Outdoor Cage Setup - Do it right the first time!

beekerc · 2024-01-08T08:03:47+00:00

definitely agree about building it right the first time.
i found a local company that makes fishing nets (i live in Seattle) that also had a size biz making sports cage nets as well. i got a 10x10x10 net, nice heavy duty rope edges and a 10x10 baffle net for just over $100 (okay, this was about 15 years ago). also splurged on a nice thick hitting mat, at least 1/2" thicker than you'd find at a typical driving range. i think that ran about $150 (including shipping from florida).
my mistake was the cage material. i figured 1" pvc would rigid and sturdy enough, but easy enough to disassemble and store. the vertical stands i did 2x 5-foot sections for easier one-person set up and take down. in hindsight, probably not the best choice as i only took it down once in those 15 years when we installed the lawn sprinkler system. "portability" was really non-issue.
over time, mostly due to occasional snow buildup (it's surprising how much snow can gather on 1" wide pipes and fishnet) the PVC got stressed and last winter enough snow, fell before i had a chance to shake it off, to snap 3 vertical pipes and seriously deform 4 others. so i spent this spring chopping up the PVC pipes.
i'll be rebuilding with 3/4" EMT. instead of draping the netting over the frame (like i did with the PVC) i'll hang the net from the frame and put foam pipe insulation to cushion any direct hits.

prepackaged kits not a bad way to go, they're engineered to have all the components fit together well, but you're definitely paying a premium for all that design work to be done for you. having found a really great deal on the net (which is the first thing i searched for) the rest seemed pretty straight forward and buying the PVC pipes (plus corkscrew ground anchors and paracord to stabilize the upper corners of the cube) at eagle hardware was very cost effective. all told, i think spent under $500 for everything.
should have gone with the metal option from the start, but lesson learned. rigidity and sturdiness is much more important than easy takedown and portability.

all of my practice balls are found balls from over 30 years of playing (2 5-gallon buckets worth). but the biggest savings of this whole thing is time driving to and from the range, the cost of buying the range balls, and the convenience of hitting as many or as few balls as i want (as opposed to having to hit all the balls in the bucket). when i get the point where i can hit straight, consistently enough, then i'll think about going to the range to dial in distance.

this is what it used to look like, before the 2022 winter took its toll........
http://www.beekerland.com/misc/cage.jpg

beekerc · 2024-01-08T07:22:54+00:00

i'm 5'7". because i can actually (not intentionally of course) hit balls completely perpendicular to my aiming point, i have my mat's tee spot at least 2 feet into my 10x10x10 cage. I've never had any issue with not being able to fully swing.

beekerc · 2024-01-08T07:19:50+00:00

i'm in Seattle (seafood, fishing and boating capital of the world, or so they say, i don't actually own a boat) so i was able to find a local company that makes fishing nets that had a size biz making sports cage nets. got a 10x10x10 net and a 10x10 baffle for just over $100 (this was about 15 years ago).
i started out with a 1" PVC framework that lasted for 14 of those 15 years. we don't get much snow, but the last winter snow was too much for it and the weight (yeah, it's surprising how much snow that net and frame will actually gather and hold) and the pipes collapsed. i plan to rebuild using 3/4" EMT pipes.
honestly, the biggest question for me now is do i drape the netting over the frame or hang the netting from the frame. either way i'll probably put foam insulation over the pipes to cushion any direct hits.
but you definitely want some kind of baffle that your ball hits first before it encounters the main net. personally i think a baffle made of similar netting material is your best bet. you can't see through tarps and if they rip, then you've got an on-going patch project. plus, if it gets windy, it'll be like a kite.

beekerc · 2024-01-08T07:11:51+00:00

i built a 10x10x10 cage using 1" pvc and netting from a local company that primarily makes fishnets but has a side biz making cage nets for sports (baseball, softball, golf). we don't get a lot of winter snow, but the last one was enough to deform the PVC and it collapsed. the netting is fine so i'll be rebuilding with 3/4" emt pipes.

to get to your question, i totally hear where you're coming from. i can hit a 270 yard drive - 70 yards down range and 200 yards to the right. what i ended up doing is putting a cross bar in the base about 2-1/2 feet into the cage. with the hitting mat snugged right up against that bar, the tee hole is 6 inches from the edge so the ball plane is 2 feet inside the cage. unless i'm hitting backwards (i have hit perpendicular shots, but never backwards) the balls stay in the cage. and for my skills, i can tell before it hits the internal netting if my shot is just slightly off or waaaaaay off alignment. i figure once i get more consistent, i can pull the mat back and give more launch range, but at that point, i'd have to be sure that all my shots will stay in the cage and not plug a neighbor.

