Tuesday, July 9, 2013

CRT - Cat Residence Tenement

The Cathode Ray Tube revolutionised how we saw graphical display and has been around for a good number of years. But due to its high power consumption and bulkiness, the CRT has been replaced with more efficient display technologies like the LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) and LED (Light Emitting Diode) and Plasma. The result is a high number of waste CRT tubes lying in warehouses and homes, un-used.

I being a user of the CRT, my old Compaq V570 15 Inch PC screen has been lying around and didnt know what to do with it. In all my electronic experiments, my curious cat has always been watching as I work and the recent cold days in Nairobi have not spared him either. To stop him from sleeping in electical cables when he's bored, I designed the CRT - Cat Residence Tenement. This will see my cat (Patches) get a snoozing home during the day/night. I removed the tube and wires plus cobwebs, cleaned up the corners and laid several layers of cardboard and in the future, include a small blanket.


Here are some shots on how I built it. 

 My old Compaq V570 15 Inch PC screen.Note the neat covering of dust. The last time it was in use was 2011 before it formed lines and died.

 The soon-to-be tenant of the home. My cat (Patches) had already shown signs of liking the home as he kept inspecting it as I worked.

 SAFETY FIRST : The cathode ray tube inside can hold a large amount of voltage for 50 years if not discharged. I discharged it before working/ touching. This can kill if mishandled. Here is how to discharge a CRT

And that it. The removed CRT should be discarded in a proper manner according to local regulations. My cat is now sleeping inside as I finish this paragraph. I hope to do some improvements like add a curtain, heater and electronic motion sensor so that I could tell if he is inside without peeping hence disturbing him.

Any upgraded out there I would be glad to know, do drop a comment is you make one like this. Anyway back to some PLC Programming Studies (< I'll tell you about PLC later)


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