PopularMechanics082017

AUGUST 2017 _ http://www.popularmechanics.co.za 89

BENQ HT1070 PROJECTOR

Projectors are so much easier than they

used to be. You turn the BenQ on, navi-

gate a set-up screen for language, input

source, and a few other things. You adjust

the zoom, get it focused. Other than that, I

didn’t do anything. I just set it on a folding

chair about three metres away from the wall

and started watching.

I connected my iPad to the projector

with a Lightning-to-HDMI adaptor. Animated

movies always look the best, so I started with

The Secret Life of Pets. The picture was

amazing. It was crisp, sharp, bright, even

before the sun went down.

I went to the manual to see what the

buzzers and bells were, and there wasn’t

really anything. Then I realised, what do I

really need? The picture is what matters.

LOGITECH UE MEGABOOM SPEAKER

I connected this speaker to my iPad via

Bluetooth. The audio synced up with the

video, and for a small group it was loud

enough. If I had 40 or 50 people over, espe-

cially if some of them started talking, I would

borrow my son’s speakers that he uses for

deejaying. But for a few people, this is a

great, small speaker.

A few times a season, after my kid’s peewee

football practice, we’d have everyone over to a

neighbour’s house. He’d set up speakers and

a projector, pointed at a wall. We’d watch a

classic football movie: We Are Marshall, Rudy,

Remember the Titans. It’s a great environ-

ment, outside on a summer night. My editors at

PoPular Mechanics know I like that kind of thing,

especially if there are new gadgets involved.

So they sent me a modern projector and Blue-

tooth speaker, and told me to set them up in my

backyard. This time without 50 kids.

WHAT EQUIPMENT

DO I NEED?

BY GARY DELL’ABATE

• 10 m of 20 mm PVC pipe


• Four 20 mm PVC 90-degree elbows


• Two 20 mm PVC tee fittings


• Two 50 mm stainless-steel screw
  eyes


• 1 500 by 2 600 mm of white
  stretch fabric


• Two carabiners


• 3 mm paracord

MATERIALS LIST

DIRECTIONS

Sew four pockets into the stretch-

able fabric (see diagram above).

Note that a 50 mm-wide unsewn gap

is centred in the fabric’s long edges.

This forms a gap in the pocket into

which you insert a PVC tee fitting.

Use a mitre saw to cut three

pieces of PVC to 1 533 mm and

four pieces to 1 321 mm.

With a 3 mm twist drill bit, drill a

pilot hole in the top of two PVC

elbows for the screw eyes. The location

of the pilot hole is important. If it’s too

close to the end of the pipe, the screw

tip will block the pipe from entering the

elbow. Insert the two screw eyes from

which you hang the screen.

Slide the four 1 321 mm pieces

of pipe into the fabric pockets.

Insert a tee into the unsewn gap at the

top and bottom of the frame, and push

each pipe into the horizontal socket of

each tee.

Insert a 1 533 mm piece of pipe

into the vertical socket of the top

and bottom tee.

Slide four elbows onto the ends

of the 1 321 mm-long pieces.

The two elbows with screw eyes are

positioned at the frame’s top.

Insert the remaining two 1 533 mm

pieces of pipe into the elbow

sockets to complete the frame.

To hang the screen, attach a

carabiner to each screw eye.

Then loop an appropriate length of

thin, sturdy rope (we recommend

3 mm paracord) through the clips

and tie around a tree branch, raised

deck, or any other high, sturdy beam

in your yard.

HOW TO BUILD AN

OUTDOOR SCREEN

BY JAMES SCHADEWALD

1 321 pcs

1 321 pcs

1 533 1 533

elbow elbow

elbow with

screw eye

elbow with

screw eye

pockets for

PVC pipe

stretchable fabric

leave centre

unsewn

tee

tee

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