An associate of mine who has been retired for many years, but is finally downscaling , and moving to a retirement home.
I inherited a lot of his tools and equipment , a useful but dated C100 nikon total station, but this 1972 Wild T2 in really good condition was the prize for me.
I don't have any use for it as a production tool, but it is so well made, can't but help admire it and keep it.
It was tough for the old guy to let his stuff go, I could see he really did not want to part with it and move on.
Even more real, was that one day this will probably be me, but I doubt my S6 robot or R6 GNSS receiver will have any of the charm or value of this T2.
Nice picture.
That is a beautiful photo.
"I don't have any use for it as a production tool, but it is so well made, can't but help admire it and keep it."
That is why my T1A sits in my closet unused. I used the gun heavily for 10 years and it still looks almost new. Never during that ten years did the batteries fail or the data collector not initialize (yellow book and 2H pencil). Never was I told "they don't make parts anymore" or "that is end of life and we no longer support it". A really beautifully manufactured piece of hardware that would last several lifetimes (mine anyway) that I can't bear to part with. It sits in my closet along with my Curta calculator. Call me old or just someone who appreciates really well made elegant equipment .
T.W.
That brought a tear my eye; beautiful; thank you....
As a minor thread hijack, it just so happens that this weekend I finished preparing and posting descriptions and images for several items from the estate of Charles R. Swart, the founding president of the Montana Association of Registered Land Surveyors and a long-time friend and colleague of Kent McMillan.
One of the items is a military-surplus Wild T2 that, exclusive of the tribrach, is pristine.
Other items include two American (one Buff & Buff and one Gurley) transits, a British (Troughton & Simms) theodolite with tripod, and a Chesterman 100-foot engineer's chain.
To see all the items point your web browser to http://inlandwyo.com/inlandwyo/pub/Charles%20Swart%20Items/
The PDF in the first folder provides descriptions for the various items and an index to the images.
I am helping Charles' widow sell these items and am not charging for my assistance.
Any and all offers will be considered. I plan to make some more posts in the next few days but since this thread appeared I thought it would be a good time to mention the opportunity to pick up a beautiful Wild T2.
GB
Very nice.
Glenn Borkenhagen, post: 366464, member: 961 wrote: As a minor thread hijack, it just so happens that this weekend I finished preparing and posting descriptions and images for several items from the estate of Charles R. Swart, the founding president of the Montana Association of Registered Land Surveyors and a long-time friend and colleague of Kent McMillan.
One of the items is a military-surplus Wild T2 that, exclusive of the tribrach, is pristine.
Other items include two American (one Buff & Buff and one Gurley) transits, a British (Troughton & Simms) theodolite with tripod, and a Chesterman 100-foot engineer's chain.
To see all the items point your web browser to http://inlandwyo.com/inlandwyo/pub/Charles%20Swart%20Items/&apos ;"> http://inlandwyo.com/inlandwyo/pub/Charles Swart Items/
The PDF in the first folder provides descriptions for the various items and an index to the images.
I am helping Charles' widow sell these items and am not charging for my assistance.
Any and all offers will be considered. I plan to make some more posts in the next few days but since this thread appeared I thought it would be a good time to mention the opportunity to pick up a beautiful Wild T2.
GB
You should post a separate thread for Mr. Swart's instruments.
Robert Hill, post: 366475, member: 378 wrote: You should post a separate thread for Mr. Swart's instruments.
Will do - something will be up later today or tomorrow in the "Buy, Sell & Trade" category.
I cut my teeth on one of these.
The instrument I learned on, and the T-16 1981.
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The Wild T2, the first theodolite I ever used. I accidentally threw myself and a T1 down a mountain once and watched in horror as the bullet bounced down end over end even lower than me, didn't even go out of calibration!
It was this one on a mountain close by.
I have a Dietzgen transit and a T-16, both in excellent working order, proudly displayed on my bookshelf. I also own a Topcon GTS-800 robotic TS. I very much doubt that it will ever hold a place of honor along these two older instruments.
The pre-electronic instruments were designed and built with an element of artistic utilitarianism (how's that for an oxymoron that many of you understand) that has been lacking in practically all electronic instruments. They also have a timeless usefulness that will rarely if ever match that of a modern electronic instrument, but will outlast all of them as those electronic instruments become obsolete. Electronics wear out, software becomes so dated that it becomes useless and the instruments can no longer function as designed.
Meanwhile, a well cared for pre-electronic instrument works as well today in the manner it was designed to be used as it did on the day it was first taken to the field, whether that was 30 or 130 years ago. Therein, I believe, lies its appeal.
Pdop, you have indeed acquired a treasure.