This episode is sponsored by FBS Copytrade App : bit.ly/3gk7Zoi Ship's Gyrocompass In this video, we will see whay's inside a gyrocompass. Gyrosphere Gyroscope Chief MAKOi Seaman Vlog
I was struck by how small and compact the gyro unit was compared to what I was trained on. My experience is with US Navy systems dating back to the 60's and 70's. I was always somewhat amazed at how a unit (Sperry Mk 19) could provide such precise heading info (plus pitch/roll info for weapons systems) while being controlled from a separate cabinet full of banks of vacuum tubes. Total time from startup to accurate was about 24 hours. The ship I was on had a secondary unit (Sperry Mk 23) which was all solid-state, but it was actually not as accurate as the dinosaur bolted to the middle of my shop floor. Pitch and roll accuracy forced the gyros to be located centerline and on the 3rd deck...about 10 feet below our laden waterline. This means that every gyro indicator on board was actually a repeater fed from my shop...about 10 total. If curious, look up USS Kansas City (AOR-3) sometime. You haven't transferred fuel and cargo until you transfer it to another ship....at 17 knots. Needless to say, accuracy of ship's control and navigation equipment was a BIG thing.
When did you go to IC "A" school? I did mine in the Summer of 1973. Out of school, my first ship was AD-38, USS Puget Sound. We had a MK23 bolted to the floor, as well. Being a repair ship, the Puget Sound was seldom underway, so the gyro was more like room decor most of the time. Then I got sent off to a Adams-class DDG. That gyro was designed for a warship, the Mk 19. Spent two full years underway on that one. It used to be fun to look down through the glass top on the gyro and watch the stable element "move". If you know gyros, then you know that the stable element doesn't "move" at all - it is rock solid and the ship is moving all around it in azimuth, roll and pitch.
@@kevincrosby1760 Thanks! Things have indeed changed. When I moved to So Cal in 2001, I went back down and explored San Diego. The Naval Training Center was mostly gone, but the brick building where you and I went to "A" school was still there. I toured one of the new Arleigh Burke destroyers down there about ten years ago and couldn't recognize much of anything in Engineering.
I was a SPS-30 ET on Chicago, CG-11, during that period. The gyro also provided Pitch and Roll to keep the antenna level. I am embarrassed to say, I had no clue on HOW those 3 signals were generated.
These videos are a window into another life that I could have chosen and been just as happy as I am with the life I chose. So glad you share it with us.
I apologize if I missed you saying this, but I was left not understanding HOW a gyrocompass determined true north. Wikipedia says: - they find true north as determined by the axis of the Earth's rotation, which is different from, and navigationally more useful than, magnetic north, and - they are unaffected by ferromagnetic materials, such as in a ship's steel hull, which distort the magnetic field. So I assume that by "settling in," as you say, they are basically figuring out which way the world is rotating, and from that they derive compass directions. Really have been enjoying your videos since RU-vid surfaced you in my recommendations. Always informative, and occasionally, like the night passage through Istanbul and the three bridges, beautiful.
A long time since you posted but in case someone else wants to know... A gyroscope will - absent an external force - retain its direction in space. Because the earth is rotating, a gyroscope which is not parallel to the earth's axis will appear to move. By rotating the gyroscope to minimise this movement, it ends up parallel to the earth's axis and pointing towards true north.
Hi Chief MAKOi : Thank you for de-mystifying the Gyro Compass for me . I note from the cartoon character of yourself you appear with a Pipe for smoking Tobacco. I smoked pipe for many years - the most satisfying and leisure inducing. I was a Ship's Electrician from 1958 to 1966 on various ships of The Burma Five Star Line in my younger days. I'm now 78 and Retired Electrical Inspector on a nice Australian Government pension (50 years in Australia). I no longer smoke due to my health reasons. Thank you for your videos. The Mercantile Marine has changed so drastically - it's not much fun anymore. Best wishes to you and your family and ship mates. May you all be safe. 06/12/2020 Perth W.A.
Great video! In the movie Apollo 13, you hear them talk about "gimbal lock"; it means their ship has pointed in a direction that the gyros couldn't 'reach', and they are no longer accurate because they've tilted to an unrecoverable/unmeasurable angle and will require a realignment with 2 stars, to work again. The danger angles were shown as big, red dots on their black/white gauges, to tell the astronauts, "never point the ship in this direction or else you'll gimbal lock". Fascinating to see how they work, thanks Chief!
Every single one of your videos is not only informative and fascinating, but also kind of zen to watch. You have such a calm voice, perfect for narration. I adore your channel.
Thank for the video Chief Makoi ! Looking at the technician installing the repaired unit reminded me of my days installing garbage disposals (haha). Surprisingly complicated precision instrument. Very interesting stuff.
