pondering one of these to deter pikeys/nosy bstards from driving up to
the house, snag is postman will need access - so some sort of coded
lock would be ideal - seen Wordlock padlocks, tho an ideal solution
would be some sort of pushbutton lock that is all retained on the
bollard/base so that nothing has to be removed (a la padlock).

A further ideal world refinement would be a self locking feature when
the post is folded back up to resume duty ....

Anyone seen/have something like this?

any pointers/ideas gratefully received

Jim K

On Sep 14, 12:44 pm, Chris Hogg wrote:
On Wed, 14 Sep 2011 03:52:24 -0700 (PDT), Jim K
wrote:

pondering one of these to deter pikeys/nosy bstards from driving up to
the house, snag is postman will need access - so some sort of coded
lock would be ideal - seen Wordlock padlocks, tho an ideal solution
would be some sort of pushbutton lock that is all retained on the
bollard/base so that nothing has to be removed (a la padlock).

A further ideal world refinement would be a self locking feature when
the post is folded back up to resume duty ....

Anyone seen/have something like this?

any pointers/ideas gratefully received

Jim K

I live in a holiday area where people's driveways are often obstructed
and even occupied by unscrupulous visitors parking where they like.
One person in our area has two such bollards at the road-end of their
drive, and judging by the hoses emerging from the surface of the drive
by the hedge, they can be raised and lowered hydraulically and
remotely, although whether by hand or electrically I don't know as I
don't know the person. As it happens, they haven't been used for a
long time (I've never seen them raised in ten years), and they're
rather bent and squashed into the ground now, so I suspect they're
knackered, but it does show what is or was available.


yes lots of luxury/ high spec kit is out there, a bit OTT for what I
want tho...

Jim K

snag is postman will need access -

put a remote post box at the end of the drive....

if it's a long way to the end of the drive to walk and collect the mail, run
a large bore hose from the bottom of the box into the house, make the letter
flap on the box seal very well when shut, then connect the hoover to the end
of the hose and suck the mail from the box to the house

Gazz wrote:
snag is postman will need access -

put a remote post box at the end of the drive....

if it's a long way to the end of the drive to walk and collect the
mail, run a large bore hose from the bottom of the box into the
house, make the letter flap on the box seal very well when shut, then
connect the hoover to the end of the hose and suck the mail from the
box to the house

Make the hose suitable to fit a pizza box in it and you are onto a winner.

--
Adam

On Sep 14, 4:27 pm, "Gazz" wrote:
snag is postman will need access -

put a remote post box at the end of the drive....

if it's a long way to the end of the drive to walk and collect the mail, run
a large bore hose from the bottom of the box into the house, make the letter
flap on the box seal very well when shut, then connect the hoover to the end
of the hose and suck the mail from the box to the house

well lateral I spose;)

but hang on - if you make "the letter flap seal very well when shut" -
how will the hoover pull the post up? you;ll just create a vaccuum....

Jim K

After serious thinking Jim K wrote :
pondering one of these to deter pikeys/nosy bstards from driving up to
the house, snag is postman will need access - so some sort of coded
lock would be ideal - seen Wordlock padlocks, tho an ideal solution
would be some sort of pushbutton lock that is all retained on the
bollard/base so that nothing has to be removed (a la padlock).

A further ideal world refinement would be a self locking feature when
the post is folded back up to resume duty ....

Judging by our own experience with locking our drive gates with a
simple spring D, you don't need to go so far as fitting an actual lock,
just something which looks slightly complex to undo to the unitiated. A
section of 3" x 3" steel box section, hinged to another length to go in
the ground and galvanised. Fit an asp and use a stainless nut and bolt
drilled so that a stainless peg can fit through the nut and bolt.

Another way would be to have a spring latch, so it latches in the
upright position, but have the release for it hidden - a hole through
it which requires a suitable steel peg to release it, or a suitable
screwdriver to turn the release.

It need not be all that complex, to keep them out, just not immediately
obvious.

--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

On Sep 14, 7:07 pm, Harry Bloomfield
wrote:
After serious thinking Jim K wrote :

pondering one of these to deter pikeys/nosy bstards from driving up to
the house, snag is postman will need access - so some sort of coded
lock would be ideal - seen Wordlock padlocks, tho an ideal solution
would be some sort of pushbutton lock that is all retained on the
bollard/base so that nothing has to be removed (a la padlock).

A further ideal world refinement would be a self locking feature when
the post is folded back up to resume duty ....

Judging by our own experience with locking our drive gates with a
simple spring D, you don't need to go so far as fitting an actual lock,
just something which looks slightly complex to undo to the unitiated. A
section of 3" x 3" steel box section, hinged to another length to go in
the ground and galvanised. Fit an asp and use a stainless nut and bolt
drilled so that a stainless peg can fit through the nut and bolt.

