· Get a Cloudy Nights T-Shirt · Submit a Review / Article Click here if you are having trouble logging into the forums Privacy Policy | Please read our Terms of Service | Signup and Troubleshooting FAQ | Problems? PM a Red or a Green Gu… uh, User You are not logged in. [Login] Entrance · Main Index · Search · New user · Who's Online FAQ · Calendar Equipment Discussions >> Classic Telescopes Previous   Index   Next   Threaded   Pages: 1 okiestarman56 professor emeritus Reged: 04/10/08 Loc: 36.9'33" N 95.23'29" W Awesome Telescope       #3021785 - 04/03/09 11:28 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Anybody seen this kind of scope,how about the string thing. funny Post Extras:       Firewood sage Reged: 10/27/07 Loc: 29°7' N, 95°4' W The Awesomest Telescope [Re: okiestarman56]       #3021953 - 04/03/09 12:47 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Looks like a surveyor's transit level. Here's a link to a similar one on the 'bay w/a little more info and pictures: Auction The string thing is a plumb line. Great ad! "Thin metal semi-pointy needle or pointed tool." At least they tried. They could have just left it at "telescope thingy". Post Extras:       tim53 Postmaster Reged: 12/17/04 Loc: Highland Park, CA Re: The Awesomest Telescope [Re: Firewood]       #3021984 - 04/03/09 01:07 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   "you can lead a horse to water, but a plumb bob must be lead." -unknown. Post Extras:       roscoe curmudgeon Reged: 02/04/09 Loc: NW Mass, inches from VT Re: The Awesomest Telescope [Re: tim53]       #3022813 - 04/03/09 09:09 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Yep, it's called a builders' level. They are used to accurately generate level (same elevation) points around a foundation or building. The better ones (this one looks pretty decent) are capable of an accuracy of a tenth of an inch at 100 feet. The protractor dial is used to measure angles, like the corner of a building being built, though they aren't nearly as accurate as a real transit for angle measurement. The plumb bob is used to hang on a hook directly under he center of the level to allow it to be placed directly over a point. Post Extras:       roscoe curmudgeon Reged: 02/04/09 Loc: NW Mass, inches from VT Re: The Awesomest Telescope [Re: roscoe]       #3022833 - 04/03/09 09:19 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   And the second one is really close to identical............They both also are capable of measuring vertical angles, too. Wicked narrow field of view, though........... Before the days of rotating self-leveling laser-levels, every builder and excavator had one of these things in his truck. The fancier models, surveyors' transits, the ones with compasses in the center of the base, are even more accurate at carrying a level line to a distant point, and are capable of enormously accurate measurement of horizontal angles, readable sometimes to the individual second of angle. ....and there you are..... Russ Post Extras:       orion63 super member Reged: 12/10/07 Loc: Lima, Peru Re: The Awesomest Telescope [Re: roscoe]       #3022872 - 04/03/09 09:45 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I learned topography in the university using similar equipment (although more modern). They are capable of amazing precision. I still have the one my grandpa used in the 1930s, a Zeiss level tachymeter. It still moves smoothly. Post Extras:       woodsman Carpal Tunnel Reged: 03/12/08 Loc: Colorado Springs, CO Re: The Awesomest Telescope [Re: roscoe]       #3022907 - 04/03/09 10:06 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I still use a sight transit. I think the David White company still makes them, and when the laser level comes back broken after lending to a friend as mine did, its nice to have something as a back up. Its kind of hard to knock the laser out of alignment when it just has a round bubble. I would bet that those old craftsman ones are pretty darn accurate still. Rich Post Extras:       refractory Pooh-Bah Reged: 02/05/05 Re: The Awesomest Telescope [Re: woodsman]       #3023261 - 04/04/09 04:23 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Half the history of telescopes revolves around nonastronomical uses. Instrument makers back in the day could make a LOT of money if they knew what they were doing, and did it well. Funny, though, I've never heard of them taking a cue from hammering spears into ploughshares and making the fixtures, OTA etc. out of their earnings (gold and silver). They did, however, have a lot of brass.... Jess Tauber Post Extras:       Pages: 1 Previous   Index   Next   Threaded   Extra information 27 registered and 17 anonymous users are browsing this forum. 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