Energy!

Pushed myself to get something working in time for Hackers. Got Calliope Mod #3 done and actually working, woohoo! That’s behind me, so now I’m working on Mod #4 of the Calliope Project. Have decided that having two parallel manifolds and a seperate array of whistles in Mod #3 was a cumbersome arrangement; i.e. good for prototyping but not so good for a stylin’ finished piece of work. Went to Reliable Hardware in SR and had ’em bend up a section of 2″ thick-wall tube (not pipe tho) into a ‘donut’ about 18″ dia and will use this for the next manifold. I’ll probably add tabs to it, so’s I can bolt/unbolt it from a swoopy looking plinth of some sort. I’ll add welded-on 1/4″ pipe bushings at 30 degree intervals, then thread on the kewl all-stainless solenoid valves. Whistles will be threaded directly onto these, eliminating all of the quick-connect fitting nonsense and making the whole thing fireproof to boot.
The solenoid valves were free; can’t beat the price! But they’re wired 220vAC, which was a problem. I called the mfr, Parker, and ordered 12 replacement 24vDC coils which means I’ll be able to ‘recycle’ the electronics from Mod #3, altho I hope to get a real circuit board made to increase robustness of system. I’ll build a more compact and weather-resistant housing for it too. Photos as soon as I actually do something.