Historical information
This is a set of eight photographs of technicians operating photogrammetric equipment in Air Survey Squadron, Army Survey Regiment, Fortuna, Bendigo. c1960s to c1980s. The Wild A9 Stereocomparator and Wild B9 stereo plotter were introduced in 1962. The Wild B8 stereo plotter was introduced in 1966. Technicians used the Wild A9 Stereocomparator to accurately measure between pass, tie, and survey control points on aerial photographs. The Wild B9 and B8s were used for plotting topographic detail and contours. These analogue machines were manually controlled by adjusting the control knobs for the orientation of the 3D image. The B9s used a four and a half square, and the B8s used a nine-inch square photo image on a film or glass diapositive which allowed highly accurate extraction of map features. At first, plotting with B8 and B9 stereo plotters was undertaken at the aerial photography scale of 1:80,000 in pencil onto a controlled plotting sheet. Sheets were then inked up and reduced photographically to the 1: 100,000 publication scale for scribe impression production. In the early days topographic detail and contours were plotted with a pencil or ink pen mounted at the far end of the pantograph arm. The plotting procedure was upgraded to direct plotting in ink with photographic reduction to publication scale. In 1975 four B8s were upgraded with tri-axis locaters as part of the Input Sub-system to enable digital extraction to AUTOMAP 1’s topographic database. When AUTOMAP 2 was introduced in 1982 these B8s were upgraded, and additional machines added to expand the Army Survey Regiment’s digital capture capability.
Physical description
This is a set of eight photographs of technicians operating photogrammetric equipment in Air Survey Squadron, Army Survey Regiment, Fortuna, Bendigo. c1960s to c1980s.
Black and white and colour photos are on photographic paper and scanned at 300 dpi.
.1) - Photo, black & white, c1965. Unidentified technician operating a Wild A9 Stereocomparator.
.2) - Photo, black & white, c1965. Unidentified technician operating a Wild B9 stereo plotter.
.3) - Photo, black & white, c1967. L to R: Unidentified technician, SPR Ken Jeffery operating a Wild B9 stereo plotter.
.4) - Photo, colour, c1974. Unidentified technician, operating a Wild B8 stereo plotter.
.5) - Photo, black & white, c1974. Unidentified technician operating a Wild B8 stereo plotter.
.6) to .7) - Photo, black & white, c1979. Unidentified technicians operating a Wild B8 stereo plotter.
.8) - Photo, black & white, c1985. Unidentified technician in AUTOMAP 2 operating a Wild B8 stereo plotter.
Inscriptions & markings
.1P, .2P, .4P, .5P, .7P – no annotations.
.3P – annotated ‘Standing - , Seated SPR Ken Jefferies (sic).
.6P – annotated with date ‘1979’
.8P – annotated ‘AUTOMAP 2’
