Sitometer
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A sitometer is a special form of the bearing compass , which makes it possible to read off the elevation and elevation angles of a targeted object at a glance. Developed in the 19th century especially for military use for quick measurement of positions and artillery briefing, it was and is still in use in many armies today. There are also various civil applications.
The term was derived from the French sitomètre . The elevation angle is called angle de site in French. The azimuth angle , however, is called angle de gisement .
The term originally referred to a pure elevation angle measuring device, which was later supplemented by a compass. Early sitometers sometimes have fastening devices for attachment to guns, whereby a measurement of the lateral angle on the gun itself was not possible due to the deflection of the magnetic needle by the iron of the gun. So the sitometer had to be removable in order to be able to determine the azimuth a few meters away from the gun. Today the term refers to the late construction variant, mostly a prism bearing compass with simultaneous reflection of the elevation angle.
Similar devices built today are made for the needs of land surveying, and are therefore designed with a mounting option on a tripod .