Here's a site dedicated to low technology methods.
http://www.fao.org/3/r7021e/r7021e00.htm#Contents
Section 2 details the steps to stake a line between two points that aren't intervisible.?ÿ Good figures if you click the links.
http://www.fao.org/3/r7021e/r7021e03.htm
Thank you so much!
There are usable Boy Scout compasses and there are unusable ones. Describe yours.
The phone app is little help in your endeavor. You want to be able to turn an angle. Also, it is necessary to read a bearing from both ends of a line
Paul in PA
@paul-in-My Boy Scout compass is over 60 years old, barely more than a toy.
Crickets chirping, the mystery remains.
@brad-ottI rounded it to 52
I rounded it to 52
It would have saved a lot of confused posts if you had copied exactly what was there when asking for an interpretation.
@bill93 Sorry, I had no idea changing N51°56'01' to N52°0.0. would cause confusion.
The rounding wasn't nearly as much of a problem and the omission of the all important "W" at the end.
@spmplsI didn't realize until yesterday I had left that off.
Yup, I've done compass only surveys with Gurley transit and a chain/tape for miles and ended up within a few feet of the monument.?ÿ I was walking in the original footsteps of my predecessor and noted tree blazes, hacked vegetation stubs, etc. even a hundred years old.?ÿ Now GPS pinpoints search coordinates so nobody walks the line and instead it's a driveby shooting scenario.?ÿ Sad.
A properly calibrated compass is good to 1/2?ø, doesn't need a clear sky and is a powerful retracement tool.?ÿ I'd promote land owners use an accuarate hand compass and skilled pacing (not hard to learn)?ÿ to find their corners and mark up their boundaries against encroachments.?ÿ Then call me if there's problems concerning inches.?ÿ l cost $2,000.
OTOH I own land in Arizona, one acre, huge easements unlikely to come to fruition, no monuments but a solid fence encompassing the peritmeter and i ripped out the 1840s sagebrush fence that was 4' from my newish fence (1950s) so I could have control of the ditch.?ÿ In the US you have to defend your domain or lose it.?ÿ That's fair.
That will get you in a general direction only.
The orienteering style with a 2"x3" rectangular see thru plastic base gets you started on directional work. There is a big arrow on the bottom rectangle and the compass circle, also see thru, pivots on the base. Typically the circle is 180 2?ø azimuth points. You set the needle near North per the magnetic deflection, Line the arrow up with your sight and read the azimuth. Then you line the arrow up with your second sight point, read the azimuth do the math and get the angular difference.
The next step up is a foresters compass, see the "Forestry Supply" catalog. It has a larger circle, typically to 1/4 or 1/2 degree, and a vertical set of sighting vanes. Be cautious of the many cheap varieties on ebay. Early America was surveyed with a bit larger survey compass, 4"-6" circle and quite often a 1/2 rod pole flipped end over end, measured on the slope. The slope correction is an easy calculation if you have a 6" hand held eye level and a divided Rod. s - d = h*h/2s.
Paul in PA
Your cell phone compass is probably kinda neat. But, it will not do. If you set up a real instrument, and made 36 lines (rays) from one point, one every 10 degrees, and then took your cell phone, and read them all, you would find the inconsistencies some readings would be off by large amounts, and some might be good. Then turn it off, and on, and repeat.?ÿ
Actually, just doing the 4 cardinal directions will reveal its deficiencies.
Your circle in that cell phone is essentially "un map-able".
It will be all over the place, by several degrees, and some will likely be wrong by 10 degrees.
So, if you want to win, you will need a real instrument. Or, you may get discouraged.
Happy navigation!
N
@ricaltman ah, 10.4, thanks very much. An unresolved mystery just needles at the back of my neck. This has been a good thread.