Another way would be to have a spring latch, so it latches in the
upright position, but have the release for it hidden - a hole through
it which requires a suitable steel peg to release it, or a suitable
screwdriver to turn the release.

intriguing - thanks Harry - I am reasonably able with MIG and angle
grinder etc (with leather gloves mind) - could you sketch me an idea
of the hiidden latch arrangement? (my email is valid)

It need not be all that complex, to keep them out, just not immediately
obvious.

Cheers
Jim K

On Sep 14, 8:24 pm, Chris Hogg wrote:
On Wed, 14 Sep 2011 09:36:21 -0700 (PDT), Jim K
wrote:

On Sep 14, 4:27 pm, "Gazz" wrote:
snag is postman will need access -

put a remote post box at the end of the drive....

if it's a long way to the end of the drive to walk and collect the mail, run
a large bore hose from the bottom of the box into the house, make the letter
flap on the box seal very well when shut, then connect the hoover to the end
of the hose and suck the mail from the box to the house

well lateral I spose;)

but hang on - if you make "the letter flap seal very well when shut" -
how will the hoover pull the post up? you;ll just create a vaccuum....

Before and just after the war, certain types of shops, mostly ladies
and gents outfitters and haberdashery stores IIRC, had an ingenious
system for handling payments. Goods were paid for over the counter,
and the money plus bill put into a canister, which was in turn put
into some sort of pipe system which sucked the canister off to the
cashier's department. The change and a receipt came back to the
customer in the same way, possibly via a second pipe. An alternative
scheme had the canisters clipped into holders that hung from wheels
running on a miniature cable-railway system, and which were propelled
by the salesman pulling a spring-loaded handle that shot the canister
along the cable to the cashier.

still in use in a large trendy Dublin resta/cafe when I last visited
"mumble" years ago


Plenty of room for experimentation there!

would prefer to experiment with bollards ;)

Jim K

On Wed, 14 Sep 2011 20:24:26 +0100, Chris Hogg wrote:

On Wed, 14 Sep 2011 09:36:21 -0700 (PDT), Jim K
wrote:

On Sep 14, 4:27 pm, "Gazz" wrote:
snag is postman will need access -

put a remote post box at the end of the drive....

if it's a long way to the end of the drive to walk and collect the
mail, run a large bore hose from the bottom of the box into the house,
make the letter flap on the box seal very well when shut, then connect
the hoover to the end of the hose and suck the mail from the box to
the house

well lateral I spose;)

but hang on - if you make "the letter flap seal very well when shut" -
how will the hoover pull the post up? you;ll just create a vaccuum....


Before and just after the war, certain types of shops, mostly ladies and
gents outfitters and haberdashery stores IIRC, had an ingenious system
for handling payments. Goods were paid for over the counter, and the
money plus bill put into a canister, which was in turn put into some
sort of pipe system which sucked the canister off to the cashier's
department. The change and a receipt came back to the customer in the
same way, possibly via a second pipe. An alternative scheme had the
canisters clipped into holders that hung from wheels running on a
miniature cable-railway system, and which were propelled by the salesman
pulling a spring-loaded handle that shot the canister along the cable to
the cashier.

My mother was such a career until she married. And they were still, in
use there (Brighton Co-Op) until at least the late 1950s.

And Costco *were* using them fairly recently - the Thurrock branch, at
least, still has the pipes.



--
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
http://www.mirrorservice.org

*lightning protection* - a w_tom conductor

On 14/09/2011 20:24, Chris Hogg wrote:
On Wed, 14 Sep 2011 09:36:21 -0700 (PDT), Jim
wrote:

On Sep 14, 4:27 pm, wrote:
snag is postman will need access -

put a remote post box at the end of the drive....

if it's a long way to the end of the drive to walk and collect the mail, run
a large bore hose from the bottom of the box into the house, make the letter
flap on the box seal very well when shut, then connect the hoover to the end
of the hose and suck the mail from the box to the house

well lateral I spose;)

but hang on - if you make "the letter flap seal very well when shut" -
how will the hoover pull the post up? you;ll just create a vaccuum....


Before and just after the war, certain types of shops, mostly ladies
and gents outfitters and haberdashery stores IIRC, had an ingenious
system for handling payments. Goods were paid for over the counter,
and the money plus bill put into a canister, which was in turn put
into some sort of pipe system which sucked the canister off to the
cashier's department. The change and a receipt came back to the
customer in the same way, possibly via a second pipe.

