And now... The Star Of Our Show!

Every show needs an over-the-top light element to really bring out the oooh and ahhh in order to make the crowd remember it after its over. Every show also needs a star of some sort to pay tribute to that special star of long ago. After looking at several stars from other shows, we decided that ours would be a combination of some of them. We definitely wanted a 5-pointed star but also wanted it to point in all directions so that could be seen from both streets. We also allocated 4 channels to run the various sub elements of the star. Our star went through 4 redesigns before settling on it current design. As the channels cycle through star channels 2 to 4, it has the illusion that it is turning. In the picture above all channels are turned on and this will happen sometimes during the show as well. Star channel 1 is connected to a strobe light mounted in the center of the star to give it a twinkle effect. If we were closer to the ocean, it could double as a lighthouse, lol. Constructed of plastic PVC pipe, cut, glued, ziptied, painted black, strung with 2101 lights, ziptied some more, screwed together and rewired, it was quite a challenge to build. It will be on top of a 6' PVC pipe mast connected to a wooden platform held down to the roof with sandbags with guy wires securing it to the outer edges of the roof. The pipe mast will also be strung with lights connected in parallel with the strobe to give a bit of a boost too. The star will have its own SSR to run it and will draw about 7 Amps of electricity. Testing of the star also drew the attention of our neighbors and they really liked it.

Megatree Time

This is one of two Megatrees that will be in our yard this Christmas. The Megatrees are 10' high, 20' circumference and about 7' across at the base. The camera's flash washed a bit of brillance out of the picture but it still looks good. It still needs a bit of work but you can see what the difference is between night and day! 800 white lights and 800 blue lights twisted together gives it an amazing effect. Hopefully, we will equip both Megatrees with a star topper for added effect, perhaps even a strobe. With 16 strands total, there are also 3 controlling options available using 1, 2 or 4 SSRs. This year, the Megatree in the front yard will be using 2 SSRs while the Megatree on the side yard will only use 1. Whatever option we end up using, it will surely make viewers go WOW!

Seen but heard

In order for anyone who is walking near the yard to hear the music for the light show, a set of boxes were made for the stereo speakers. Think of it as a set of computer speakers on a 80' cord, hehe. Out in the yard near the front yard tree is a fake doghouse. It was a collaborated effort between us. I made the doghouse which only weighs about 15 lbs. Constructed out of 1 x 2 boards and vinyl siding, then painted. Sitting on top of his Sopwith Camel, is Snoopy, Our Hero! My wife did a terrific job on him! Between the two of us, we made a very nice weatherproof speaker enclosure and it has a bit of a "boom" effect as well. The other speaker enclosure is an actual doghouse of chihuahua size. I gave it to my Mother-in-Law to repaint as it was a hideous dark green. I gave her "Carte Blanc" as to how she wants to paint it. She's a well known local artist here and we're very anxious to see the results.

All Aboard!

All Aboard! Whoooo Whooo!
As I mentioned before, good deals are to be had on Craigslist.com. I was looking for Christmas items and I found this train. It was actually located about a 4 hour drive from our home but we wanted to go for a drive anyways, lol. Brand new, it costs about $300 but we got it for $10! After fixing some lights and straightening a few things, its good as new! My wife says it's her train, rofl. We will mount the train on 2 "sleds" for easier handling and will place it almost where it is in the picture in front of the house. In other news, Grinch 1 was powered up for the first time and had limited success in powering a SSR. Not sure what the problem is exactly but I think it's the primary data cable, possibly unused wires shorting together is my first guess before ripping it back apart. Nobody said it was going to be easy. HeHe. The first of the Light Fences were put together and it looks great. In a upcoming test, our 2 mega trees will be further assembled and lit up. That should be really Cool looking!

Sequencing Songs

Sequencing a song is not as easy as it sounds. After you find that song you want to put in your show, now you have to synchronize the lights to it. Making the lights blink exactly when you want during the song is called sequencing and its a bit tricky. Listen carefully to the song a few times and you will notice that it has a beat, different instruments, some parts that are the same, voices or choirs, sometimes different beats, silences, sound effects and even characters talking. A good show will reflect all of this at your bidding coming from your imagination. Think of it as adding layer upon layer of patterns until a full sequence is made. Every light element can be an instrument like maybe the lights on the minitrees can be keys struck on a piano or the star may be coming from a choir. All these choices are yours to choreograph as you like. Vixen uses a structure that has periods of time or "events" going across the horizontal of the grid and the amount of channels going down the vertical. Any point where these two intersect is an event that can be manipulated on or off. If your system has the capability, even to brighten or dim from 0% (off) to 100% (on full). A good sequence will have lights coming on to create the most dramatic effect according to the music. Also note that not all the channels have to be doing something all the time. Build the suspense to get that oooh and aahhh factor your audience will talk about long after Christmas is over.

The Primary Data Cable

The Primary Data Cable is the link from the computer to the twin Grinchs. Its a homemade cable that is made from a printer (DB25) cable that we weren't using. Only 4 of the pins out of 25 are used and are grafted onto another cable that is commonly used as an ethernet cable (RJ45). Of the 8 pins of that cable again, only 4 are used. It took some time to identify the wires leading to the correct pins and attach them to the correct wires of the RJ45 since not all cable companies use the same color code. After splicing the cables together, We checked and rechecked to see if it was correct with a multimeter to make sure it had continuity along the right wires and pins. We ran a plastic wire across the joint and ziptied it to give it added strength to avoid being pulled apart. On top of that, a good amount of tape was applied to give it a better look. This cable will be in the house and won't get any moisture on it (unless I spill my tea on it) so it will be mostly safe from harm.

Schedules and Updates

When you have a deadline to meet, its best to have a schedule to keep you on track. For the most part, this is a good idea and a fair percentage of the time it works out. However, life doesn't live on a schedule so its best to have a PLAN B. The arch light elements we had planned didn't seem to be working out, instead we changed that design into a "light fence" that will be 160' in total. Sometimes you roll with the punches. So far, we haven't had a lot of major setbacks (crosses fingers). Its time for a status report on our progress, so here it is...

Software: 100%

Sequences: 50%

Data Cabling: 10%

AC Cabling: 20%

Yard Audio System: 100%

FM Transmitter System: 100%

Grinchs: 50%

SSRs: 1 of 32 completed

Mini-trees: 50%

Mini-MegaTrees: 20%

Star: 0%

Light Fence: 10%

Christmas Sign: 0%

Santas/Snowmen: 75%

String Lighting: 80%