Large shoulder carried US altimeter find at flea market

[Tonomachi]

I picked this up at the flea market today. I'm assuming it was something carried by an engineer in the field. Can anyone tell me what it was used for and by whom. What era maybe 50s to 60s?

[HerbG]

The maker, Walter and Tiernan, are still in business. You might contact them for more information:

 

http://www.wallaceandtiernan.net/

[Bob Hudson]

It was basically using for mapping to determine altitudes for contour lines and peaks. You hear about things such as "The Battle of Hill 881" - the hills were ID'ed on maps by their height in meters.

 

The government paid over $2,000 for that surveying altimeter and I saw an online store asking $350 for a used one.

[Tonomachi]

Thanks a lot for the information. I got lucky as I only paid 25 dollars for this. The guy I got this from told me that he found it in a dumpster that someone had thrown away.