Today I finally got around to bringing the old bathroom fan motor down to Post TV, as suggested by my electrician. It was an interesting scene in old shabby office that had no other customers or retail displays. Two guys, one old guy doing all the walking around and one slightly younger guy fixed in front of his computer in back but clearly visible. The older guy first plugged my motor in and explained that the motor was not repairable. However, they could get a replacement. He pulled down a replacement but it seemed the wrong motor had been put in the right box. He went through all the boxes, nothing was right. The other guy called Nutone to see about ordering the motor but Nutone said the motor was "obsolete." It was looking hopeless (and vaguely reminiscent of the last time I went to Post TV, about 20 years ago, and did NOT get my VCR fixed). Finally, a third guy named Cal with a Russian accent showed up just then and seemed to be the boss and said he would fix it, no problem. Basically what he did was attach the front and back brackets from the old motor onto the nearest matching new one. At first it was very noisy but he fixed that by smoothing down the shaft, or something like that. As he was working the motor, he said "Out in the field, we learned how to do whatever was needed." I didn't ask what "field" he was talking about, though it sounded interesting. The oldest guy cleaned the cage fan and then the whole thing was bolted together and re-tested. Meanwhile a few other guys showed up, one saying to the boss that he should be sailing because the weather was so nice. The boss made it clear he did not have a sailboat. After paying I was on my way. I don't remember Cal from my previous visit to Post TV. Actually seems like a better place now they have someone who can actually do whatever is needed to fix things.
Just prior to that, I went to Lynwood to get the furring channels needed for my new soundproof wall. I showed them the specs I needed and they said they had it. I payed for 6 pieces. They said they could not cut them, but said it was no problem if my contractor picked them up on Monday or Tuesday. I then called Tom from my cell phone. At first, he didn't recognize my voice. He agreed to pick up the furring channels. He said he would be out on Monday around 9:30 to 10:30 to open up the wall.
Not previously mentioned, the new contractor Tom, recommended by my electrician John, came out on Tuesday this week. Just like over the phone, at first he seemed very skeptical about this green glue stuff. He thought maybe a soundboard or special drywall would be better. He asked if Green Glue had any test reports. I said they had lab tests, STC ratings, and everyone on the web who was serious about home theatre was building their walls like this. After I showed him the instructions for installing the clips he was somewhat less skeptical. He was thinking this could work. He then speculated that the green glue worked by creating resonant pockets between the panels. I tried to suggest that air pockets weren't necessary and were in fact undesireable.
Since then I have printed out the Green Glue test report that shows the exact assembly we are building, which has an STC 65 rating, and also bass rejection that is even better than expected for STC 65. I also found on the Green Glue site another test report showing soundboard to be inferior. I printed out the Wikipedia entry on Constrained Layer Damping, which is clearly what Green Glue is (although not mentioned in official literature). I'm hoping Tom will apply 3 tubes of Green Glue, the max effective amount, and not try to make too many air pockets.
The Casablanca Fan arrived on Wednesday. Conveniently, it arrived when I was home, so I took it straight in. It was not raining at the time, but had rain heavily the day before, and then after. I checked it out a couple days later, and it is beautiful. Apparently Hansen had it drop-shipped directly from Casablanca.
I ordered pre-cut cables in 75 and 50 foot lengths for my new whole house wired network. It was very very hard to find pre-cut Cat 6A shielded cables. After much searching, I found one vendor that seemed big (GSA approved, etc) and offered exactly the cables I wanted, for very reasonable price. I did notice that it said "call about availability" but it was 3am so I just went and ordered them anyway. I got a call saying the cables would not be available until the end of the month. I was not surprised. I have not called back. I am thinking that I will simply have to wait until then to get this kind of cable.
