The alidade is a triangular ruler with one or more working scales on it beside other measurements.    From Wordnik.com.  [Military Instructors Manual] Reference

The mariner sighted the objects along a rule called an alidade.    From Wordnik.com.  [Book review: Thunderer by Felix Gilman] Reference

His foot caught on it in mid-leap, and he stumbled out onto the bridge wing, fetching up against the alidade.    From Wordnik.com.  [Nuke Zone]

Surveyors would place an alidade on the plane table and sight along it to a particular object, then draw a line to indicate the bearing.    From Wordnik.com.  [Book review: Thunderer by Felix Gilman] Reference

The second lesson takes up the preparation of the stride scale on the alidade and the different kinds of maps, made in military sketching.    From Wordnik.com.  [Military Instructors Manual] Reference

One of the telescopes is then placed over its alidade and moves with it; and the apparatus thus comprehends only a system of synchronous movements.    From Wordnik.com.  [Scientific American Supplement, No. 363, December 16, 1882] Reference

Always carry several large-headed pins using one at your present station and resting the side of the alidade against it, swinging the other end for sighting.    From Wordnik.com.  [Military Instructors Manual] Reference

Now to convert this into a working scale for the alidade made on a scale of six inches to the mile; take the case of a man who takes 220 strides in 440 yards.    From Wordnik.com.  [Military Instructors Manual] Reference

"Suraklin thought like that, you know," he said, making a minute adjustment to the rete and sighting along the alidade at the North Star, high in the frosty sky.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Silicon Mage]

By use of the slope scale on the sketch board and the contour interval scale on the alidade, each man will secure vertical data on the flat sketch made in the fourth lesson.    From Wordnik.com.  [Military Instructors Manual] Reference

Your scale is ready to be pasted or transferred to the alidade and each 6.8. inches on the map will equal 1,000 of your strides on the ground, or about 1-1/12 miles (2,000 yards).    From Wordnik.com.  [Military Instructors Manual] Reference

We find here the meridian circle, M, and the equator E, of the diagram shown in Fig. 3 (No. 4); but the circle with alidade is here replaced by a small aperture movable in a slide that is placed in.    From Wordnik.com.  [Scientific American Supplement, No. 810, July 11, 1891] Reference

These distances are already on the alidade and if you get a slope of 2° with the slope board and have the distance from your station on the map to the point of aim either by pacing, intersection or resection, apply the M.D.    From Wordnik.com.  [Military Instructors Manual] Reference

Daddy was first attracted to seismic work because while in the Air Corps during World War II he had worked with an alidade and a transit -- in other words, it was the tools that drew him into what he would do for the rest of his life.    From Wordnik.com.  [HAROLD DERWIN BARNETT, 22 May 1925 - 16 October 2006] Reference

The elements of the toothed wheels and the number of revolutions of the armature for a given displacement of the telescope being properly calculated, it will be seen that the alidade will be able to follow all the movements of the latter.    From Wordnik.com.  [Scientific American Supplement, No. 363, December 16, 1882] Reference

The line, a1 a2, that joins these axes is parallel with that which joins the axes of the two telescopes; and the alidades are connected electrically with the telescopes by a system such that each alidade always moves parallel with the telescope that corresponds to it.    From Wordnik.com.  [Scientific American Supplement, No. 363, December 16, 1882] Reference

And then our trademark and exclusive, shipwreck artifacts: This time we will have a genuine bronze astrolabe, the most complete and intact one we have ever handled, fully dated 1656 and well detailed, solid and stable, alidade intact, one of fewer than 80 pieces known and among the best from any wreck.    From Wordnik.com.  [Daniel Frank Sedwick Treasure and World Coin Auction #7 : Coin Collecting News] Reference

If he is properly oriented and can aim at two points on the ground which he has located on the map, he places a pin at one of these locations on the map and aims with the alidade at the object on the ground drawing a line towards himself; this is repeated with the other known point and where the two lines cross on the map will be the point he is standing at.    From Wordnik.com.  [Military Instructors Manual] Reference

Close by stood an alidade, an instrument for measuring angles.    From Wordnik.com.  [Historical Miniatures] Reference

An additional article of the sketcher's equipment is a holder for his pencils, alidade, eraser, knife, pins, etc.    From Wordnik.com.  [Manual of Military Training Second, Revised Edition] Reference

I do not claim to "know everything", but I am pretty dang good at finding answers. alidade on Wed, 2007-11-14 20: 52.    From Wordnik.com.  [D*I*Y Planner - Comments] Reference

Christopher Clavius (q.v.) had mentioned the idea but had not proposed to attach permanently the scale to the alidade.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 15: Tournely-Zwirner] Reference

He then places his alidade (ruler) so that it points at one of the known points, keeping the edge of the alidade touching the corresponding point on the sketch.    From Wordnik.com.  [Manual of Military Training Second, Revised Edition] Reference

Nothing is so discouraging to the sketcher as to look for his pencil, eraser, knife or even alidade and find that he has left it several hundred yards back where he sat down last to sketch in details.    From Wordnik.com.  [Manual of Military Training Second, Revised Edition] Reference

Survey: Mapping Part 3: Vertical Measurements Surveying using transit or alidade and  measuring rod Vertical base: benchmark or permanent feature  of known elevation Convert measures to meters above sea level.    From Wordnik.com.  [Recently Uploaded Slideshows] Reference

14,408 feet: 1914, U.S. Geological Survey, plane table and alidade.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Seattle Times] Reference