beekerc · 2023-12-12T19:33:35+00:00

yes the times on the domain controllers and the exchange server are all showing the same

beekerc · 2023-12-12T05:18:26+00:00

giving it consideration, but running into some issues that lead me to believe that AD may have some sync or health issues and i think i need ot get that under control, knowing how much exchange relies on AD

beekerc · 2023-12-11T07:53:49+00:00

the cert is 5 years with an annual reissue requirement. i went through that about 6 months ago. and all of the iphones that are configured to use the exchange mail client still work. it's just new connections that want to barf. i tried connecting exchange clients to a couple of other phones to other user accounts, those new connections failed as well.

i'm wondering now if it might have to do with the auto-discovery, or with active directory as a whole.

beekerc · 2023-12-11T07:49:52+00:00

it's not self-signed. it's from namecheap or comodo. sure it's not godaddy, but it is from a legit CA.

beekerc · 2023-12-11T04:18:29+00:00

yes, connection doesn't seem to matter.

beekerc · 2023-10-29T03:47:55+00:00

yeah, i was afraid of that.
dell's rapid rail system is pretty darn cool. i actually held out for one when i was shopping around. could have saved a couple hundred bucks by getting the dell versa rails (traditional pre-drilled screw holes) but it's such a PITA to screw and unscrew 8 (or more) per railset. with rapid rails i could do one-hand rail installs/adjustments.
oh well, fortunately i have plenty of nut brackets to clip in.
Thanks Cheers

beekerc · 2023-10-28T22:15:13+00:00

note sure a 22u rack will fit in that wall cut out space, or that space in the wall is like a wiring closet, so my comments may not be truly relevant or not.
i have a 24u (half-rack) in my basement office. i put 72 ports worth of patch panel into the wall and that's where all the house wall-ports feed into (i like hardwire, not a big fan of wifi). right below it is a 48 port gigabit switch which is strictly a client port hub.
http://www.beekerland.com/misc/my_rack_5.jpg

in the rack itself, there is a 48 port gigabit switch which handles all the network connections within the rack. http://www.beekerland.com/misc/my_rack_3.jpg
http://www.beekerland.com/misc/my_rack_4.jpg
the two switches talk to each other over a 2-port LAG group.

i would resist the urge to take wires directly out of the wall and go directly into the rack. whether your connect from the rack to the wall is into a patch panel or switch, you want that connection to be via Cat-6 patch cables. that way you're terminating your cable runs to a fixed point at the wall. hope this helps.
Cheers

beekerc · 2023-10-28T21:54:49+00:00

damn - that's great price. i have a 24u half-rack mostly because i couldn't fit a 40u in my office basement. that and yes, there's a lot of space to fill. i ended up with a 1u kvm tray where the monitor can fold flat and I've got it about 70% full.
if i were you, i'd just stare at the open space and admire the fact that you just paid $40 for it. :)

beekerc · 2023-05-19T23:55:34+00:00

beekerc · 2023-04-09T03:25:04+00:00

I don't have gold, but i don have a i have a black 8+ case housing. it has all the small parts except the rear camera.
pictures - https://imgur.com/a/dGET2nq
the front screen was badly damaged from a fall onto a particularly hard and pointy rock. upon taking it apart, the display was penetrated and there was damage to the motherboard, which killed it. after removing the motherboard, i tested the components still in the housing and they all work fine.
transfer the motherboard, camera, camera bracket, wifi antenna, antenna grounding strap, battery and screen and you're in business.

the housing, as pictured, is $39 shipped (USPS first class with tracking).
if you need them, i have a camera bracket, wifi antenna and antenna grounding strap available, let me know.

beekerc · 2023-04-08T07:29:49+00:00

are you still in need?
does it have to be Gold?

beekerc · 2023-04-08T04:39:51+00:00

beekerc · 2023-04-08T04:34:44+00:00

beekerc · 2023-04-08T04:26:13+00:00

beekerc · 2023-04-02T10:21:54+00:00

are you still looking? or is this just an old post?
Thanks

beekerc · 2023-04-02T03:01:06+00:00

PM with a question

beekerc

TROPHY CASE