NavList:

I do have a theodolite. And I can certainly confirm that it is much easier to get accurate altitude measurements on land with it as opposed to a hand-held marine sextant. It is also possible to get accurate azimuth measurements with a theodolite - a task which seems nigh impossible even on land with a good lensatic compass.

The downside - at least wih my David White 8307 (see attached pictures) - is precision. As you can see from the photos, the azimuth circle's vernier is graduated in five minute increments. I didn't get a good close-up picture of the altitude vernier, but if you look closely in the first picture, you will see that it is graduated in exactly the same way. This is the only theodolite I have experience with, so I cannot even reasonably speculate on the precision of much older models.

After my brief experiments with the instrument, it seems to me that the biggest obstacle would be the lack of ability to track a celestial object over long time periods (i.e., more than a few minutes). The fine adjustment screws are not very long (you can see the altitude fine adjustment screw in the upper right of the first picture).

What say ye?

Cheers,

Sean C.

File:

File: