Tip #34: Smartphone magnetometer. There are several magnetometers at the App Store. Many are free and some cost a few dollars. I got one called Physics Toolbox that has a five star rating for free. It shows a moving graph of the magnetic fields. You want the total which is a white line near the top of the graph. You can enlarge/zoom it by spreading your fingers over it to get much more detail.
I’m not too schooled on these mags but you probably need to calibrate your phone sensors by moving your phone in a figure 8 pattern. I do this is all three axis. Remember to keep your phone away from metal objects.
After you have watched this several times you can get an idea of how much the magnetic field is shifting and decide if locating conditions are worthwhile.
Also there is a web site called Spaceweatherlive.com that has mag read outs. The DST section shows where the graph goes into storm conditions or you can click on More Info and get stackplot for Europe or America’s that has many mag graphs all together. These are live so it is not just an estimate. Which some research you can find which mag is nearest to your location. Also the Bz graph shows when the field goes South. This means much energy is being pushed into the earth. Not good.
|