HI all,

i have recently started to keep chickens, i have a coop with a hinged door
opening outwards with a slide bolt to lock it shut. there are units out
there to open and close sliding doors, but they aren't cheap and id prefer
to diy! any suggestions? i was thinking of using a car battery with a
automatic car aerial and a light sensitive switch, maybe a -

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...c=so&U=strat15

Anyone got any other suggestions/ideas?

cheers!

Steve

On Sat, 17 Mar 2007 11:18:10 -0000, "R.P.McMurphy"
wrote:

id prefer
to diy! any suggestions?

http://www.quantumpicture.com/Flo_Co...lo_control.htm


--
Peter Parry.
http://www.wpp.ltd.uk/

"Peter Parry" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 17 Mar 2007 11:18:10 -0000, "R.P.McMurphy"
wrote:

id prefer
to diy! any suggestions?

http://www.quantumpicture.com/Flo_Co...lo_control.htm


--
Peter Parry.
http://www.wpp.ltd.uk/

very good, but not very practical on a remote field.

;-)

Steve

On 2007-03-17 11:44:10 +0000, Peter Parry said:

On Sat, 17 Mar 2007 11:18:10 -0000, "R.P.McMurphy"
wrote:

id prefer
to diy! any suggestions?

http://www.quantumpicture.com/Flo_Co...lo_control.htm

This is brilliant. Just what we need. The extra items that are
normally brought in are frogs, who then proceed to jump around the kitchen.

I wonder if it could be made good enough to distinguish against cats who should
not be allowed in because it's not their normal residence.

Hmm.... perhaps I should see what the immigration people want for one of those
iris scanners that they have at the airport. They only seem to be
working 50%
of the time I go through there. I suspect that it's the immigration
officers knobbling
them to avoid being thrown out of a job. Having said that, I did
see a Blue Screen
of Death on the computer alongside on one occasion......

On 17/03/2007 15:25, Andy Hall wrote:

I wonder if it could be made good enough to distinguish against cats who
should
not be allowed in because it's not their normal residence.

If you look at the daily activity page e.g
http://www.quantumpicture.com/watchpic/day0316.htm
it seems to differentiate between two cats called Alexia and Squirrel

On 17 Mar, 11:18, "R.P.McMurphy"
wrote:
HI all,

i have recently started to keep chickens, i have a coop with a hinged door
opening outwards with a slide bolt to lock it shut. there are units out
there to open and close sliding doors, but they aren't cheap and id prefer
to diy! any suggestions? i was thinking of using a car battery with a
automatic car aerial and a light sensitive switch, maybe a -

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...17m3&c=so&U=st...

Anyone got any other suggestions/ideas?

cheers!

Steve

Having kept chickens when the kids were young I can tell you they
don't all go inside at dusk. You will need to manually make sure they
have gone to roost and shut the door.
Opening the door is relatively trivial if you arrange it to "fall
open". Simply use a solenoid to release the catch and use your light
detector maybe with an amplifier to handle the current for the coil or
you could use a time switch. You will have to operate the solenoid for
only a brief period (wide pulse) or the battery will soon go flat.

On 17 Mar, 17:46, "cynic" wrote:
On 17 Mar, 11:18, "R.P.McMurphy"
wrote:

HI all,

i have recently started to keep chickens, i have a coop with a hinged door
opening outwards with a slide bolt to lock it shut. there are units out
there to open and close sliding doors, but they aren't cheap and id prefer
to diy! any suggestions? i was thinking of using a car battery with a
automatic car aerial and a light sensitive switch, maybe a -

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...17m3&c=so&U=st...

Anyone got any other suggestions/ideas?

cheers!

Steve

Having kept chickens when the kids were young I can tell you they
don't all go inside at dusk. You will need to manually make sure they
have gone to roost and shut the door.

Can't you just buy a whole bunch of them for 50p each and let the
foxes get the ones who don't go in at night-time. Natural selection at
work :-)

Jon.