of synthetic sapphire. The thrust bearing is fixed on a fixed disk with a "heading line". There are two holes at the bottom of the pot through which liquid can overflow into the expansion chamber, compensating for changes in pressure and temperature. An azimuth, or direction-finding, ring is fixed in the upper part of the bowler. It allows you to determine the direction to various objects relative to the course of the vessel. The compass bowler is fixed in its suspension on the inner ring of the universal (cardan) joint, in which it can freely rotate, while maintaining a horizontal position, in pitching conditions. The compass bowler is fixed so that its special arrow or mark, called the course line, or a black line, called the course line, points to the bow of the vessel. When the ship's heading changes, the compass card is held in place by magnets, which invariably maintain their north-south direction. By shifting the course mark or line relative to the card, you can control course changes.

Gyro-compass

Gyro-compass

Gyro-compass- a mechanical indicator of the direction of the true (geographical) meridian, designed to determine the course of the object, as well as the azimuth (bearing) of the oriented direction. His idea was proposed by the French scientist Foucault.

Device

The simplest gyrocompass consists of a gyroscope suspended inside a hollow ball that floats in a fluid; the weight of the ball with the gyroscope is such that its center of gravity is located on the axis of the ball in its lower part, when the axis of rotation of the gyroscope is horizontal.

Operating principle

Suppose the rotor began to rotate around its axis, the direction of which is different from the earth's axis. By virtue of the law of conservation of angular momentum, the rotor will maintain its orientation in space. Since the Earth rotates, an observer who is stationary relative to the Earth sees that the gyroscope axis makes a revolution in 24 hours. Such a rotating gyroscope is not in itself a navigation aid. For the occurrence of precession, the rotor is held in the horizon plane, for example, by means of a weight holding the rotor axis in a horizontal position with respect to the earth's surface. In this case, gravity will create a torque, and the rotor axis will turn to true north. Because the weight keeps the rotor axis horizontal with respect to the earth's surface, the axis can never coincide with the Earth's axis of rotation (except at the equator).

Compass - a device designed to determine the cardinal points and orientation on the ground. All magnetic compasses have an arrow, and most models have a disk with a scale, numbers and letters printed on it. About what they mean, how to use them and how to use a compass to find out the location of the cardinal points - north, south, east and west, we will describe further.

The direction to the south or north on the compass is indicated by the arrow, and the scale is then “adjusted” to it.

compass needle

The arrow is the main element of any magnetic compass, although there are models in which the arrow forms one unit with the disk on which the scale is applied.

The arrow always rotates along lines of force Earth's magnetic field, which means it shows the approximate direction to the Earth's poles. While one end of the arrow is pointing north, the other end will be pointing south.

In the literature, you can find information that the red end of the arrow points to the north, but this is not always the case. What color to paint the northern part of the arrow, the manufacturer decides, and this often does not coincide with what is written in various sources. In addition, sometimes the arrow is painted in colors that do not include red, such as blue, white, black, or even green.

One of simple ways to figure out which part of the arrow is northern, that is, points to the north, it is in clear weather at lunchtime to go outside with a compass. The next steps are:

1. See which side the sun is on. At this time, the luminary is located near the direction to the south.
2. Take the compass in your hand and place it in a horizontal position with the arrow pointing up.
3. If the compass is equipped with a lock (locking lever), then “turn it off”: the arrow should be able to rotate freely on the spire. After that, the arrow will be located in the north-south direction.
4. Determine the northern and southern parts of the arrow: the end of the arrow, which will be directed towards the Sun, will be southern, and the opposite one will be northern.

It should be noted that this rule is indicated for the countries of the former CIS, in the tropics and in the southern hemisphere it may not work due to the fact that the Sun at noon may be in this area not in the south, but in the north side. This is important to consider in order to avoid mistakes.

There is another way, but it is more complicated, although it allows you to determine the north direction, both in the north and in southern hemispheres at any latitude. To do this, in the morning - about 6 o'clock in the morning - you need to become so that the Sun is on the right. In this case, the north will be in the face of the person conducting the experiment. Accordingly, the part of the compass needle that points "forward" will be north.

Now that we have managed to determine the sides of the arrow, we can use the compass to determine the location of the cardinal points. For this:

1. The compass is taken in hand and placed horizontally.
2. The arrester, if one is intended in the design, is disabled to allow the arrow to turn and indicate the direction to the north and south.
3. According to the indications of the arrow, the north direction is determined.
4. The person becomes facing north.
5. All other cardinal directions are determined: south will be behind, east on the right, west on the left.

When working with a compass, you should avoid the proximity of iron, steel and other objects with significant strength. magnetic field(e.g. knives, mobile phones, vehicles, railways), as well as wires through which electric current flows (for example, power lines). All these objects can distort the compass readings.

Scale and letters

The compass disc, located under the arrow, is often lined. Most often, points and a scale are applied to the disk.

The "star" is inside the scale and is a set of rhumbs.

Rumba denote the cardinal directions, of which the main four are - north, east, south and west - although intermediate ones are often found, corresponding to the northeast, southeast, southwest and northwest. In total, there are thirty-two points that can be found on some "marine" compasses.

Depending on the model of the compass, rhumbs can be indicated by letters of the alphabets different languages. I met two varieties: in one, the rumbas were written in Russian, in the other, in Latin.

Compass with symbols on the scale in Russian.

Consider the four basic rumba in different variations:

• N (North) or C (North);
• E (East) or B (East);
• S (South) or Yu (South);
• W (West) or Z (West).

In order to orient yourself to the cardinal points with the help of rhumbs, you need to hold the compass in a horizontal position and turn with it so that the northern end of the arrow points to "N" or the corresponding letter of the Russian alphabet "C". Once this has happened, the compass dial will display the cardinal directions.

