John, Andrew, Will, ENTS,
One last bit of information. If I reduce the upper distances by 0.5 yards, where the error is most frequently made, and leave the lower measurement alone, the average is 156.7 feet. Why change the top and leave the bottom alone? Because my particular Nikon 440 shoots long more often on brighter targets - the opposite of what one would expect. Pine needles against a brighter sky will produce more long shots than shorter ones for the 440. Darker trunk shots are more often accurate. So, the 156.7 is a logical selection for what my laser was seeing. Was I consistently hitting the top of the highest twig? That is another story. The height of Thoreau is somewhere between 156 and 158 feet, with the lower end of the interval having the higher probability by my measurements and the upper range by John's. We need another climb to settle the issue. Ideally Will and Andrew would make the climb together with celebrations at the Charlemont Inn afterwards. As I'm writing this, he whole thing strikes me as being a little funny. We're fretting over a foot or two at the most when other people's measurements (non-ENTS) can be off by tens of feet with the measurers either oblivious to the errors or obstinate in their attitude toward adopting better measurements methods. Ah, the delicious nature of an obsession. Bob -- Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org Send email to [email protected] Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en To unsubscribe send email to [email protected]
