Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Status of Project Hampture

The Mk. III habitat is still in Florida being completed by a friend who was interested in helping with the project. It'll be shipped when complete. However it's currently freezing cold outside, and I don't see myself deploying it until the weather warms up significantly.

Until then, don't forget to follow Project Earth Rover, which is what I'll be keeping myself occupied with until it's warm enough outside to continue with Hampture.

Those who are just finding this blog and curious whether anything's been done yet, the answer is yes, the prototype habitat was deployed in a lake some time ago for five hours. You can view the video of it here. It's the larger, multi-room habitat that you're waiting on, and that'll be a while.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Minor update

In preparation for the move I've bolted down all enclosures. It was harrowing, getting them laid out just right for the tube lengths, but it turned out wonderfully. I will apply sealant tomorrow night, and by the time it dries the UHaul will be here.

All it needs now is the application of the wood sealant (which I have), holes for the air hoses (which I can drill tomorrow) and weights (which I'll buy after the move, no sense in lugging them around in a suitcase).

Thanks to everyone that's donated recently, it funded a trip to Home Depot for bolts, the wood platform, sealant, an adapter (to use the power drill as a screwdriver) and so on. Thanks also to the friend who hauled that shit back to my place, couldn't have done that part without you.

The weather is cold as fuck lately so I won't be able to put it in the water in good conscience even when complete. As compensation I'm thinking of setting up a live webcam in the Hampture Mk. II prototype, which will be in an aquarium. Until the weather improves, though, the main focus will be on Project Earth Rover.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

More progress to report!

With the help of a local blog follower I was able to get the platform, bolts and waterproof wood sealant I needed. I've got the holes for the screws drilled in the enclosures, preparing to bolt them down. After that, I'll apply silicone sealant around the tunnel rims and affix weights to the platform. That's basically it.Behind it: The plastic shelf I was trying to use beforehand. No place to screw things down, and not quite big enough, but it would've been cool looking. Ah well.

I have about ten days until I move cross-country. I can't deploy the habitat in such cold water, but I can have it shipped to where I'm moving and wait for warmer weather while I build the interior elements (like the clover garden). Nice to be moving forward, anyway.