Preface by Terry Smythe

Some months ago, I posted an appeal for help in dealing with a basket case reproducing grand that someone else had started and I acquired it without treble strings or scaling documentation.  Among those who responded with help and advice was Doug Rhodes from Victoria, BC.    It seems that Doug had previously developed a spreadsheet that would help with my problem, and he kindly shared it with me, after fine tuning it and its formulae.

After receiving the package, I undertook to convert the Excel spreadsheet into the lowest level of Lotus 1-2-3 (.WK1/ALL), and its companion Microsoft Word 6.0 documentation into the lowest level ASCII documentation.  For those among us who do not have Microsoft Word 6.0 or Excel, the other file should be acceptable into most any word processor or spreadsheet.  Doug's introduction to his documentation is below.  Many thanks Doug, very much appreciated.

Regards,

Terry Smythe
Date: Wed, 3 Jul 1996 19:38:33 CDT
 

Mathematics of Stringing

The "Calculating Technician" spreadsheets are derived from a series of articles of the same name by Dave Roberts, which originally appeared in The Piano Technicians Journal in the early 1980's.  The spreadsheet adaptation was developed by Douglas K. Rhodes, R.P.T.  No remuneration is expected nor accepted for the use of this adaptation. Treat it as freeware.

Two versions are available from me for the Macintosh on 800K discs.  They are written with Excel 3.0a . They are formatted as "stationery" files - one in English units, and one in metric.  They are identical in all other respects.

All abbreviations for entered and calculated factors are the same as used by Dave Roberts in his articles, and all formulas (except T - tension, which is modified to accommodate the pitch option described below) are adapted for spreadsheet application essentially un-changed.

All cell entry references in this text are in accordance with the Excel designations for rows and columns, and will correspond to the sample calculations and formulas handouts. Enter all appropriate file information at top left of data file, column 2.  Be sure to identify whether data is original or modified. If you modify the data, SAVE the original data as a separate file.

It is highly recommended that you purchase and read The Calculating Technician by Dave Roberts, the book form of his articles, which is available from the PTG.

  strng-we.zip (32 kb) 96-05-01
 strng-al.zip (22 kb) 96-07-03