Automated c-axis analyzers are a critical tool for harvesting large-scale ice crystal orientation data from thin section analysis, but existing examples are not designed for deployment into the field. We demonstrate a possible solution to this need with the Automated Lightweight Portable Analyzer for C-Axes (ALPACA), which implements the established four-sequence measurement algorithm of Wilen (2000) using three motorized axes of motion in a unit with volume about 0.034 cubic meters. In tests of eight easily-visible grains in thin section WDC-06A 420 VTS, ALPACA’s polarizer rotation angles of extinction agreed with previously published data to within 5º on all but one sequence of a single grain, with average sequence errors of 1.6º, 1.3º, 1.4º, and 2.9º. The information produced by these automated measurements enable production of complete grain-by-grain orientation data.