Hewlett- Packard EDM (Hewlett-Packard 3800B)
name: label: owner
content: U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey
label: maker
content: Hewlett-Packard Company
notes: label: Description
content: Hewlett Packard introduced their first EDM on October 7, 1969, describing it as a "new, low cost instrument that uses an invisible beam of infrared light to accurately measure distances up to two miles." It weighed 17 lbs (the separate power pack weighed an additional 13 lbs), and used a gallium arsenide diode to generate infrared radiation of 910 nanometer.
label: Description
content: According to William Hewlett, the idea for this instrument originated in 1965 as he watched a surveyor in Afghanistan using a European EDM and was struck by how long it took to set up the instrument. The process of modulating the light beam seemed especially arduous. "Surely," he thought, "HP technology—particularly in the area of photo diodes—would have some contributions to make here." Paul Stoft, director of HP Electronics Research, sketched the block diagram for the new instrument; Gregory Justice headed the development team. The new instrument, known as Model 3800, was introduced on October 7, 1970. The basic design was covered by a patent (#3,619,058) granted to William Hewlett and Gregory Justice on Nov. 9, 1971, and assigned to Hewlett Packard.
label: Description
content: Advertisements announced that the HP 3800 cost "just $4,110" and was so simple to use that costly training time was cut to less than 15 minutes. The 3800A had a range of 10,000 feet, with readout directly in feet; the 3800B had a range of 3 km., with readout directly in meters. By September 1971 there were over 2,000 units in use in the United States and Canada.
label: Description
content: The National Geodetic Survey transferred this one to the Smithsonian in 1986. An inscription reads "3800B DISTANCE METER HEWLETT. PACKARD SERIAL NUMBER 1141A00291" and "MADE IN U.S.A. PATENTS PENDING."
label: Description
content: Ref: Press release dated October 7 [1969], Hewlett Packard Company Archives.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences
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content: Surveying and Geodesy
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content: Measuring & Mapping
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Geodetic Survey Division
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1986.0395.01
label: accession number
content: 1986.0395
label: catalog number
content: 1986.0395.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: EDM
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 8 1/2 in x 25 in x 17 in; 21.59 cm x 63.5 cm x 43.18 cm