consistent downbearing measurements

[Ron Nossaman]

>Humm,
>why would not a laser set on the string pointing at the rim, first 
>measurment on the speaking length and the second reading on the tail with 
>the laser pointed at the same target.  Bypass the bridge all together.
>Just thinkin,
>Joe Goss

Interesting idea, Joe. Getting enough distance between the laser and the 
target might be tough, unless you bounce it off a mirror to the ceiling, or 
to the opposite corner of the case. The longer the baseline, the more 
accurate the reading. You'd have to get the increments bigger than the 
laser dot, and a scale calibrated for that particular baseline distance. 
That's where reflecting to the ceiling (and back down to the scale, where 
it is reachable and can be positioned for zero) might be handy. A tad 
cumbersome for field evaluations though...

Ron N