🚀 go-pugleaf

Does anyone in net land understand or know about Gyroscopes?   I have
a surplus gyro, about  4" diameter  and 10"  long, originally hermet-
ically sealed.  It has a  resistive (four  terminal) potentiometer to
pick off angle, a DC spinner motor, and solenoids and a DC motor that
provide a 'reset and position' function.  All functions  seem to work
at 12V DC.  

I have built an A/D and display that decodes the potentiometer output
and  gives  a  digital  readout in  degrees.   It is  very stable (no
variation in angle) when sitting on a bench, and  seems to  work as a
gyrocompass  when  it is  moved around.   It  can stand  about +/- 45
degrees of off  axis motion  (pitch, roll)  before it  'loses it' and
needs mechanical resetting.  I will soon be testing  it in  my car to
see if it really works.  I would like to use it as  a gyrocompass for
boating.  

Here are my questions:  

-- Who might have made it. No documentation or labeling.

-- Is it intended to readout in the horizontal plane  (azimuth) or is
it intended to be in the vertical plane (roll).  Seems to do both.  

-- Is it a free gyro  (stands still  as the  earth turns)  or does it
seek north?  I have read Bowditch  (marine navigation  bible), and it
says a north seeking Gyrocompass uses weights on  various axes, takes
lots of warmup time, and is big, expensive, and complicated.

-- How is the interface to a four terminal pot normally done?

-- How much error is introduced by motion. 

-- What about Gyros in small planes?

Any and all info would be really helpful.
				Dave Erickson
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Datacube Inc. 4 Dearborn Rd. Peabody, Ma 01960 	617-535-6644
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