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.) (,,,)
