To service these little A/V systems on the elevators, an elevator tech has to bring it to the 67th floor where the observation deck is and "bump" it down a bit so I can climb on top. the doors are wedged open. It's even trickier than it looks: the roof of the elevator is glass, and I have to step carefully on the framework above. Not dangerous- there's no room to fall between the car and the shaft. As for the car moving, I trust these guys from Schindler, but I never linger for more than a second with part of my body inside and another part outside. And I'm careful not to drop anything, since I lost a brand-new LED flashlight the first time I worked on one of these. I asked the tech if we could go look at the bottom of the shaft for it, and he laughed. It's 700 feet, onto concrete, after all.
These projectors are nice, but they are not supposed to be operated at an angle exceeding 15 degrees... you see here why they fail so often. Using mirrors was not an option in this install, so here they are, pointing straight down. Lack of proper ventilation causes the panels to burn up and turn purple, although sometimes they show other symptoms.
Oddly enough, the day after I did this work, one panel of glass on this car shattered mysteriously... something must have fallen from the shaft when the car was way downstairs- there was a good-sized ding at the center of the web of cracks. But it's safely glass, laminated, so nobody got hurt.
And it wasn't me... honest!! I'm usually picking up loose junk up there, not leaving it lying around!!
There's an indoor observation area; here's a look out the window. It was a fine clear night, but the wind was so intense. I didn't dare go outside (not that I'm really supposed to; Security might not like that too much).
Looking south, through the glass... pretty good night shot for my camera.
Got to get on the deck sometime during the day with my camera... best view in NYC, if you ask me... the Empire State Bldg view is cool, too, but from 30 Rock, you can see the ESB.
