It's been the source of a lot of headaches for me (specifically: windmill cogging), there is no way that that needle stopped in the way it did in the video.
The cut in the demo (12:18) is very odd and makes me wonder if it’s real.
It's far easier to just use a compass with a needle brake - manually dampen the oscillation using the brake (and let go to ensure you aren't holding an incorrect reading) and you get a reading quickly.
i do see the comments about the mysterious needle stop edit
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46462742
This post appears to be karma farming.
1. A traditional compass is cheaper. They are so cheap they are built into the caps of ultra-cheap hiking sticks.
2. Traditional compasses don't need recharging.
3. Traditional compasses don't seem to be as easily fooled by stray EM noise. It could be the inertial dampening of the mass of the needle, but I've been in the woods where expensive electronic compasses misfired, but the old-fashioned one still worked just fine.
4. Dedicated devices have far lower usage hurdles. If I'm hiking, a glance at the top of my stick tells me the general (8-point) direction I'm going. An electronic compass at a minimum requires me to fish out a device and turn it on, or open an app.
5. If you aren't navigating by precise map measurements, all you really need is 8-point information (that is, "northwest" instead of 281 degrees). Needles in a circle are perfect for this; digital degrees are not.
I’ve watched this guys stuff for years, and was excited about this making it to the front page. Very disappointing.
smusamashah•1mo ago
Neywiny•1mo ago
PunchyHamster•1mo ago
grimgrin•1mo ago
yes, everyone in this thread knows there is a mysterious edit and many are suspicious
PunchyHamster•4w ago
idiotsecant•1mo ago