Rear Duplex

[A440A@AOL.COM]

> If it doesnt serve this purpose, why
> is it called by many a "duplex" ??

and Del writes:
>This is another area fraught with terminology problems. 

      The various ways in which the nonspeaking lengths are set-up can  be 
confusing, mainly because manufacturers have used the concepts for 
advertising, and we all know what happens when the marketing department 
begins labelling engineering concepts.  If all the engineers got together, 
there would be agreement on terminology in a hurry, but to gloss a product 
for sales' sake, we need lots of names.  
 
 Then Del writes: 
>  If your definition differs, I'd like to hear what you have
>come up with, including your reasons for calling these things whatever it is
>that you call them.

   Ok,  I have either a question or a nitpick, (can't tell till I get it all 
the way out of the box....)

>    3)  The Aliquot System.  If the back scale is designed such that its
>length is just approximately the same, or slightly shorter than, some exact
>divisor of the speaking length <snip> 
>    4)  The Tuned Aliquot System.  If the back scale is designed such that
>>its length is, or can be adjusted to, some exact divisor of the speaking
>>length, I refer to it as a 'tuned aliquot system.'

     We have to define "tuned".   Seems to me that both of these are tuned 
systems. The phrase  "designed such that its length is just approximately the 
same" describes tuning.  It may be a courser approach, but when backstring 
length is being determined by the speaking length, there is tuning being 
done. (this is starting to look like a nitpick, ain't it?) 
    From the same perspective, "some exact divisor" leaves a lot of open 
room.  Is this meaning some "low whole number" divisor,  a rational divisor?  
So that we can 'tune' it on the octaves or other low ratio interval steps?  
 
then Del throws the hanging slider:
6)  A Full Duplex System.  A 'full-duplex' system is one in which both
>>the front and back scales are aliquot systems and each are 'tuned' to
>>identical harmonics of the fundamental.

     It seems that by definitions above,  the front and back scales of a "A 
Full Duplex System" are Tuned Aliquot Systems(#4); not Aliquot Systems(#3)?  
<sigh>

Regards, 
Ed Foote