Rangefinder

A rangefinder (also rangefinding telemeter, depending on the context) is a device used to measure distances to remote objects. Originally optical devices used in surveying, they soon found applications in other fields, such as photography and in the military. They were specially useful for finding the range of a target, such as in naval gunnery and anti-aircraft artillery. The word telemeter is derived . The first rangefinder telemeter was invented by James Watt in 1769 and put to use in 1771 in surveying canals. Watt called his instrument a micrometer, a term now used with a different meaning in engineering (the micrometer screw gauge). It consisted of two parallel hairs in the focal plane of a telescope eyepiece crossing an upright hair. At the point to be measured, two sliding targets on a surveyor's rod were adjusted to align with the hairs in the telescope. The distance to the rod could then be determined from the distance between the targets on the rod by trigonometry. Several others have been credited with the invention of the rangefinder telemeter at one time or another. The Royal Society of Arts gave an award to W. Green for its invention in 1778, even though they were made aware of Watt's priority. In 1778, Georg Friedrich Brander invented the coincidence rangefinder. Two mirrors set a distance apart horizontally in a long slim box, similar to a subtense bar but located at the measuring station, and forming two images. This rangefinder does not require a measuring rod at the target and could perhaps be considered the first true telemeter. In 1790 Jesse Ramsden invented a half-image range finder. Though Alexander Selligue is often mistakenly credited with the invention, he did invent an improved telemeter with fixed lenses in 1821 and is responsible for coining the term. In 1881, the British Royal Artillery adopted the depression range finder, which had been developed by Captain H.S.S. Watkin for use by coastal artillery. It used the measurement of the angle of depression from the observer, sited on a high vantage point, to the waterline of the target vessel.