Sorry, but I have not been able to visualize this.
No matter how I look into it, I can't seen how it will
generate a perpendicular line. I see the pegs and cable
as follows:
+
W o=====================o E
+
Where do I pull the rope taut? I'd imagine where the crosses are
(+) but I can't see how it will work.
Can someone help this guy who can't use the right side of his
brain?
- fernando
John Carmichael wrote:
> Rudolph:
>
> What a great idea! No math or plotting! This method also seems like it
> would be very precise (If there is no stretch in the rope. A chain or cable
> metal cable might be better than a rope for super precision).
>
> John
>
> >Yes, yes yes! Laying out lines is really fun and healthy.
> >
> >To derive the meridian from the east-west line, you don't even have to use a
> >Pythagorean triangle.
> >If you peg two points on the E-W line (not too close together) and connect
> >them with a long rope, you can pull the rope taut first on one side of the
> >E-W line, then on the other, each time grasping the rope in the same point.
> >That point can be anywhere on the rope, although not too far from the middle
> >(of the rope) is best.
> >If you mark the two places you can reach that way, you have two points of
> >the meridian.
> >
> >Have fun!
> >
> >Rudolf
> >
> >----- Original Message -----
> >From: Wm. S. Maddux <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> >(...)
> >Although it might seem a bit like watching the grass grow, a dialist
> >can find peculiar, but real, pleasure while doing this, just to see the
> >the straight W to E line reveal itself again, as it always has.
> >
> >Later you can draw the local meridian at a right angle, anywhere
> >along this established line, which is a most essential thing to know
> >for any dialing project. (The good old Pythagorean ratio of 3:4:5
> >for the sides of a measured right-triangle is a good way to lay off
> >the right angle.)
> >(,,,)
> >
> >
--
Fernando Cabral Padrao iX Sistemas Abertos
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.pix.com.br
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