TO: ALL WOOD COUNTY ARES MEMBERS (OFFICIAL)
ALL ARES AND NON-ARES AMATEURS ANYWHERE (INFORMATION)
FROM: KEN HARRIS WA8LLM ARRL DISTRICT 3
EMERGENCY COORDINATOR WOOD COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS INC.
WOOD COUNTY ARES BULLETIN NR 20.44 DATE: November 1, 2020
SUBJECT: WHICH WAY IS NORTH?
If you go outside right now do you know which way is North? It's very easy to be inaccurate when guessing which direction is North, or South, or East, or West.
This is a difficult thing to do unless you have the knowledge to use natures compass. A question to ask yourself is; Can you stand outside your home and point to magnetic North? then South? how about East? or West? Answer this truly, I don't think we'll find many who are sure. Some of your guesses will be more than 40 degrees incorrect. That's almost the difference between North and Northwest.
I merely want to point out that not many of us know (not approximately) which way is North. While listening to a few reports on weather nets, I've noticed while one radio operator has a storm moving in from the West, another has one moving in from the South. It could be a different storm or the same one. Well, this could be close enough to tell us that the storm is probably coming in from the Southwest. However, I have also heard reports that a storm is moving at them from the North when the National Weather Service, and their radar, show the same storm moving from the Southwest to the Northeast.
I think it's a good idea to take a compass every now and then, walk outside your house (where you normally check your weather from), and test your direction finding skills. I don't believe the directions we receive on weather nets are always correct. East is drastically different than Northeast, especially when ten or twenty miles are added.
Get a compass and check your directions. I think you will be surprised how incorrect you may have been.
Ken Harris WA8LLM
WCEC
Wood County WV