By the way, you can determine the cardinal points with the help of a magnetic compass not only in open space, but also in a closed one, for example, in a dense forest, in an apartment, in caves, catacombs and under water. In all these cases, the compass will work equally well. The main thing to remember about the distance with the sources of magnetic fields.

The scale printed on the compass disk is usually presented either in degrees or in thousandths and is needed to determine the azimuths to the object or select the direction of movement. With its help, more complex tasks are solved than determining the cardinal points, which we talked about in

This is the basics of working with a magnetic compass. Anyone, even the most unprepared person, can master it within a few minutes. However, despite the simplicity, this knowledge is fundamental for such a difficult discipline as orienteering, and gives the beginner at the very first stages to feel self-confidence, which is so necessary to start learning and mastering more complex techniques in the future.

Although progress indulges humanity with digital navigation methods, the classic compass with a magnetized needle is still in demand and reliable. His work does not need power, the presence of a satellite or a cell tower, so his arrow is always able to point the north magnetic meridian with a marked tip, while the other will point south accordingly.

On the limb of the device, the location of the cardinal points is applied, which helps to orient if there is no magnetic interference. You just need to figure out what designation the directions on the compass have.

When orienting, it should always be borne in mind that the directions shown by the compass do not completely coincide with the geographic ones, because the magnetized needle tends to be located along the magnetic meridian, indicating the geomagnetic poles of the planet, which are not identical to the geographic ones. This error of the cardinal points on the compass has the definition of "magnetic declination", which does not have a constant value.

How to find cardinal directions with a compass

The device of the compass is simple and ingenious - a magnetized needle, enclosed in a case under a transparent cover in the center of the dial (limb), when the state is released from the brake, the north tail will indicate the north pole, and the south - the south pole. The letters of the cardinal directions are marked on the limb. If the device is domestic, then the letters will be Russian, but if the device is not made by us, then Latin, according to international designations.

The limb has a circular scale equal to 360º, divided by four equal sectors, increasing clockwise. The size of the scale step may be different for an individual device, but in any case, each of the cardinal points is indicated by certain degrees:

• north - 0º;
• south - 180º;
• east - 90º;
• west - 270º.

Determining the direction of the world by the device is quite simple, but in order for the device to indicate the true direction, a number of simple rules must be observed.

• The device must take a strictly horizontal position - for this it is either placed on a flat surface, or held with an open palm, just below chest level.
• There should be no magnetic interference nearby - power lines, railway tracks, metal accumulations, other magnets, otherwise the arrow will point in the wrong direction.
• As soon as the compass takes the correct position, you need to release the arrester, which plays the role of a stopper or brake.
• The freed arrow, swaying, will take a confident position when the specially marked northern tail points north, and the opposite one points south.
• Now you need to combine the tails of the arrow with the designations of the cardinal directions, applied on the limb.

In order to indicate the route on the ground, you need to select the necessary direction of the path corresponding to the desired part of the map.

Designations on the compass of the cardinal points

For the cardinal directions, international designations are accepted by letters on the compass, understandable to any population of the globe, but Russian-language designations are also possible.

• The northern direction is indicated by the Latin N (north) or Russian C (north).
• The southern direction is displayed by the Latin S (south) or our Yu (south).
• The east direction is marked with the Latin letter E (east) or Russian B (east).
• The western direction corresponds to the Latin letter W (west) or our Z (west).

Clockwise, it will look like this: at the top - N or C, further on the right side of the limb - E or B, at the bottom - S or Yu, to the left - W or Z.

The directions of the cardinal points both for the map and the globe, and for the compass and terrain, will be located the same way:

• if you stand facing north, then the north pole will be directly ahead;
• the south pole is behind;
• east direction - on the right hand;
• west is on the left.

Note! The compass does not show directions accurately due to the presence of magnetic declination!

Compass error - magnetic declination

Given that the device will indicate the geographical cardinal points, in fact they will be slightly shifted by a certain amount in degrees. Since the power and geographic poles of our planet do not coincide, then with accurate calculations of the azimuth before the upcoming long route corrections need to be made. If the path is not too long, and the declination does not exceed 10º, then you can do without corrections.

• Magnetic declination is usually indicated outside the map fields for a particular area.
• If there is none, it can be found in the directory - magnetic observatories constantly report information about the magnitude in degrees of the magnetic declination characteristic of a particular area.
• A distinction is made between eastern declination, when the arrow of the device deviates from the geographic north pole towards the east, and western declination, when the arrow is deflected towards the west.

Note! The eastern declination is indicated by a plus (+) and the western by a minus (-). Correction for its value, calculated by the device, will help determine the true directions of the cardinal points.

Azimuth magnetic and geographic

The path is calculated before traveling in azimuth, and according to it, they move around the area. The angle of the calculated azimuth is the value in degrees obtained between the meridian and the direction of the path to the desired object. The azimuth found on the map will be true, and the one obtained using the compass will be magnetic.

• The true meridians are plotted on the map, converging at the point of the true geographic pole. Therefore, the angle between the meridian going north and the direction of the path obtained from the map will differ from the angle found from the instrument, since the compass needle is located along the magnetic, and not at all geographical, meridian.
• If there is an easterly magnetic declination in a given area, then its value must be subtracted from the azimuth obtained using the compass on the ground so that its value coincides with the true azimuth found on the map. That's why it is marked with the - (minus) sign.
• If in a given area there is a western deviation, then its value must be added to the magnetic azimuth in order to reach the true value. That's why it's marked with a + (plus).

Corrections for magnetic declination ensure that the route will pass within the intended limits and will correspond to the true geographical landmarks, and the path will not deviate from the map.