I've been reading the forums for a while so I thought it was time to start this plog. Must give back to the community.

I have ordered my lens kit from LL and have already stripped my Benq 557 monitor. It stripped very easily and is just waiting to go into a frame.

We've all seen pictures of stripped Benq before so I won't bother here. I am planning to build a motorized screen for the projector and eventually plan to use latching relays to turn on the projector. I should be able to control these with my computer and software I have written. I have to keep the projector and screen as unobtrusive on the living room as I can. The projector will be ceiling mounted and vented into the drop ceiling.

Below is the LCD and fresnel frame.

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I found this bowl at Homesense and thought it would be a great reflector.

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Welcome!
Hey! That looks like the Ice cream bowl I am going to use for mine.

Hey Simtech, I plan on making a ceiling mounted PJ, which will be vented into a drop-ceiling also. I figure it will be easier to vent as i won't be worrying about light leakage from the top. Are you going to try and recess the PJ somewhat into the drop ceiling? That will be my plan, especially as the drop ceiling is in my basement, not leaving me alot of head-space.

Can't wait to see some of your pics and good luck!

Yes, I plan to install the fans on the top lid and have them blow the hot air into the ceiling. The room above may get a little warm but that is the baby's room. Baby's like warm rooms right?

My wife wanted me to motorize it so it would recess completely into the ceiling but I just want to get it up there first. I have two sections in my basement ceiling, one with a large drop and one with very little. I originally wanted to put the projector in the section with the large drop so I could recess more of it into the ceiling but the screen would be too big. I can't believe I am saying that a screen would be too big.

I believe that the ceiling venting will allow for louder fans as well. I was hoping the angle of the mount would allow for the intake slot to be below the ceiling to eliminate recycling warmer air.

Ice cream bowl! That explains the double walls! Have you cut yours yet? Is there insulation in there? It seems pretty solid. What bulb are you using?

I found a motor to use on my motorized screen. It's a motor used for moving 10 ft satellite dishes. It has built in limit switches and runs off 120V. I was going to use pieces of pipe to adapt the motor shaft to the roller shaft buut I was talking to a guy at work about and he said he would machine me a solid piece. it must be nice to have a metal lathe at home.
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Below is a shot of the limit switches built into it.

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The motor and roller end that I am getting a coupler built for

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Motor shaft with cotter pin hole.

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If that for a satellite then are you sure it's 120Vac? I am a c band and fta satellite user and have never seen a 120vac.
They are allways 36vdc The reason is you need it to move the dish east and west thru just 2 wires from the house so you may want to theck that before you plug it in to the wall.

Now that i look at the pics i bet this is off a bed so it may very well be 120vac

better safe than sorry

Whoa! Dude Im sorry I didnt see this before! I try really hard not to blow anyone off...my bad.

So did you get you bowl cut? I used a dremel to take to top edges off mine and extract the center. No insulation in mine, just air. Im using the Ushio from LL...

what HAVE you been doing?

are you sure thats an a/c motor? it would have to be d/c to make it reverse. I dont think they would send 120v a/c to the dish.

Just one more thought about this motor; if it is from a hosptal bed you may need the control board to make it run fowards and back

One of the guys here at the shop was sure it was for a satellite dish. Now that I think about it, I don't think I would want 120V running out to the dish. I have already hooked it up to the wall and it runs just fine. It has four wires going to it, ground, neutral, forward and reverse. Put power to forward or reverse and it moves until it hits the limit switch.

kc0kfg, do you mean a motorized bed that you can raise and lower the head or feet? If so, I really lucked out in this find. I don't know where I would look to find another one.

No worries, I see the replies on your plog and it explains where your time goes. I got the M400 bulb so I haven't cut the bowl yet. I think the bulb might be too big for it.

I have been gathering parts very sloooooowly. Accounting (the wife) has not been releasing funds to this project in a timely manner. . I built the box but haven't done any more to the lcd frame or fresnel mounts. I have found a roller for my screen and a motor to drive it.

I am going to work on connecting the motor to the roller. I need to find a steady bearing to put between the roller and the motor. I also need a 3-way switch to mount in the wall to operate the screen. It has to mount into a standard box so it looks like a light switch. If anybody has any suggestions on something that would look good, I would appreciate it.

Ya that what I think its from as long as you have the way of making it run fowards and reverse I think you have quite a find , Its better than a c band since you dont have to set up a power supply just for it.

Great find now all you have to is make someting out of it LOL

I finally got the adapter made for my motor. I tried machining down a piece of metal pipe but it didn't turn out too well. Ended up using a 3/8 drive 12mm socket. The 3/8 drive sits over the shaft of the roller and the 12mm portion had to be drilled out slightly to fit over the 1/2" motor shaft. I just drilled holes for the pins to go in and it was done.
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I now I need to attach the motor assembly to the roller and I am ready to put it in the ceiling.

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Built the brackets to hang screen in the ceiling. They are big to allow for leveling adjustment.

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I am looking for a 3 position wall switch to control this motor. I would like it to be on/off/on. I have seen them included with motorized screens but they are $50 US to order seperately. That is a little high just for a switch.

To match the awesomeness of your solution so far I'd recommend getting 2 X10 wall sockets. They've got actual replacement wall sockets where the top socket is switched remotely.

