Description:
Serial 6571. This instrument is 21″ high, 14″ wide, 8.5″ deep (with scope in vertical position). A large electronic beam generator in an aiming tube. It is mounted on a tripod at point A. It is powered by a 12 volt battery to generate the beam which is reflected by a glass prism at a point B.

The instrument comes with a tan colored fiberglass back back mounted instrument case . The case contains: one 12 volt battery cable, one monogram and calibration table. Also one monogram and calibration table in the file.

History and Comments:
The geodimeter Model 6 introduced in 1964, was a transistorized instrument with coaxially mounted transmitter and receiving optics. It had a range of 1-2 miles in daylight and 10 miles in darkness. It had a standard accuracy of 5mm +1mm/km. Without a case or tripod it weighed a mere 35 pounds.
Advertisements showed it being carried by a women, with text stating “Your assistant can look like this” Equipped with a tungsten lamp and various accessories, it cost approximately $10,000 and could be powered with a 12 volt car battery. A mercury vapor lamp for the model 6 cost some $2,500 more and required a special generator.

The Geodimeter (acronym for geodetic distance meter) was the invention of the Swedish Physicist Dr. Erik Bergstrand who designed and applied it to the measurement of the speed of light over measured distances in 1947. His original device, introduced in 1949, weighed more than 100 kilograms and was the first EDM instrument ever made.

Object ID:
ALSA 2006.24.01

Donated By:
J.B. Underwood & Associates Ltd.