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The sundial and the compass are two completely different instruments, built for different purposes.

The sundial is an instrument designed for a specific location on earth and permanently installed there, on which the shadow of one of its parts indicates the hour of the day (while the sun is up and making shadows).

The compass is an instrument used for navigation. It includes a free-floating magnetized component which, when held level and still, aligns itself with the earth's magnetic field and in doing so, points approximately north.

A sundial compass is a portable sundial attached over a compass via a hinge. There are some adjustable legs that need to be used to level the instrument if not on level ground. The gnome is hinged and needs to be put in the up postition where it locks into place. There should be what looks like a protractor that is to the right of the gnome that is on a hinge. That to needs to be flipped up as well. The protractor is used to set the sundial to the correct latitude angle. The compass is to find true north based off of the area's magnetic north declination. Once the instrument has been leveled, set to the correct latitude, and to true north just observe the shadow that is cast on to the sundial's face by the gnome. For those in the Southern Hemisphere, everything is the same except you will want to find true south instead. When the instrument is not in use be sure to set the compass needle brake to ensure the needle bearing in not damaged. Just slide a lever on the side of the compass and the needle should lock in place. Fold everything else down and store. One more thing I better mention, is that the time the sundial will show is what is called local apparent time and not the time as shown on your watch unless you happen to be at the center of your time zone. The sundial will be ahead if you are on the east side of the time zone and behind if you are on the west side.

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15y ago

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