Each year, Willamina has a lighted Christmas Parade. This year, it is possible that we will entering the parade. First, a portable power supply was needed as a generator was not feasible for our Ford Taurus. Two APC's were found at a local thrift shop and will supply a total of 800 watts for at least 30 minutes. Secondly, lights draw a considerably huge amount of power very quickly so a large number of lights wasn't possible until we got a batch of 400 LED lights. With only 8 channels to work with, the Grinch and the audio system will not draw a lot of power either. Two strings of snowflake lights will added to the sides of the car with a inflatable Santa on the trunk. Net lights and more LEDs will fill out the rest of the car's twinkly surface. More issues like how to attach the lights to the car and other things still have to be worked out. Time is also running short to get everything worked out and find out where to enter the parade. Watch your step, that's the deep end of the pool. :)Saturday, October 29, 2011
Bulls on Parade
Each year, Willamina has a lighted Christmas Parade. This year, it is possible that we will entering the parade. First, a portable power supply was needed as a generator was not feasible for our Ford Taurus. Two APC's were found at a local thrift shop and will supply a total of 800 watts for at least 30 minutes. Secondly, lights draw a considerably huge amount of power very quickly so a large number of lights wasn't possible until we got a batch of 400 LED lights. With only 8 channels to work with, the Grinch and the audio system will not draw a lot of power either. Two strings of snowflake lights will added to the sides of the car with a inflatable Santa on the trunk. Net lights and more LEDs will fill out the rest of the car's twinkly surface. More issues like how to attach the lights to the car and other things still have to be worked out. Time is also running short to get everything worked out and find out where to enter the parade. Watch your step, that's the deep end of the pool. :)
Friday, October 14, 2011
Just the F.A.Q.s Ma'am.
Doing a big light show like we do, people ask us a lot of questions about it. Here are a few of them..
Q: Don't you have enough lights?
A: Actually, no. Lets do the math. The system has 128 channels. Each SSR has 4 channels each. There are 32 SSRs that handle 7 Amps maximum. The average 100 count light string uses .33 Amps. That means 2100 lights per SSR max. For safety reasons, only 1800 will be on any SSR. 32 SSRs with 1800 each is 57,600 lights. Currently, there are about 31,000 lights in storage.
Q: Does Christmas mean that much to you?
A: Christmas means a lot to me and my wife, each of us for different reasons. Its the time of the year we all need each others help and to spread some joy the most.
Q: Doesn't that run your electric bill up?
A: It does some. Last year, with almost 22,000 lights on the property, the bill only went up about 48 Dollars for approximately a month's time.
Q: What are you buying that for?
A: It takes a lot of items, strings and other things to fill up a front and side yard like ours. Each year, the display changes a bit and more things are needed to fill in spots or replace old items.
Q: What do the neighbors think of you?
A: Before we started all this, we went around to each of the neighbors on our 2 streets. We are on a corner lot so the display wraps around the front and side of our home. We asked them if it would be alright if we had a large display, they said go ahead and loved the idea. Although we have yard speakers, the music can only be heard 1 or 2 homes away. City ordinances say loud music can only be played until 10 PM anyways.
Q: Don't you think you are going overboard on that?
A: Perhaps a little. Every hobby has something that interests that hobbyist. Electronics, computers and AC wiring were what I do for a living and I like Christmas lights. The ooh and the aah factor gets me.
Q: Shouldn't that much money be spent elsewhere on other things?
A: Sure it could. Who doesn't need more money for other things? We only spend a little here and there so we don't miss it that much. My wife won't let me spend a large amount all at once and I don't think I should either. Most of the items purchased are from thrift stores, yard sales, Craigslist but not many from retail stores.
Q: How much time have you spent on this project?
A: A lot it seems. Its a year-round hobby and the display evolves each year. The bigger it gets, the more time spent in preparing lights, programming the songs, shopping at thrift store, etc.
Q: Where do you put all that stuff?
A: Strings are put into separate plastic bags and sorted into bins by type and colors. Meanwhile the larger items are hung from the rafters in the garage to save on shelf and floor space. The rest are placed on racks or up high on shelves.
Q: Isn't that dangerous?
A: Electricity is always dangerous. Combined with water from rain like we have here in Oregon, even more so. Each circuit is equipped with GFIs (Ground Fault Interrupters) in case of shorts from water flow or breaks in the cords. Also, I have extensive training in computers, electronics and AC wiring. Don't try this at home without researching it a lot.
Q: Why are you doing all this?