I also ordered keystone inserts for Cat 6A shielded cable to fit into a multi-port panel. Those were also very hard to find, though not as hard to find as the pre-cut shielded Cat 6A cables. To get all the required features in a female-to-female keystone that doesn't require punching down on bare cable made it even harder. But I found some for what seemed to be a good price for this sort of thing, but more than twice as expensive as plain old Cat 5E keystones. I ordered them on Wednesday morning. After submitting the order, there was no "confirm" page and no shipping price was ever stated. I requested 2 day shipping, but that's unnecessary without the actual cables. On Friday I got a call to approve the shipping. I didn't call back until completing the two errands described above, then got a busy signal. When I called back again, slightly after 4pm CDT, they were closed.
I've only started pricing RG6 cables. I'm thinking each room should have 4 Cat6A digital ports, and 2 RG6 ports.
Obviously, the network stuff will have to wait until I get the cables and keystones. But other than that, I have mostly prepared for the 2nd day of electrical remodeling on April 9.
Just prior to that, I went to Lynwood to get the furring channels needed for my new soundproof wall. I showed them the specs I needed and they said they had it. I payed for 6 pieces. They said they could not cut them, but said it was no problem if my contractor picked them up on Monday or Tuesday. I then called Tom from my cell phone. At first, he didn't recognize my voice. He agreed to pick up the furring channels. He said he would be out on Monday around 9:30 to 10:30 to open up the wall.
Not previously mentioned, the new contractor Tom, recommended by my electrician John, came out on Tuesday this week. Just like over the phone, at first he seemed very skeptical about this green glue stuff. He thought maybe a soundboard or special drywall would be better. He asked if Green Glue had any test reports. I said they had lab tests, STC ratings, and everyone on the web who was serious about home theatre was building their walls like this. After I showed him the instructions for installing the clips he was somewhat less skeptical. He was thinking this could work. He then speculated that the green glue worked by creating resonant pockets between the panels. I tried to suggest that air pockets weren't necessary and were in fact undesireable.
Since then I have printed out the Green Glue test report that shows the exact assembly we are building, which has an STC 65 rating, and also bass rejection that is even better than expected for STC 65. I also found on the Green Glue site another test report showing soundboard to be inferior. I printed out the Wikipedia entry on Constrained Layer Damping, which is clearly what Green Glue is (although not mentioned in official literature). I'm hoping Tom will apply 3 tubes of Green Glue, the max effective amount, and not try to make too many air pockets.
The Casablanca Fan arrived on Wednesday. Conveniently, it arrived when I was home, so I took it straight in. It was not raining at the time, but had rain heavily the day before, and then after. I checked it out a couple days later, and it is beautiful. Apparently Hansen had it drop-shipped directly from Casablanca.
I ordered pre-cut cables in 75 and 50 foot lengths for my new whole house wired network. It was very very hard to find pre-cut Cat 6A shielded cables. After much searching, I found one vendor that seemed big (GSA approved, etc) and offered exactly the cables I wanted, for very reasonable price. I did notice that it said "call about availability" but it was 3am so I just went and ordered them anyway. I got a call saying the cables would not be available until the end of the month. I was not surprised. I have not called back. I am thinking that I will simply have to wait until then to get this kind of cable.
I also ordered keystone inserts for Cat 6A shielded cable to fit into a multi-port panel. Those were also very hard to find, though not as hard to find as the pre-cut shielded Cat 6A cables. To get all the required features in a female-to-female keystone that doesn't require punching down on bare cable made it even harder. But I found some for what seemed to be a good price for this sort of thing, but more than twice as expensive as plain old Cat 5E keystones. I ordered them on Wednesday morning. After submitting the order, there was no "confirm" page and no shipping price was ever stated. I requested 2 day shipping, but that's unnecessary without the actual cables. On Friday I got a call to approve the shipping. I didn't call back until completing the two errands described above, then got a busy signal. When I called back again, slightly after 4pm CDT, they were closed.
I've only started pricing RG6 cables. I'm thinking each room should have 4 Cat6A digital ports, and 2 RG6 ports.
Obviously, the network stuff will have to wait until I get the cables and keystones. But other than that, I have mostly prepared for the 2nd day of electrical remodeling on April 9.
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