Skip, On my M-17 I mounted the compass in the bottom hatch board. It was easily read there, and I had a cord that I could plug into a cigarette lighter receptacle for lighting it after dark. A GPS is nice for giving an exact location. Also, it will give the bearing to your target and the direction you are traveling, but not the direction the boat is pointing. Clarence Andrews Former 17 owner -----Original Message----- From: montgomery_boats-bounces+n9ca=comcast.net@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:montgomery_boats-bounces+n9ca=comcast.net@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of wcampion@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, December 20, 2006 5:48 PM To: montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com Subject: M_Boats: Traditional Compass vs GPS This is a general questions to all who care to share. I was considering purchasing a traditional compass for my M15. Of course, I would need a nice gimballed compass which would need to be mounted in a location that is visable and out of the way. These requirements appear to be mutually exclusive, however, I don't want to be kicking it or knocking into it while I'm moving around in the cockpit. And mapping a course seems to require a degree of education or experience. I was also thinking of the advantages of a GPS. It doesn't have to be gimalled. Mounting should not be a major deal and a GPS seems to be more user friendly and more versatile than a traditional compass. I am looking for some feed back and thoughts from people who are currently using either a compass or a GPS or both. Thanks in Advance, Skip Campion M-15 #201 ________________________________________________________________________ Check out the new AOL. Most comprehensive set of free safety and security tools, free access to millions of high-quality videos from across the web, free AOL Mail and more. _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats