Do You Really Have to Re-Calibrate Your Compass After Each Battery Change?

For users of the Triton 500 and 2000, this message is always scary.   One would think that the Electronic Compass direction is severly altered with each new battery change.

One questions, why the compass direction is not affected by the Voltage and Capacity of the battery as it is depleted.  The Compass Flux devices are very stable and the problem is the battery itself.

The Magellan compass calibration is compensating for the metal elements in the GPS and impedance of the battery.   So we did a test.  We purchased a 20 pack of an AA Alkaline batteries manufactured by RayoVac.   We also purchased a 20 pack of AA Everready batteries.

Here is what we found .. if the production number of the battery pack is the same.  WHEN YOU DO A COMPASS CALIBRATION OF ANY ONE OF THESE BATTERIES FROM THE PACK YOU DO NOT HAVE TO RECALIBRATE WITH EACH NEW ONE USED.

The weight of the battery and its metallic and magnetic problems are so close that you can maintain a less than 1.5 degree compass variation and just change the batteries.

JG