On Sun, 24 Nov 2019 09:29:08 -0000, Brian Gaff \(Sofa 2\) wrote:

I think his issue is that in order to connect the lights on a sliding
structure, he needs a long bit of cable, susceptible to damage, hence
why he wants it to be wireless.

A catenary cable from end of gate to post a foot or so away from the
rear of the gate should be resonably safe area but if the gate opens
more than twice the height of the gate the bottom of the cateanry
will touch the ground before the gate is open. Actually the less than
twice as you'd want some slack in the cable with the gate fully
closed.

I still think some sliding contacts are the best bet myself, Low
voltage, so no danger and if shrouded well, will probably last for years
assuming the do not corrode, the sliding motion may keep them clean.

I'm inclined to agree a mechanical solution is likely to be more
reliable and easier to install, if only because the weather proofing
requirements are almost non existant.

Corrosion can be elminated by choice of contact materials:

Stainless steel, recovered from the actual rubber blades of some old
wipers? Rather small, less than 1/8" wide.

Springy copper strip "Copper traditional draught excluder". I have
some, somewhere, but haven't seen it for quite a while. It wouldn't
have got thrown out that's for sure! Advantage is that it's about an
inch wide so easy to get a decent contact area and alignment. I could
be persuaded to go looking and pop a some in the post.

Brass shim sheet, might be available in the DIY sheds with the angle,
rod, tube other metal sheet stuff. But might not be springy enough.
My metalurgy isn't up to knowing if heat treatment/quencing would
make it springy.

Fixings, brass or stainless steel screws.

Or look at what is on offer for automatically
connecting/disconnecting electric fences across gates (hinged or
sliding). Might need careful selection of type and minor mods as an
electric fence is high voltage low current rather than low voltge
high current.

--
Cheers
Dave.