A wonderful piece of kit - almost witchcraft how it finds North.... In case anyone wonders - if you try to turn a spinning wheel, it 'kicks' sideways. Only when the gyro is spinning parallel to the earth's spin is there no force during the 24h rotation of the Earth. Clever design (including the magic liquid we saw) converts any 'kick' into movement towards true parallel again. Thus the gyrocompass seeks and then shows true North. Love your film - if anything can show young people what life on a good ship can be like, it's your work. Please carry on making them, and safe passage to you and your crew....
Again, Something I knew existed but knew nothing about. thanks for the education (ya learn something every day) & though I'm getting on in years, I never want to stop learning. THANKS!
Brings back memories of my working life when a few years ago I would have been the one coming on board to fix it. Interesting to see the sphere opened up in the workshop, it looked like a Microtechnica to me.
Well you did it again, another super interesting video. I had never seen the insides of a Gyro so this was particularly interesting to me. You mentioned magnetic compasses which have been around for many many years...but as you said interference and specifically things such as magnetic anomalies can create havoc for a navigator. A friend of mine running his boat, which was a 50 footer found himself over 40 miles off course in a fog bank because someone had set a pair of metal pliers in a storage container beneath the compass (magnetic) housing...not only irritating but potentially dangerous. Thanks for the great video, so interesting and topical..Thanks Chief!!! All the best to you and yours...
Fantastic content! I came here by accident. After creating a gyro from LEGO to demonstrate the effects of a high speed revving mass (yes that really works), I decided to look up a bit more about gyros and came across this channel. Even though I’m a typical landlubber, loving sailing on a small open boat, I find myself watching many more of your movies.
I like watching you chief you are very mature for your years your calm demeanor calms down my anxiety. If I had to work on one of these slave ships I think I would like to work under you. God bless you Chief good job.
Man, I never thought I would be interested in this kind of content. Now I look forward to each of your videos. Thanks for these little escapes, from a landlubber.
Cool. Use a gyrocompass and you don't have to worry about magnetic declination, space weather, or magnetic interference. At work we mostly used a magnetic compass because they can be build more robust than a gyro.
Reminds me of crossing the Indian Ocean back in 76. The Gyro went haywire, all of a sudden a noise filled the air. A sort of soft singing noise but it sent a shiver down the spine. At first we thought we’d drunk too much Ouzo or the Puffa Fish hadn’t been cooked properly. Before we knew it the ship started to rotate, at first slow then faster and faster. We were being sucked into a giant whirlpool ! All I remember after that was waking up on a beach on a tropical island. A young lady appeared and gestured me to follow. We arrived at a small village. They fed me and gave me a funny medicine. I spent what must have been weeks lying on a rough mat of palm leaves inside a wooden hut. Every day I got stronger and soon we were all building a raft to return me home. I set sail after saying goodbye, it was tough to leave especially because of the young lady who became my friend but I didn’t belong there. I will never forget my time on the island.
Thank you for a concise explanation of the operation of a gyro compass. I would have to, on many occasions deliver a compass adjuster to a ship so he could swing it. Boarding the adjuster from my launch was always during daylight, while the ship was at anchor. Always, the adjuster would complete his tasks at night, when the ship was steaming to sea. The ship was "outside" had no need of a pilot. I had to always ask the master of the ship to slow maximally to 6 knots, the ideal speed to safely embark the adjuster. One real fear I had was, that I would go to the wrong ship at night. No AIS for a 60 ft launch. The position was always given relative to the sea buoy. All ships look alike at night. Some times a master would temporarily light up the deck for me.
I was just watching your around the world video, wondering what type of compass was used. I spent 5 years in the USNavy and was specialized in the gyro compass, although that was in the mid 70's the theory is still the same the equipment is quite different. I enjoy your videos, especially the ones onboard in the engineering spaces on the equipment. Keep up the good work on making these videos.
I enjoy your videos Chief! The gyro is also supplying a heading (course) to the electronic chart (ECDIS) and the ARPA radar for them to function properly. One of the most important instruments on the bridge. Cheers from a ship's pilot in Sweden.
in the early 1800s, there was a Royal Navy officer named Matthew Flinders. he was a first-class navigator. according to Bowditch in H.O. #9, there are two things that affect a compass. variation (natural things in and on the Earth) and deviation (objects around the compass on a ship). what Flinders came up with are iron bars placed near and around the compass that counteract the deviation. they were called "Flinders Bar".
Chief as a convinced and fanatic landlubber i love your vids witch give me at least a whiff of the oceans and the ins and outs of the seafarer's life and ships ( or is it boat? ) ... thank you.
This was fascinating. Many moons ago, I was an avionics tech on high performance aircraft. But, I never got to see the insides of any of the gyroscopes that were part of the navigation systems. Different worlds....
My new Navy Ensign friend (graduated from PMA few months ago) should be familiar w/this by now...he's about to start his very first ship assignment in the Navy...
Basically same system as larger airplanes have. Military airplanes have always used gyros as main navigation device since GPS signal can be jammed or faked so GPS is usually used just to speed up the initial gyro align step.
