degaussing for compass

Recently, rq3 posted:

Sacramento Sky Ranch used to rent a degausser, or you can buy one at
Radio Shack (it's called a bulk tape eraser).

karl gruber wrote:
SOMEWHERE on the net I've seen somebody who rents out equipment to
degauss the area around where the compass goes.

In Cessna 180/185s the compass rests between a steel "V" brace and
this sometimes gets a magnetic set, or something. Does anyone
remember who rents out that equipment?


Be aware that a "degausser" can also be a "gausser", and magnetize the
object instead. It may be a more tricky task than it appears, since to
degauss the object one has to apply exactly the amount of magnetism of
opposite polarity. When erasing tapes, this isn't much of an issue,
because the recording process will overcome the relatively weak magnetism.
I'm not so sure about successfully degaussing steel bars near a compass,
and certainly not while they're installed.

Neil