Automatic Chicken Coop door for only $5 bucks with a radio antenna from a junkyard

[Nifty-Chicken]

I just stumbled on this and am very impressed!

 

[jimmywalt]

I just stumbled on this and am very impressed!

Thank you very much! It came after HOURS AND HOURS of research on this site, youtube and google.

I hope that posting this with all the instructions how to make it in only a couple hours will help others out as well. I had a really tight budget and had to come up with something.

To anyone else - I'm on this website daily, so if you have any questions on how to make this please feel free to PM me. I'll be happy to help you out!

 

[5thgear]

OP, nice work on your setup! I didn't do exactly what you did but I'm going a very similar route, and maybe you can provide some input in how to wire my door project. I read this post

http://www.nifty-stuff.com/auto-coop-door-ii-antenna.php

and a few other places where people used a combination of the Intermatic ST01 timer and a car antenna for their door. So I ordered all the stuff and it's all in place except I'm not exactly sure how to wire it up.

My antenna is the same as yours - 3 wires, green is the "signal" wire, black is the ground, red is positive. My timer has 4 wires coming out of it. For a single switch operation, the timer instructions say to just ignore the red wire. Next, the timer instructions say to just hook up the black and blue wires to a wire coming from the wall (no more specific than that) and that the green wire is to be connected to the grounding screw in the box.

So if I'm understanding your diagram, I think my equivalent would be to run a set of red and black wires directly to the battery from the antenna, which would be my equivalent to your always hot power supply. Then I would connect another set of wires to act like to your timed power supply...but I think this is where I'm getting tripped up. Red and black wires would first need to run from the battery to the timer, but then connected how? Then, I think the green and black wires of the antenna would be connected to the black and blue wires of the timer? Or, the green (what they are calling the ground) wire on the timer connected to the black wire of the antenna and the green wire of the antenna to either the black and blue timer wires?

I'm a total novice at wiring this kind of stuff and I guess it's showing. If anyone has any tips I would appreciate hearing them!

 

[jimmywalt]

OP, nice work on your setup! I didn't do exactly what you did but I'm going a very similar route, and maybe you can provide some input in how to wire my door project. I read this post

http://www.nifty-stuff.com/auto-coop-door-ii-antenna.php

and a few other places where people used a combination of the Intermatic ST01 timer and a car antenna for their door. So I ordered all the stuff and it's all in place except I'm not exactly sure how to wire it up.

My antenna is the same as yours - 3 wires, green is the "signal" wire, black is the ground, red is positive. My timer has 4 wires coming out of it. For a single switch operation, the timer instructions say to just ignore the red wire. Next, the timer instructions say to just hook up the black and blue wires to a wire coming from the wall (no more specific than that) and that the green wire is to be connected to the grounding screw in the box.

So if I'm understanding your diagram, I think my equivalent would be to run a set of red and black wires directly to the battery from the antenna, which would be my equivalent to your always hot power supply. Then I would connect another set of wires to act like to your timed power supply...but I think this is where I'm getting tripped up. Red and black wires would first need to run from the battery to the timer, but then connected how? Then, I think the green and black wires of the antenna would be connected to the black and blue wires of the timer? Or, the green (what they are calling the ground) wire on the timer connected to the black wire of the antenna and the green wire of the antenna to either the black and blue timer wires?

I'm a total novice at wiring this kind of stuff and I guess it's showing. If anyone has any tips I would appreciate hearing them!

Boy, I'm a fish out of water on helping with the electrical that you have. Hopefully someone else here can tell you how to wire that.

I read your post, didn't click your link though. I read about the ST timer awhile back but don't recall.....what it is or how it works.

Not sure why you wouldn't just get a couple $1 power supplies from Goodwill and a timer from a big-box store and call it good. Aren't those ST timers expensive?

The one thing...... don't wire it wrong or you might kill your antenna or timer and have to purchase a new one (or both).

I'm sorry I can't be of more help.................. But I can help you or anyone with my setup.

 

[jimmywalt]

I looked up the ST01 Timer............... WOW............ way too expensive for my blood.

No need to have digital. I promise you that your chickens won't care if the door opens at 7:00AM sharp or 7:09AM..... And actually they probably won't even know! LOL!

Get yourself a cheap $5 max timer.

 

[coldupnorth]

I'm asking the hubby to work on a couple of these for me coops. What a great idea!

 

[5thgear]

Automatic Chicken Coop door for only $5 bucks with a radio antenna from a junky

AI have it figured out now thanks.

 

[jimmywalt]

Bumping this again to attempt to help people save money making their own automatic door vs purchasing those EXPENSIVE ones sold online.

Try this. It works. I've been using it for months! It's inexpensive and only takes a couple hours of your time!

 

[Hokum Coco]

B

 

[jimmywalt]

With winter coming I thought I'd give this another bump. Might want to build this door before the snow starts flying.