I have a tribrach with no markings on it, very unusual type. Instead of a built in optical plummet, it has a reversible device that goes in the top center that is a bulls-eye bubble and when you invert the device it is the optical plummet, and it can rotate 360. It is the same diameter as the brass adapter that usually comes with a fixed height tripod. It also has a strange female plug on the side, but I don't see any light.
I need a footscrew for it, but have no idea where it came from. Here are a few pics:
The color looks Askania - for whatever that is worth. I'll do a little digging.
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Yes, indeed it is. Just found a K&E brochure from 1962 that illustrates the Askania theodolites that K&E sold. It is a tribrach that could have gone with a model 2e, 1e, or 6e. The illustrations match yours including the power input.
Not sure about the optical plumb. Looks like something to use to transfer a point from floor to ceiling. I don't see that in the catalog, but I'll keep poking around.
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OK - a little more information, but no illustrations provided. Catalog #73 0220 is a "straight optical plummet" used for centering traverse equipment.
Catalog #73 0225 is a "zenith and nadir optical plummet" for setting under overhead marks as well as over ground marks.
Your thing could be either.
Tribrach looks identical to the one attached to a KE-1 theodolite I've had sitting around for many years. Before K&E distributed Askania theodolites in the U.S. before taking on Zeiss. Must have been mid 70's or before. Mine has K&E and Askania brand names on it. I believe the odd looking plug on the side is how you connect a battery pack to illuminate the circles via the mirror and opening in the instrument. No wires external to the instrument to become tangled as it was turned. Some sort of bulb and holder attached to a jack below the mirror.
The large diameter center hole was based on a German standard. Zeiss used the same system on their tribrachs.
More info about Askania here.
http://www.dehilster.info/instrumenten/theodolite6/index.htm l"> http://www.dehilster.info/index.php?doc=http://www.dehilster.info/instrumenten/theodolite6/index.html
Been a long time since any of these were made. An established instrument repair shop might have some parts in their graveyard.
Wow, you guys are good. That is exactly what it is. I like the tribrach for GPS work because I can rotate it and make sure the optical plummet is in adjustment, also the bubble. And, it can be inverted to look up as well as down.
If anyone knows of any spare parts laying around....
I've never seen the traverse kits by Askania show up on ebay, but the theodolites show up every once in a while and go cheap. I'll keep my eyes open for you.
Back in the early 70s, we used optical plummets that looked just like the one in your photo with a Zeiss Th43, an HP 3800 and ball bases instead of tribrachs.
> Back in the early 70s, we used optical plummets that looked just like the one in your photo with a Zeiss Th43, an HP 3800 and ball bases instead of tribrachs.
Yeah, with the grey paint, that looks like a Zeiss Oberkochen optical plummet. I hadn't remembered the dark anodizing on the spigot fittings, but I suppose they could have been finished that way.
> I hadn't remembered the dark anodizing on the spigot fittings, but I suppose they could have been finished that way.
Ours looked just like the one in the photo. Black anodizing with a similar wear pattern and grey paint, although I don't remember the paint being as chipped as the one in the photo.
That is a pretty cool tribrach.
I would like to find an optical plummet like that. I have an newer style tribrach that the laser plummet went out in, and would love to have a center adapter like that.
If you happen to find a supplier with a few, please let me know.
Leica makes removable laser plummet that can be flipped to show the zeineth. Just have to be willing to spend around $600. It works out if you don'e have to buy all of those damn optical plummets.
There's one just like it on eBay right now. Kind of pricey at $200 for the lot of 3 (though the others are of a different manufacture).
Thanks, Jim (and Dave)
Thanks, Jim, for that link. I bought those three just now.
And thanks to Dave Ingram for calling me last night to make sure that I saw Jim's link. For some reason, the "email notification on reply of this posting" never seems to work for me.
Thanks, Jim (and Dave)
I weas just given an old K&E 1e by my 87 year old Civil Eng friend. Unfortunately it has a broken scale reading eyepiece. Do any of you guys know where to look for one? These sure are nice looking instruments. William