Alidade Transit Vintage Engineering Equipment Astronomy Scientific Leather Case

Description

Vintage Alidade in a beautiful leather case! A friend of mine who was a land surveyor back in the 60s through the 90s says that he used a similar item, but this one seems older than he was familiar with. It has no magnifying optics, it collapses for storage, and he isn’t sure how distances could be determined with it, only directions. Perhaps it was used along with a measuring tape. He didn’t use one often but he used to set up an alidade on a plane table with a blank mylar sheet and then one could directly plot and rough draft the plan right on the job site. Includes the alidade and a compass, as shown. There is a small spot for something else in the case – perhaps an eraser? Only marking is US. 11 inches long, compass is about 6 inches. I think these were also used in astronomy but not sure how.