Can anyone provide information on how to calibrate the compass that appears on the screen titled Navigation. (This is the screen that appears behind the steering wheel, not the screen that's controlled by the touch pad.) Mine tells me I'm traveling East but the compass is pointing West and visa versa. The North and South indicators are working properly. I've had it back to the dealer twice for this and it's still not fixed. I can't find it in the manuals. Would appreciate any info. Thanks 2023 Aspec Advance

 

You have to drive in circles a few times to calibrate it.

 

Do I need to activate some setting first? Thanks

 

Nope just drive a few and it should correct itself. If it doesn’t try the other way.

 

Thanks Kboo. I'll try it this weekend in an empty parking lot.

 

If your RDX is equipped with a GPS based navigation system, then the compass direction is derived from the the GPS satellites. It is not based on the magnetic fields of the earth, like a hiking compass, and therefore does not require any type of calibration.

I think you may be misinterpreting the display, which I have seen others do in the past.

If you look at my image below, you can see the red arrow pointing towards the right side of the compass. Most people are familiar with maps, where the top is always north, and right side is always east. Because of this they assume (that in my image) that the red arrow is showing that I am heading east. When in fact, my image shows that I am heading west, like the "W" in the middle of the circle indicates.

The reason for the confusion is because the red arrow is not pointing in the direction you are travelling, but it is always pointing "north". In my image, I am travelling west, so "north" would be on my right side, and that is why the arrow points right when travelling west, and it points left when traveling east.

One other point about GPS based compasses. GPS navigation cannot tell what direction you are facing. GPS detects where you are on the face of the earth every 1-2 seconds. By looking at where you are now, and comparing that to where you where 1-2 second ago, it can then determine what direction you are heading. If you try to test your compass by driving in tight circles, you may find that it won't move, because the GPS system hasn't been able to detect any significant movement across the earths surface.

 

Thank you Rick for a clear explanation. Now the technicians at my dealership need educated.

 

Adding to what Rick said, on my 2022 RDX, there are two settings, one to make up = north and the other up = direction of travel. I personally find the up = direction of travel to be more intuitive.

 

I have a 2020 model, and that option is not available, I downloaded both the 2022 Owners Manual, and Navigation Manual, but was still unable to find that option being described.

Just to confirm, you are talking about the compass display in the MID, like in my photo, and not the similar setting which is available for the map display?

If you are describing the setting for the map display, then definitely, the direction of travel should be up. With this sitting, the map will rotate as you go around corners, and the icon representing your car will always point up. With the North Up setting, the map would never move, only the icon representing your car would change direction.

If there actually is a setting for the MID, then I think it would be better to have north always at the top, (rather than the existing "current direction up") and the arrow would rotate in the direction being travelled. That is how the OP was interpreting the display, and which lead to the original question.

 

In the Navigation Manual, it is on page 31 and is titled Map Orientation. The content says that by default it is set for 3D and the direction of travel is up but that isn’t the way my RDX was set at delivery. Having said that, my salesperson, prior to picking up the vehicle, had changed a lot of things initially and given me a summary sheet of the changes. And as is expected, the wife messed with things.

 

Thanks for your reply.

As I suspected that setting is for the map display on the large LCD screen. This setting is available on all vehicles that I have seen as well as hiking apps used on smart phones.

I thought that you were describing a new 2022 model feature that would change the way the "compass" was displayed in the MID (between the tachometer and speedometer).

Over the years I have seen many people get confused with the red arrow pointing right when driving west, and vice versa. It helps when you realize that the red tip of the pointer in any compass only does one thing. It points north.. If they had placed labels on the cardinal points of the compass (i.e N,E,S,W) it would have removed the confusion entirely.

 

My time to edit the previous message has expired, but I wanted to illustrate what I think would be a less confusing display. Basically make the compass look more like a real compass by adding a few letters.