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.) >(,,,) > >
