Lights... Camera... Now Let's Have Some Action
The fiber optic cables and accompanying engine were delivered last week, so Admir can finally start working on this ceiling galaxy we've been carrying on about for so long. If it were a progress-blocking issue, I would have lost interest and told him to forget it by now. But considering the fact that Francisco doesn't have the materials he needs to make the necessary components, like seats, we might as well do some pimpin' in the meantime. So Admir came by yesterday afternoon for a quick show-and-tell and to answer my usual endless stream of questions.
The control box itself was surprisingly small, about 1.5 by 2.5 by 5 inches. Admir said he was expecting something much bigger, but the guy who made it said that for such a small area (roughly 9 by 5 feet), we wouldn't need much power, or even that many cables. The final result is a 9 V box connected to 12 feet of fiber optic cables, which will keep the heat level down considerably. There are about 250 individual cables bundled together, and right now they only light up at the ends.
Admir said that he's going to cut a few notches in each cable to distribute points of light throughout them. For example, if he cuts 3 notches in each cable, we then have an extra 750 lights, plus the initial 250 at the ends. I hope Admir can do this up nice because the fiber optics dealer recommended about 20 lights per square foot. We have bit of room for some practice cuts, but not too much.
When the lights are ready to be hung, they'll be poking through a thick but breathable black cloth and covered with a sheet of plexiglass about one-eighth of an inch thick. We also talked a little bit about where the air vents and cameras would go in relation to the ceiling, since the the vents are going to run along the side opposite the vertical bench seating, and we're going to place a camera in the rear cabin so I can always see what's happening.
Right now the box is programmed to fade from blue to white and back over the course of about 20 seconds. I'd also like the ability to make them simply glow and manually toggle between white, blue, and off. Admir said he could open the box and reprogram it, which makes me a little nervous, mostly because I told him what I wanted a few times over the phone, and he should have just told the guy making the box in the first place.
Anyway, here's a picture of how the box came to us:
I'm aware of the contradictory "LED" labeling, since we explicitly decided against using LEDs.
And here's a picture of me being pissed that my car isn't anywhere near done yet:
Revisiting a larger version of that picture, I think I look downright scary. It kind of reminds me of that low grumble my dog Zoey makes when she's about to put the smack down on another animal. I'm definitely not that tough, but something needs to happen.
The control box itself was surprisingly small, about 1.5 by 2.5 by 5 inches. Admir said he was expecting something much bigger, but the guy who made it said that for such a small area (roughly 9 by 5 feet), we wouldn't need much power, or even that many cables. The final result is a 9 V box connected to 12 feet of fiber optic cables, which will keep the heat level down considerably. There are about 250 individual cables bundled together, and right now they only light up at the ends.
Admir said that he's going to cut a few notches in each cable to distribute points of light throughout them. For example, if he cuts 3 notches in each cable, we then have an extra 750 lights, plus the initial 250 at the ends. I hope Admir can do this up nice because the fiber optics dealer recommended about 20 lights per square foot. We have bit of room for some practice cuts, but not too much.
When the lights are ready to be hung, they'll be poking through a thick but breathable black cloth and covered with a sheet of plexiglass about one-eighth of an inch thick. We also talked a little bit about where the air vents and cameras would go in relation to the ceiling, since the the vents are going to run along the side opposite the vertical bench seating, and we're going to place a camera in the rear cabin so I can always see what's happening.
Right now the box is programmed to fade from blue to white and back over the course of about 20 seconds. I'd also like the ability to make them simply glow and manually toggle between white, blue, and off. Admir said he could open the box and reprogram it, which makes me a little nervous, mostly because I told him what I wanted a few times over the phone, and he should have just told the guy making the box in the first place.
Anyway, here's a picture of how the box came to us:
I'm aware of the contradictory "LED" labeling, since we explicitly decided against using LEDs.
And here's a picture of me being pissed that my car isn't anywhere near done yet:
Revisiting a larger version of that picture, I think I look downright scary. It kind of reminds me of that low grumble my dog Zoey makes when she's about to put the smack down on another animal. I'm definitely not that tough, but something needs to happen.
posted by Unknown at
7:12 AM
1 Comments:
It's gonna be cool, it's gonna be awesome, but it's also gonna take a hellaciously long-ass expensive time and involve a lot of "artistic" (slow and lazy) types. Least some plans for the ceiling are doing- something. Sheesh, shall I dispatch a tanker of Vagisil to help with all that sand up there? Or shall I just shove a bunch of semi-precious stones in and marvel as they come out shiny and polished?
...
Actually that sounds like a really awesome trick.
...
Goddammit I ruined my own gag.
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