Originally Posted By: Alex
I.... But in practice I'm using a simple cheap ball compass on my dash for 16 years.


In the recent time, I've started using my Android phone on the rural road trips as a dashboard supplement.


I used one of the ball compasses (Bell?) that could be adjusted for magnetic fields. It worked great on the older cars, but with all the electronics in the dashboard of the newer cars, it had to be mounted way off the dashboard. Otherwise the car's electronics will monkey with it. The electronics also monkey with my phone's onboard compass.

If I want just direction, coordinates, and speed; I use a GPS app on my phone (GPS Test Plus) that uses GPS coordinate diferences instead of the phone's compass, and works off network.

My .02 is to get a dash mounted inclinometer/tilt gauge separate from the compass, and then mount a decent marine compass as a stand alone device.
_________________________
Hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane