Originally Posted by
brdad
Quadrant bearings do not use 0-360° as most of us are accustomed to. Instead, they specify up to 90° E or W of N or South. So, Northeast (45°) would be N45°E, and Southwest would be S45°W. N90°E and S90°E would both be East.
S 38 degrees E 15 minutes, if it were written the way I think would be correct (Anyone that knows different speak up!) would be S38°15'E. since there are 15 minutes in a degree, we could also say S38.25°E. If we take 180° (Which is south on a typical compass) and subtract 38.25, we get the azimuth we need for our compass bearing, or 141.75°.
Hopefully that helps if it is a quadrant bearing. If you need a visual, I can draw something up.
This could make a good article if I had time to do so....