Gigas theodolite

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The Gigas theodolite was the first motorized precision theodolite for tracking the orbit of balloon probes and terrestrial satellites . It was developed in the 1950s by Erwin Gigas (Frankfurt) and the Askania factory in Berlin .

The original TPR precision theodolite from Askania with a broken telescope and photographic pitch circle registration by means of a robot camera was redesigned for double viewing so that two observers standing sideways could follow the target separately in direction and height. The tracking speed of both axes could be regulated by means of a friction gear with a rotation of up to 200 ° per minute. For quick adjustment, the instrument had two finderscopes and the gears were friction-coupled with the theodolite axes.

The Gigas theodolite was mainly used for determining the orbit of artificial earth satellites, but also for tracking weather balloons and stratospheric balloons for high-target triangulation . Use ended in the 1970s when other satellite observation techniques outperformed visual measurements.

literature

  • Erwin Gigas 1966: Physikalisch-Geodätische Messverfahren , pp. 252–255. Dümmler-Verlag, Bonn
  • Karl Ramsayer 1970: Geodetic Astronomy , pp. 220–223. JEK Handbook of Surveying Volume IIa, Metzler, Stuttgart.