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Radar Sun Catcher
When Compact Discs first appeared, everyone thought they looked great. Although they were excellent for mass data storage, computer users started to wonder what
 else you could do with them. It soon became obvious that they weren't much good for anything else; besides from being something you could put your coffee cup on.
But some people thought there was a brighter future for old CDs than as coasters and continued searching because, after all, they are nice to look at. It's probably the way they split the sunlight into stunning rainbow colours. So what use can they be put to? Well, after many years of painstaking research, we present our design for an attractive Sun Catcher (Garden Mobile).
The Sun Catcher is wind and sun powered, so it requires no batteries and is completely silent. It's also easy to construct, doesn't need any glue, nails or maintenance and will give years of faithful service.
Here's What You Do
All you need to make this small marvel are CDs and a long length of strong string, but fishing line is good too. Just 38 CDs were used to create the Mobile shown in the first picture. You can use any number of CDs, but 20 to 40 seems ideal.
The construction technique is to use a basic building unit of two touching CDs placed top to top (label to label), so that the labels are hidden and all you can see is their mirror surfaces from any angle.
The first step is to construct an anchor; these are the CDs at the very bottom of the column. With two CDs together, get the end of the string and pass it through the holes and tie it to itself in the middle of the CDs. Make a neat knot and trim the short end close to the CDs so that it doesn't show.
 Make sure you double knot it so that's its nice and strong because it's going to support the weight of all the other CDs.
Next, get two more CDs (label to label) and thread them on the string all the way down to the anchor. Now comes the tricky bit. With the tied part of the anchor away from the pair of CDs you're joining, slightly separate the anchor CDs. Just enough to insert one CD. Put one of the CDs that you're adding between the Anchor CDs and let the other one drop so that it's lined up. You should not see any labels at this point.
Have a look at the second picture. You should be able to make out how the CDs interlace with each other. Extra thick string has been used, so it's easier to see where the string goes.
Congratulations, you've done the hard part! Now, you simply have to repeat this step, joining more pairs of CDs to the 4 CDs you've already done. You can repeat this as many times as you like. Of course, your mobile will be limited by the number of CDs available, length and strength of the string or transparent cord and also the drop available.
You may have noticed that you could place the pairs of CDs on the string in two ways. The pictures show the Full Circle design but you can also produce a Cascade pattern. Both are great.
The final task is to hang it up somewhere in the sun. Just tie the other end of the string to the branch of a tree and it'll start brightening up your life!
Easy Winter Storage
The Sun Catcher will amaze you and your friends for many years, but to extend its life even further you should store it away over winter.
 Fortunately, this revolutionary design collapses down to a small pile of CD's and they're still on the string! Simply, untie the Sun Catcher and lay it flat on the ground and pull the top pair of CDs away to disengage them. Then repeat with the next pair of CDs until you get to the bottom. When all the CDs are free, just pick the whole lot up on the string. Take a look at the third picture.
The Mobile can be left out over winter but you should ensure that there are no hard surfaces such as walls or tree trunks that it can hit if it's blown about in high winds.
There are two obvious ways the Garden Mobile can fail. The most serious is for the string to break causing catastrophic failure of the whole thing. The second but more insidious failure mode is by CD rot. This occurs when the silver coating peels off due to either rubbing against another CD or by rain and freezing temperatures. Still, the worst that can happen is for the whole Sun Catcher to become completely transparent!
Sun Catcher at Night
Our Sun Catcher even works at night! All you have to do is to provide a couple of well placed flood lights. Some say the colours produced are even better than day time! So why not make one today and impress your friends on late summer evenings. You won't regret it!
Other Uses
You might think the Sun Catcher is a wonderful cat and bird scarer, but it's not really. Visitors to the garden were perhaps cautious at first, but they soon got used to it. And so did the cats and birds! Seriously though, try it and see if it works where you are.
Upgrading Your Sun Catcher
To upgrade your CD Sun Catcher simply replace some or all of your CDs with DVDs. It's as simple as that!
Further Research
Other displays have been tried, such as the Snowflake design that was based on a hexagon shape. But the Radar type remains our firm favorite. We are currently collecting CDs to make a three dimensional design or more likely some sort of wall display.
What People are Saying About the Radar Sun Catcher
"Looking at the Sun Catcher every day has completely changed my life."
"Wow! That's great. I'm going straight home and I'm going to sell them on eBay!"
"That's nice, but its annoying me now. I keep thinking someone's taking my picture."
"No, we don't want it there. The neighbors will think we're mad!"
Warning
To state the obvious, don't use CDs that hold important information or any that you may want to use in the future. We cannot be held responsible for any loss of data.
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