Itsmeed

I had asked Ed to measure the eyebolt diameter because I wanted to get the right size wire to hang the screen in a more stable fashion. The eyebolts, which supported the metal retractable housing, were really small but I couldn’t remember if they were 3/8” or 3/16” so I asked for help in sizing.

“ itsmeed, I have some bad news. Call me.”

I’m informed that the setup in my room was tenuous at best and during the effort to measure the holes diameter the whole thing came crashing down. The metal housing cracked and the screen unrolled and became permanently unretractable. Arriving home from work to full of engineering wisdom I tried putting it back together. In order to salvage the screen I decided to cut off the top bar with a razor blade and try to hang it from the lighter rod on the bottom. While it will leaves the screen in a position where its easier to get damaged, harder to role up and store, it is also much lighter, and much easier to work with.

So that still leaves me with my original quandry of how to get that screen in the optimal location. Last night after work, I drew up the following plans based on the concept of using a bunch of 2x4s to create a frame which cantilevered off the deck and rested against the neighbors building ( 412). I went to the hardware store and found out that in order to get anything longer than 8ft long pieces I would need to go to a lumber yard. Other than the fact that uncut lengths are unavailable within walking distance, there are a number of other issues involved including the total cost of the assembly, and how to stabilize the back post ( wires, heavy base… etc.)

In the mean time, I bought a concrete masonry bit to drill against 410’s back wall. Unlike 412s wall, this is a location I have ready access to. The hole was drilled about 9 ft up. A lot of dust came in when I drilled, and when i placed the screw it never really locked it just kept turning. Somehow, I found a sweet spot but I think a more permanent solution is needed. The equipment was all put on the new rack at the far side of the deck. (I got this new rack to hold all the associated nonsense, otherwise it would be a mess of chairs, step stools, with electronics and wires coming out of it).

In the end the whole thing worked out looked great and I am less interested in building my Hangman’s noose apparatus than before. The image does fill the entire screen but the picture was great and I think a 4 foot wide image is good enough, given the size of the deck . The ambient light is minimal in this location and the noise from the yaffa can be drowned out.

Outdoor Trial of Projector

It is a little bit of a hassle since it takes about 40 minutes to set the whole thing up and take the whole thing down, but since time might be tickin down at 410, I am going to try and watch as much as can outside. This includes dinner BBQs and post dinner movies.

Stay tuned