A: For FUN! That's what hobbies are for. Also, we do it for other people's joy at Christmas time. Pack up the kids and go see the lights! We also do it as a draw to collect canned food for the local food bank. Most people give at that time but its needed all year long. Donate some to your local food bank.
Q: How long does it take to put up the display?
A: About a week and a half if I do it by myself. Some of my family usually help too. There are a lot of items to bring out of the garage like lights, reindeer, AC cords, supports and other things. Tearing it down takes about 3 days and we aren't sure why that is.
We hope this will clear up some of the mystery.
Q: Don't you have enough lights?
A: Actually, no. Lets do the math. The system has 128 channels. Each SSR has 4 channels each. There are 32 SSRs that handle 7 Amps maximum. The average 100 count light string uses .33 Amps. That means 2100 lights per SSR max. For safety reasons, only 1800 will be on any SSR. 32 SSRs with 1800 each is 57,600 lights. Currently, there are about 31,000 lights in storage.
Q: Does Christmas mean that much to you?
A: Christmas means a lot to me and my wife, each of us for different reasons. Its the time of the year we all need each others help and to spread some joy the most.
Q: Doesn't that run your electric bill up?
A: It does some. Last year, with almost 22,000 lights on the property, the bill only went up about 48 Dollars for approximately a month's time.
Q: What are you buying that for?
A: It takes a lot of items, strings and other things to fill up a front and side yard like ours. Each year, the display changes a bit and more things are needed to fill in spots or replace old items.
Q: What do the neighbors think of you?
A: Before we started all this, we went around to each of the neighbors on our 2 streets. We are on a corner lot so the display wraps around the front and side of our home. We asked them if it would be alright if we had a large display, they said go ahead and loved the idea. Although we have yard speakers, the music can only be heard 1 or 2 homes away. City ordinances say loud music can only be played until 10 PM anyways.
Q: Don't you think you are going overboard on that?
A: Perhaps a little. Every hobby has something that interests that hobbyist. Electronics, computers and AC wiring were what I do for a living and I like Christmas lights. The ooh and the aah factor gets me.
Q: Shouldn't that much money be spent elsewhere on other things?
A: Sure it could. Who doesn't need more money for other things? We only spend a little here and there so we don't miss it that much. My wife won't let me spend a large amount all at once and I don't think I should either. Most of the items purchased are from thrift stores, yard sales, Craigslist but not many from retail stores.
Q: How much time have you spent on this project?
A: A lot it seems. Its a year-round hobby and the display evolves each year. The bigger it gets, the more time spent in preparing lights, programming the songs, shopping at thrift store, etc.
Q: Where do you put all that stuff?
A: Strings are put into separate plastic bags and sorted into bins by type and colors. Meanwhile the larger items are hung from the rafters in the garage to save on shelf and floor space. The rest are placed on racks or up high on shelves.
Q: Isn't that dangerous?
A: Electricity is always dangerous. Combined with water from rain like we have here in Oregon, even more so. Each circuit is equipped with GFIs (Ground Fault Interrupters) in case of shorts from water flow or breaks in the cords. Also, I have extensive training in computers, electronics and AC wiring. Don't try this at home without researching it a lot.
Q: Why are you doing all this?
A: For FUN! That's what hobbies are for. Also, we do it for other people's joy at Christmas time. Pack up the kids and go see the lights! We also do it as a draw to collect canned food for the local food bank. Most people give at that time but its needed all year long. Donate some to your local food bank.
Q: How long does it take to put up the display?
A: About a week and a half if I do it by myself. Some of my family usually help too. There are a lot of items to bring out of the garage like lights, reindeer, AC cords, supports and other things. Tearing it down takes about 3 days and we aren't sure why that is.
We hope this will clear up some of the mystery.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
If I only had a brain...
At the heart of every "over the top" show, is a small workhorse doing all the number crunching just so everyone can see the twinklys. While we do have a number of computers, some old, some new, we did not have one dedicated to the Christmas show. Recently, we found a good computer at the Goodwill for around $25. Most of its hardware was gone but it had a good motherboard and other things. Using leftover parts and a lot of software upgrading, we got it running like new. Please be aware that when purchasing used computers from nonprofessional computer stores, there can be undesirable programs, viruses, videos and pictures on the hard drives. Since other components in the systems that have names, we gave the computer a name also. Meet Blitzen, the Christmas Computer! Transfering all the programs, pictures and videos associated with the show to this one computer from 4 other ones was a challenge but worth the effort to have a dedicated computer for the show.
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