Here's a diagram:
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Here's the wall outlet:
http://cgi.ebay.com/X10-Super-Socket-Wall-...1QQcmdZViewItem

Here's the controller:
http://cgi.ebay.com/SS13A-SLIMLINE-Wall-Sw...1QQcmdZViewItem

That controller can control 4 different things. Up, down and 2 more things so you could add to it. Hope that helps.

Those wall plugs look pretty cool. I was looking at the X-10 route but I was balking at buying the "brains". The links you have above still need the brain to operate properly, dont they? That wireless controller sends an RF signal to the main unit that is plugged into the house's AC and it in turn sends the signal to the wall receptacle.
I also had a concern about the timing of th X-10's. Is the shortest amount of time you can adjust 1 minute? Can you get down to 10ths of a second?. I would go with X-10 if I could be sure that I could press the button and the system would apply power just long enough to put the screen up.
Do they have a demo version of their controlling software so I could check this out?

http://www.x10.com/automation/rc6500_s.html
You could get that instead of the switch. That'd take care of tying to the house. Your motor has limit switches so as long as you set it up right you won't need to worry about pressing the button long enough.

http://www.activehomepro.com/activehome-pro.html
The software with USB controller is only $50 plus shipping right now. I'm gonna order it in a couple weeks. I've read a couple things online about people writing VB programs to flash their lights controllable to the millisecond.

X-10 is a nice technology but it can get to be problematic especially when jumping from one house leg to the other. You might want to play with their basic kit before you commit to that route.

Certain parts of my house are controlled by X-10 and odd things can and DO happen.

I can't see any harm being done if a table lamp comes on at an unexpected time because of a faulty X-10 module. What I don't want is the screen going up and down for no reason. I am looking at the limit switches as safeties and don't want to rely on them to stop the screen every time. If the switch fails, then I want to have a backup. I know that sounds paranoid, but a runaway motor could cause a lot of damage.

I finally got the screen up in the ceiling but now I have another problem.

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The screen comes down all right but when I stop it at a certain point, the weight of the screen pulls the rest of it down. I need to add some friction to the roller so it won't unroll all the way. I haven't even added the bar to weigh the screen down to tension it. Any ideas?

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I was thinking about wedging a piece of rubber against the roller. It would be on a slant so it would be adjustable so I could find the right amount of friction. It has to be enough to keep the screen in place but not so much that it is hard for the motor to turn.

i have a 12 x10 i think dalite moterized projection screen you can have for 75$ if you come pick it up

i live in raleigh NC

Thanks, but I live in Calgary, Canada. Besides it took me too much time to get this thing up there. I want to finish it.
This thing was heavy. I say at least 50 lbs.
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Got some wiring done. I put an octagon box above the screen to handle all the connections. Just need to patch the wires into the panel. I need to find a time to spend half an hour wiring and an hour resetting all the clocks in the house.

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I also wired in a plug for the projector in the roof.

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Started framing out the ceiling tiles around the screen.

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Need to get to Home Depot for some more hanging brackets before I can finish. The WAF is going up!

Kind of late on replying to this but I use X-10 to control a lot of devices at my house. I went to a repeater\Coupler from Smarthome. This plugs into the dryer outlet and the dryer plugs intot the device.
Once I did this my X-10 performed much better. I have never had anything come on on its own. I have had my controller box freeze and the programmed events stop working.

Finished the screen! Will post a video of it working when I get some time.
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Nice clean istallation this should work great. I'd just be very temped to paint the bottom tube white so it blends with the rest of the ceiling.

Thanks.

Can you paint BO cloth? I guess I could have folded it the other way so the white was on the outside, but I was trying to make a black border.
WAF is at 100%, so I am happy with it.

I have been busy working on the projector in my spare time. I wasn't able to find a 3 pole switch that I liked. I ended up using two smaller switches and mounting them in a blank plate. I think it turned out fine.

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Pics of the projector when I get a chance.

WOW! nice job on the screen install. That looks really nice. I can't wait until I get a screen, just need some $$$.

Awesome job.

Just posting some pics of the inside of the box so far. Dusty stuff.

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The front.

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Beautiful screen setup,Simtech!
Very good work on the WAF!
I am sure the pj will be just as cool.
P

Simtech,
I used a big honkin' Saturn winshield wiper motor for my screen. Made my own control system (12 VDC).

I have not yet gotten the safety switches in, but will do it soon.

See my PLOG for more details:

Motorized screen

VERY nice job on your screen.

I too am using X-10 and think I have discovered a GOOD safe method for lamp control. Will test today.

Thanks for the kind words guys. I fired the projector up to see if I got some sort of picture. I DID. I have to revisit the bulb and reflector mount. I cannot adjust it easily and I want the image to be brighter. In the meantime, I have routed some grooves in the lid to run the power for the LCD and the VGA cable.

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A guy here at work is giving me a laser pointer so I can line everything up. It is difficult to get that bulb lined up because it is just hanging in space. I forget who suggested the laser pointer, but it's a great idea.

I am very interested in how you do your safety switches. Right now, my son is 3 inches shy of pushing the screen motor switches. Either I put in safeties or turn the breaker off all the time.

I just started night shift, so I have lots of time to read forums but none to work on the projector.