This are the process of how to start and stop a Gyro Compass:

Starting a Gyro compass.

1. Refer to the manufacturer’s manual and follow the procedure.

2. Make a preparation of at least four hours before the compass is required for
service.
3. Check that all supply switches are open.
4. Adjust the latitude and speed setting accordingly.
5. Switch on an alternator and wait for 10 seconds until it gains full speed. The
compass will settle faster in port then at sea also depends on how much the gyro
axel was out of meridian.
6. Test the alarm switch on the alarm panel.

Stopping a Gyro compass

1. Open repeater switch.

2. Open the azimuth motor switch.
3. Switch off the alternator and lock the rotor.

Maintenance

Each watch

1. Check repeater with a master compass to ensure that repeater is functioning

properly if power fails repeater may have to be reset.
2. Check the compass error by azimuth.
3. Speed and latitude characters should be reset as necessary.
4. Inspect the compass to guard against any abnormal condition of operation.

Monthly

1. Check the alarm buzzer.

2. Clean and oil any part as indicated in the manufacturer’s manual.
 3. General cleanliness should be checked repair and maintenance should only be
carried out by a professional.

Settling period of Gyro

In our earlier posts, we discussed about the free gyro, Gyroscope conversion and its
damped/undamped oscillations. In this post, we will discuss about Settling period of Gyro.
When the compass is settled, the spin axis has a constant tilt. The delaying action of the
damping arrangement will therefore have no effect as there is no flow of liquid. The
damping element is then acting merely as an additional control element, but as the
damping torque is produced by a top-heavy effect whereas the control precession is
produced by a bottom-heavy effect, the damping precession will just reduce the effect of
the control precession. The compass will settle with a tilt of its spin axis such that the
combined effect of the control and damping torques exactly balances the drifting. There
is no precession in the vertical plane so that the tilting must also be zero to produce
equilibrium. The settling position must be therefore with the spin axis in the meridian.
There is no latitude error.

For a compass in north latitude the drifting will be clockwise. The precession which equals
and opposes the drifting must be north end to the west and this will require an upwards
tilt of the north end.
 In south latitude the drifting will be anticlockwise or north end to the west. A downwards
tilt of the north end is therefore required to give a control precession of opposite direction.

A compass damped in azimuth therefore will settle with the spin axis aligned with the
meridian but with a small upwards tilt of the north end in the northern hemisphere, and a
small downwards tilt of that end in the southern hemisphere. Such a compass is not
subject to the latitude error.

some important facts about the settling period of Gyro:

 The time consumed in completing a single damped oscillation 1 hour 50 minutes (or you
can say 110 mints)

 The consumption of time in Damped oscillation greater in comparison to the undamped

oscillation.

 “2.5” is the Damping factor of a normal Gyroscope.

 Gyro’s settling time = (Damping factor) X (time required for single oscillation)

It is therefore, Gyro’s settling time will be

= (2.5 x 110) mints

= 275 mints

= 04 hrs 35 mints.

Synchronizing a gyro compass

The master compass and electronic control of the MK

27 Mod 1 gyro compass operate directly
from an external 24 Vdc power source. A ship service power failure will not effect the
gyro compass, but compass repeaters must be reset.
Alarm fitted to a gyro compass

1. Power failure alarm.

2. System failure alarm.
3. High temperature alarm.
4. High voltage alarm.
5. Low voltage alarm.
6. Pause failure alarm.
7. Repeater alarm.
8. low fluid level alarm.
ARPA Automatic Radar Plotting Aid displays the position of a ship and other vessels
nearby. The radar displays the position of the ships in the vicinity and selects the course
for the vessel by avoiding any kind of collision.

This bridge navigational equipment constantly monitors the ship’s surrounding and
automatically acquires the number of targets, in this case; ships, boats, stationary or
floating objects etc., and plot their speeds and courses respectively. It also presents them
as vectors on the display screen and constantly update the parameters with each turn of
the antenna by calculating their nearest points of approach to own ship and also the time
before this will occur.

ECDIS is a development in the navigational chart system used in naval vessels and ships.
With the use of the electronic navigation equipment, it has become easier for a ship’s
navigating crew to pinpoint locations, and attaining directions are easier than before.

AIS is also among the types of a navigation system which helps to pinpoint the location
and other navigational statistics of ships. AIS uses VHF radio channels as transmitters
and receivers to send and receive messages between ships which endeavours to fulfil a
lot of responsibilities.
As per the regulation enforced by The International Maritime Organisation (IMO), all
passengers’ vessels and commercial ships over 299 Gross Tonnage (GT) sailing in the
international to carry a Class A AIS transponder.

Fibre Optic gyro-compass

A fibre optic gyrocompass is a compass and instrument of navigation. It is sometimes

part of a ships set of compasses, which also include a conventional gyrocompass and
a magnetic compass. The compass comprises a fibre optic gyroscope sensor, which links
to a computer and then locates north. This in turn links to a compass readout to provide
a heading. It has very high reliability and requires little maintenance during its service
life. The entire system usually includes a sensor unit, a control and display unit, and an
interface and power supply unit. It is often linked with the ship's other navigational devices
including GPS.

Laser ring gyro - compass

A ring laser gyroscope (RLG) consists of a ring laser having two independent counter-
propagating resonant modes over the same path; the difference in the frequencies is used
to detect rotation. It operates on the principle of the Signac effect which shifts the nulls of
the internal standing wave pattern in response to angular rotation. Interference between
the counter-propagating beams, observed externally, results in motion of the standing
wave pattern, and thus indicates rotation.
 Technological Institute of the Philippines

Manila

A Printed Assignment Presented to

Capt. Venancio Simon S. Sulit

Technological Institute of the Philippines

Maritime Department, Arlegui, Quiapo

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Subject

NAV1 – Navigational Instruments with Compasses – MT 104

Week 12

By

D/C Randel P. Sabinay

August 1,2019