Plenty of the big supermarkets use this system to send cash from the
tills "upstairs" every so often.

The bi-directional ones that I've seen use the same vacuum to send both
ways: place canister at till into tube, close and release and away it
goes. At the other end, they place return canister into other tube close
and release and canister goes to till and would continue back to where
it came from, except that the "loading gate" stops it. They can also
merge with other pipes for many tills to send to one place and use a
railway-points type system for one to many but I don't know the
mechanism of those.

SteveW

On Wed, 14 Sep 2011 03:52:24 -0700 (PDT), Jim K
wrote:

any pointers/ideas gratefully received

I'd love a pair of big bollards...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1qsI8gkL_g
The other vids on the page are quite funny.

On Wed, 14 Sep 2011 14:17:50 -0700 (PDT), Owain
wrote:

Until recently there was a McDonalds which send the product to you by
tube

http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/W...Thru_McDonalds

Probably a topic of fascination in Bloomington, Minnesota.

On Sep 16, 11:56 am, Owain wrote:
On Sep 14, 11:52 am, Jim K wrote:

pondering one of these to deter pikeys/nosy bstards from driving up to
the house, snag is postman will need access - so some sort of coded
lock would be ideal

battery-powered remote-control automatic parking posts seem to be
surprisingly affordable, eg

http://www.shelterstore.co.uk/product/740.aspx - £130

Not as robust as a bollard though.

Wire in a coded access keypad across the switch terminals for postal
purposes.

Have you thought what will happen if the regular postman's off ill?

the farm adjacent to the site will accept our post on the odd day or
it will mount up in the van til the regular postie is back a la
"winter snow mode"

What do other "gated" properties do for this aspect?

A
battery powered GSM intercom might be worthwhile for that and other
visitors.

mmmm no power again, plus rob-ability, don't get/want cold callers....

If you want a bollard then someting likehttp://www.shelterstore.co.uk/product/599.aspx
and wire in a coded keypad as before.

mmm "One of our cheaper alternatives for automatic bollards ...." just
a couple of grand....

in any case there's no power where I want to put it.

ta for links

Jim K

On Fri, 16 Sep 2011 12:24:08 +0100, Grimly Curmudgeon wrote:
http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/
WMM82_Pneumatic_Air_Drive_Thru_McDonalds

Probably a topic of fascination in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Heck, that's almost local to me :-) (well, local on US scales, anyway

On 9/16/2011 8:12 AM, Owain wrote:
On Sep 16, 1:08 pm, Jim K wrote:
Have you thought what will happen if the regular postman's off ill?
What do other "gated" properties do for this aspect?

Probably a mailbox at the gate.

That's what we have.
The 'Big House' down the road has an enormous wooden crate behind the
front pillar.

Or an intercom and someone to answer it and open the gate.

Owain

On 14/09/2011 20:24, Chris Hogg wrote:
On Wed, 14 Sep 2011 09:36:21 -0700 (PDT), Jim
wrote:

On Sep 14, 4:27 pm, wrote:
snag is postman will need access -

put a remote post box at the end of the drive....

if it's a long way to the end of the drive to walk and collect the mail, run
a large bore hose from the bottom of the box into the house, make the letter
flap on the box seal very well when shut, then connect the hoover to the end
of the hose and suck the mail from the box to the house

well lateral I spose;)

but hang on - if you make "the letter flap seal very well when shut" -
how will the hoover pull the post up? you;ll just create a vaccuum....


Before and just after the war, certain types of shops, mostly ladies
and gents outfitters and haberdashery stores IIRC, had an ingenious
system for handling payments. Goods were paid for over the counter,
and the money plus bill put into a canister, which was in turn put
into some sort of pipe system which sucked the canister off to the
cashier's department.

Tesco still use that system to take excess cash from the tills.

The change and a receipt came back to the
customer in the same way, possibly via a second pipe. An alternative
scheme had the canisters clipped into holders that hung from wheels
running on a miniature cable-railway system, and which were propelled
by the salesman pulling a spring-loaded handle that shot the canister
along the cable to the cashier.

Those were more entertaining to a kid.

Colin Bignell

On 14/09/11 20:24, Chris Hogg wrote:
Before and just after the war, certain types of shops, mostly ladies
and gents outfitters and haberdashery stores IIRC, had an ingenious
system for handling payments. Goods were paid for over the counter,
and the money plus bill put into a canister, which was in turn put
into some sort of pipe system which sucked the canister off to the
cashier's department. The change and a receipt came back to the
customer in the same way, possibly via a second pipe.

Can still be seen in use in precisely that way at Jackson's (a family
department store) at Jackson's Corner in Reading, complete with hand
written receipts.