tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7620740354275997616.post902844007297491081..comments2024-01-26T05:59:06.455-05:00Comments on Northing & Easting: Which Way North? (Part II) - The Pocket TransitBrianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11301078056782961841noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7620740354275997616.post-30688021380574762162014-10-06T19:20:57.909-04:002014-10-06T19:20:57.909-04:00John, the only advice I can offer is to look for a...John, the only advice I can offer is to look for a 'trashed' Ainsworth of the same approximate age to use as a donor transit. You may also try contacting an instrument repair company like Mohave Instrument Company (www.mohaveinstrument.com) to see if they handle the repair. Good luck! Also please hop over to my new blog site (where all of this transit material has migrated) at www.oldtopographer.net. Thanks!<br />Brianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11301078056782961841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7620740354275997616.post-14446466460674413352014-10-06T17:33:24.112-04:002014-10-06T17:33:24.112-04:00Hi.
I have an early Ainsworth Brunton
Serial #75XX...Hi.<br />I have an early Ainsworth Brunton<br />Serial #75XX. Good condition overall, but missing its mirror and mirror retaining ring.<br />The mirror is an eighth inch or so larger in diameter than current production transits use.<br />Any idea where a proper mirror might be sourced??<br />Brunton customer service was'nt able to help.<br />Thanks, and Best Regards, J.Johnnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7620740354275997616.post-20933142408692004452014-03-12T18:29:12.588-04:002014-03-12T18:29:12.588-04:00Robert, thanks! It's great to have this resou...Robert, thanks! It's great to have this resource back. I'm going to see if I can generate a PDF of the page and archive it on my site and make it available in a future post.<br /><br />BrianBrianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11301078056782961841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7620740354275997616.post-28700558197510622312014-03-12T17:25:22.775-04:002014-03-12T17:25:22.775-04:00I think I may have found the serial number page us...I think I may have found the serial number page using the wayback machine that archives the web. Maybe someone would care to re-post on a new blog/site.<br /><br />http://web.archive.org/web/20081120033555/http://brunton.williamjhudson.net/serial_numbers.htmlAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09491410921217961332noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7620740354275997616.post-8476130625906069842014-02-19T18:07:15.643-05:002014-02-19T18:07:15.643-05:00Chris, what a great story! Thanks for sharing.
U...Chris, what a great story! Thanks for sharing.<br /><br />Unfortunately I don't have the serial number break-down that used to be hosted on William Hudson's web pages, but those have been off-line now for some time.<br /><br />My recommendation is to call Brunton in Wyoming and see if they can track down the year of manufacture. As I understand it they inherited all of the Ainsworth files (and it would be Ainsworth who made your fathers compasses) when Brunton took over manufacturing. Good luck, and please check back to let us know if you were successful!<br /><br />BrianBrianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11301078056782961841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7620740354275997616.post-50971487330995190382014-02-19T13:38:11.261-05:002014-02-19T13:38:11.261-05:00Does the current Brunton Co. have a list of serial...Does the current Brunton Co. have a list of serial numbers and dates of mfg.? I have my dad's (Allan James) old Brunton (one of them, my brother has the other) that he used when he was a mining engineer in Costa Rica during '42-'44. It's s/n 25255 and I'd love to know when it was made. <br /><br />Now, allow me to tell a story: One day when he was working a survey with his Brunton (either mine or my brothers...not sure which) in CR he stumbled and dropped the Brunton. It bounced on the ground and sailed over a small cliff. The compass survived the fall but the glass broke and the needle was lost. I'm sure he had a few choice words... Dad knew he could never get a replacement to Costa Rica in the middle of WWII so he marked off the area where the compass fell with stakes and string into 1 x 1-foot squares and searched every square inch of the area on his hands and knees until he found the needle. then he found some glass and repaired the face. <br /><br />Dad died in 1984 but he cherished his Bruntons.<br /><br />Chris James<br />Sandia Park, NMAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7620740354275997616.post-48171023071678713822013-11-03T18:22:21.688-05:002013-11-03T18:22:21.688-05:00Jack, unfortunately I didn't find any of Mr. H...Jack, unfortunately I didn't find any of Mr. Hudson's sub-pages as part of the archive, so my guess is that they did not get archived before the site was taken down. If you come up with any new information from the symposium I'd love to hear about it!<br /><br />BrianBrianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11301078056782961841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7620740354275997616.post-50943170507478070602013-11-03T18:10:42.679-05:002013-11-03T18:10:42.679-05:00Hi and THANK YOU for of finding that first page. ...Hi and THANK YOU for of finding that first page. It is a great start. I looked for Mr. Hudson and wonder if this obituary is for the same guy: <br /><br />http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/mycentraljersey/obituary.aspx?n=william-j-hudson&pid=149814480<br /><br />There is little info to guess he may be a Brunton expert but perhaps he was? Seems like he'd have left a fabulous collection too.<br /><br />BTW, I am Jack Purson - geologist - and I will be giving a talk about the Brunton at the NM mineral symposium Nov. 9, 2013. I know several Brunton collectors and we are all interested in finding out details about manufacturing dates, progression of features, early makers, etc. Thank you for your interesting and useful web site. Any chance the links in Mr. Hudsons website might be resurrected with further probing?Jack Pursonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7620740354275997616.post-46079767868700400592013-11-02T19:46:19.099-04:002013-11-02T19:46:19.099-04:00Wait! A quick search of the internet archives rev...Wait! A quick search of the internet archives reveals that at least the first page of William Hudson's pocket transit history website is available.<br /> You can get to it from the link I provide in the blog post I published earlier this evening. Brianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11301078056782961841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7620740354275997616.post-36293036754966352102013-11-02T18:56:43.155-04:002013-11-02T18:56:43.155-04:00Unfortunately it looks like William Hudson's w...Unfortunately it looks like William Hudson's website about the history of the Pocket Transit were taken down over a year ago and there's no archive of the pages available. You are right that his site was a great resource for the Pocket Transit collector and his site is greatly missed.<br /><br />BrianBrianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11301078056782961841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7620740354275997616.post-11453774517831052092013-11-02T18:50:00.071-04:002013-11-02T18:50:00.071-04:00I have enjoyed reading your article about the Brun...I have enjoyed reading your article about the Brunton. I would like to relocate the data you cite from William Hudson. I had found and bookmarked his Brunton web page in the 1990's and used it on occasion however, it is now gone. Poof! I am particularly interested in locating his wonderful data base about Brunton serial numbers - what years had what serial numbers and what features. It was awesome. I didn't print a copy and am hoping you or someone did and can share it. As a collector of these fine artifacts, a great deal of valuable information was lost when his site went away.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7620740354275997616.post-5306713122822933272012-01-07T12:25:29.187-05:002012-01-07T12:25:29.187-05:00R., I checked some of the pocket transits in my co...R., I checked some of the pocket transits in my collection and it appears that most of the earlier Ainsworth produced models only had sine tables. Based on what I have available to me my guess is that the tangents only got included on the info plate when Brunton took over production, and probably when they switched to a photo-etched plate format that allowed them to place more data on the table. Hope this helps!<br /><br />BrianBrianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11301078056782961841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7620740354275997616.post-17697322576016362402012-01-06T11:33:06.383-05:002012-01-06T11:33:06.383-05:00Hi: I have an old Brunton Pocket Transit with a ta...Hi: I have an old Brunton Pocket Transit with a table is sines, but no tangents. Any idea why? <br /> RL Stinson<br /> kb3kbc@gmail.comrnoreply@blogger.com