Citation : the Northern Territory Police Magazine
Northern Territory Police
Citation; E-Journals; PublicationNT; Citation
1967-06-01
Darwin
Made available via the Publications (Legal Deposit) Act 2004 (NT).; This publication contains may contain links to external sites. These external sites may no longer be active.
English
Northern Territory Police Historical Society; Northern Territory Police Force; History; Police; Periodicals
Northern Territory Police
Darwin
Citation
v. 4 no. 1
application/pdf
Attribution International 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)
Northern Territory Government
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/236702
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/640914
r l r CITATION -JUNE, 1967 Page Twenty-One the Friendly Way With a prismatic compass, pencil, rule and a cheap plastic protractor you arc independent of all. With the knowledge of how to use them you can give exact position of latitude and longitude - not "behind a h.i1l that the tracker calls so-and-so", You can (Nature permitting) take yourself anywhere and back again. YOll can take yourself by boat around the coast of Australia should the necessity arise. or should the idea appeal to you (provided the overtime approval is forthcoming). Just a few words about the compass itself. The magnetic compass has been used for centuries. The last 50 years, however, have seen the compass become an accurate scientific instrument. It depends for its action on the magnetic influence of the earth. If a magnetised needle is poised horizontally on a pivot and deflected to one side, it will swing to and fro and gradually return to rest and point in the same direction as originally, magnetic north. Cut out a circular card, graduate it in degrees - a circle contains 360 degrees. North = 0000 or 3{)('>-0, East 90, South :::80, West 270; place the North and South points directly in line with and exactly over the North and South ends of the needle, and so you have a compass. The modern prismatic is, of course, f.1r in advance of the old crude arrangement mentioned above. Normally it swings in alcohol, which protects it from jolts and rough handling. It also makes it much steadier. The casing is of copper or brass owing to their non-magnetic influence. The study of using the compass in cOI~ullction with maps or charts is very elementary, and so simple as to require no real effort. It is certainly worth the while of anyone anticipating bush service on one of the outer stations. It also is worth remembering that quite a lot of patrols go out from Darwin Station itself, especially a~O"und the coastal areas, where a compass could well earn its keep. Books on the use of the compass are cheap and plentiful. Space does not permit - simple though it may be - to try to explain its use in conjunction with maps in this article but further inquiry and study of these aspects is recommended to you. * Twice a member of ollr Force, with a short terlll ill the SOllth Australian Police in between, Ted Davis is /Iowa Sergeallt tiC ill the COllllllolllvealtlt Police Force alld lives ill a Sydlley suburb. He was awarded the B.E.M. for his services ill slllall ships dllrillg the last IVar. JOHN CUMMING ALICE SPRINGS CAMERA SHOP PHOTOGRAPHIC EQUIPMENT Kodok, Zeiss, Ikon, VOigtJonder, PoiJIord, Bolex, Bell & Howell, Projectors, Agfo-, etc. TODD STREET, ALICE SPRINGS Phone 22008