Today I put the RETROcam on its own dedicated circuit by replacing its 120V power adapter with a custom inline step-down converter from 12V to 5V. It fired right up without burning a wall outlet. Tomorrow I might run its cables through ceiling panel T7, but that means I’d have to fabricate two more RETROpod speakers at the same time.

Then I hooked up the vintage JVC “TinyVision” TV that I rescued from the 1970s on eBay — also known as the VC 3020GM Videosphere Cube TV. I made sure it all worked on the aft 120V outlet. And so it did.That TV could be wall-mounted in the corner, over the bed. And with the help of this cheap little iView digital converter box, it can tap into the same HD antenna as my main Sony Bravia HDTV. Only it displays authentic B&W NTSC signals in all its 4:3 cathode ray glory. That’s always great for all our 8mm home movies that I transferred to digital. Also great for falling asleep to classic shows like the The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits. Shows you can barely follow because of the low-fidelity and buzziness.

Now that I have wall plugs, I tested my circuit breakers by running my space heater and my heat gun at the same time. And right on cue, that 15A circuit breaker popped without affecting any other circuit. Just the way it’s supposed to work.

Next, I started working on the galley plumbing. I built a backing “box” out of marine plywood that’s about 24×13″. Then I positioned it behind the D3 panel, atop the horizontal rib, and traced my pre-cut faucet holes. Next, I screwed the two brass drop elbows into place on the plywood and dry-fitted everything back together.

All the spacing was perfect, but I soon discovered a really perturbing mismatch on the thread coarseness. I may need to get a couple of brass “close nipples” to allow the faucet to mate properly to the water supply assembly I built.

Next, I struggled to cut and attach my 1/2″ braided nylon hose to the barbed brass fitting and discovered they weren’t really made for each other. But once I heated the tube up next to my space heater, then I was able to force it onto the barbs. I was not, however, able to slip the stainless steel clamp rings over the barbed tube. Those clamp rings are made for PEX tubing, which must be thinner. So I might have to switch gears and use PEX instead. But that stuff is much stiffer, so it requires things like elbows to make turns, unlike the braided nylon tubing.

The Peerless faucet is actually dry-fitted into place tonight and it looks great. I’ll post actual photos once I figure these details out.

The aluminum panels are starting to look a bit oxidized, so it’s time to get some metal cleaner/polish like Brasso.

Tomorrow I have an interview with Apple up in Vancouver, so I probably won’t get anything else done.