RE: MICHAEL is safely in Rochester

[Tom Droege <tdroege@veriomail.com>]

The roll top desk should work fine.  The big problem is to make sure that 
it does not leak and drip on the Mark IV.  As per Dead Barney, I think a 
mini-roll-off-roof design is a good way to go.  It has the advantage that 
the roof will only leak at the edges where there is no Mark IV to drip 
on.  You can also slope the roof nicely.  The main problem is making sure 
that the tracks do not freeze up and prevent movement of the roof.  With a 
little effort you can make sure that the tracks are always covered.  It 
depends on whether snow or rain or ice is the biggest problem.  Sigh!  I 
think my favorite keyboard is dying.  I have to really beat on it to type 
m's Anyone out there with an IBM AT Keyboard in their junk pile?  I will 
pay top dollar!  An IBM PC keyboard will not do.  It must be an AT.  I 
think the last good keyboard made, all the present ones are junk.  I don't 
mind the weight, it is the key feel that I like.

Tom Droege

At 10:26 AM 12/5/00 -0800, you wrote:


> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Stupendous Man [mailto:richmond@a188-l009.rit.edu]
> > Sent: Monday, December 04, 2000 8:29 PM
>
> >   My plan is to keep the camera indoors until the weather
> > improves: Rochester is one of the cloudiest places in the lower
> > 48 during the winter.  I'll be working on a proper enclosure
> > for the unit and adding a few extra sensors during this time;
> > adding some dust covers would be nice, too.  I hope that
> > Chris Albertson will be able to use me as an alpha tester.
>
>Maybe ARNE will be on-line first?  Actually I was able to do
>useful work with Nick's Mk III even in the daytime with his enclosure
>closed.  Just leave the lens caps on and we will see if we
>can get the camera to point around inside your enclosure and
>take pictures of the back side of a lens cap.  This is one argument
>for an enclosure large enough to allow a full range of movement
>even with the door closed:  You can test software in the winter.
>
>I've been thinking about how to make a good Mk IV enclosure and
>the best idea so far works like a roll top desk.  It would be a
>half or third cylinder.  You've seen those industrial garage doors
>made out of steel slats that roll up around a ceiling mounted drum.
>Mount one of those doors on a horizontal plane but have them bend
>the track into a half circle.  If the door is to large there are
>smaller security shutters for home windows that work the same way.