Patent ID: 7106422

Claim:
A rangefinder capable of compass measurement, comprising: a transmitter transmitting a light beam to a target; a receiver receiving a light beam reflected from the target and outputting a corresponding distance signal; a comparison/gain device receiving the distance signal and processing the distance signal in a comparison mode or in a gain mode; a mode switching device controlling the comparison/gain device to operate in one of the comparison mode and the gain mode, wherein the mode switching device provides a reference voltage to the comparison/gain device to determine whether a pulse is higher than the reference voltage when the comparison/gain device is operated in the comparison mode, and the comparison/gain device produce a feedback voltage and amplifies the distance signal to output an amplified signal when the comparison/gain device is operated in the gain mode; a compass measurement unit sensing a terrestrial magnetism to obtain first and second magnetic sensing signals; and a processor estimating a distance between the target and the rangefinder according to the pulse or the amplified signal and determining a compass orientation of the target according to the first and second magnetic sensing signals.