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Newbie Questions/outdoor speaker


lmr020307

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This is my first year taking on the programing challenge of our Christmas light display! I have watched tons of "How to videos" and a many hours of research into this process and I CURRENTLY only have two questions! So my first questions is in regards to the FM transmitter. We actually have a Christmas light display that is like a walk thru village so with that being said I don't need am FM transmitter. I think all I would need is a receiver and outdoor speakers, is this correct? If that is correct, how do I tie this into my Light O Rama controller/programing? Then my second question is (I know I would need to figure watts ect) but if I take 10 strands of LED lights end to end and have them attached to one of the sixteen controllers, those 10 strands will all do the same thing at the same time correct? Pretty sure I know that answer, just see many people wanting a more customized show so they put one strand of lights to one controller. Lastly any helpful hints are very welcomed! Thanks  

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10 strands of LEDS is next to nothing. as a SINGLE channel load

  Look at the 'How many to be connected end to end'. Most allow 2 digits of strings, where mini incans allowed maybe, 3 strings before the 3A plug-fuse blows.

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5 hours ago, lmr020307 said:

So my first questions is in regards to the FM transmitter. We actually have a Christmas light display that is like a walk thru village so with that being said I don't need am FM transmitter. I think all I would need is a receiver and outdoor speakers, is this correct? If that is correct, how do I tie this into my Light O Rama controller/programing?

Two ways to do it.  First is an FM transmitter connected to the show computer or director (whichever it is that you use) and the receiver tuned to your FM channel.  Second is to cable the output of the show computer or director to an AUX input on the receiver.  Note that if you use the second method, unless the audio source and the receiver are fairly close together, ask me how to do it right and not end up with a lot of noise.  If you just connect 200 feet of standard audio patch cable, it will work, but there is a pretty good chance of noise.  I can teach you how to do it right (I have worked as a broadcast engineer where audio quality ranks right up there with God)!

5 hours ago, lmr020307 said:

Then my second question is (I know I would need to figure watts ect) but if I take 10 strands of LED lights end to end and have them attached to one of the sixteen controllers, those 10 strands will all do the same thing at the same time correct?

Correct.  I assume you will have more than just one channel in use (you're just asking about one channel in this question).

 

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"I have worked as a broadcast engineer where audio quality ranks right up there with God)!"

Too funny Jim

JR

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On 7/11/2017 at 9:20 PM, TheDucks said:

10 strands of LEDS is next to nothing. as a SINGLE channel load

  Look at the 'How many to be connected end to end'. Most allow 2 digits of strings, where mini incans allowed maybe, 3 strings before the 3A plug-fuse blows.

Interesting, I've had up to 10-12 strands of incandescents tied together end to end and never blew the fuse in the plug or had them overheat on a LOR controller and on a single channel.  However they weren't on very long at a time, just quick flashes for simulating lightning,     Maybe if they were on for extended periods that plug fuse may have blown, but never had an issue with very short bursts using 10-12 strands of incandescent bulbs, now these were only 35 count strands, which may/may not make a difference compared to higher bulb count strands.

 

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1 hour ago, Orville said:

Interesting, I've had up to 10-12 strands of incandescents tied together end to end and never blew the fuse in the plug or had them overheat on a LOR controller and on a single channel.  However they weren't on very long at a time, just quick flashes for simulating lightning,     Maybe if they were on for extended periods that plug fuse may have blown, but never had an issue with very short bursts using 10-12 strands of incandescent bulbs, now these were only 35 count strands, which may/may not make a difference compared to higher bulb count strands.

 

fuses will take 400% for many minutes. That  is for a 'normal' fuse used in those plugs.( Slow Blow, are even longer, 3AG usually have a spring as well as the fuse wire.)

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  • 4 weeks later...
On ‎7‎/‎11‎/‎2017 at 9:36 PM, k6ccc said:

Two ways to do it.  First is an FM transmitter connected to the show computer or director (whichever it is that you use) and the receiver tuned to your FM channel.  Second is to cable the output of the show computer or director to an AUX input on the receiver.  Note that if you use the second method, unless the audio source and the receiver are fairly close together, ask me how to do it right and not end up with a lot of noise.  If you just connect 200 feet of standard audio patch cable, it will work, but there is a pretty good chance of noise.  I can teach you how to do it right (I have worked as a broadcast engineer where audio quality ranks right up there with God)!

Correct.  I assume you will have more than just one channel in use (you're just asking about one channel in this question).

So what my plan is to have my standard LOR program from my laptop but because our display is a walk thru I can not use am FM transmitter since the people viewing will not be in their car. So that is my question...just outdoor speakers to a receiver but if so how do I connect that into the computer or do my speakers just goto the computer someway?

On ‎7‎/‎11‎/‎2017 at 9:36 PM, k6ccc said:

 

 

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16 minutes ago, lmr020307 said:

So what my plan is to have my standard LOR program from my laptop but because our display is a walk thru I can not use am FM transmitter since the people viewing will not be in their car. So that is my question...just outdoor speakers to a receiver but if so how do I connect that into the computer or do my speakers just goto the computer someway?

 

I use outdoor speakers from my receiver and an fm transmitter. connect your laptop to your receiver with a 3.5mm headphone cable from the headphone jack on your laptop to the input jack on your receiver.

https://smile.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-3-5mm-Stereo-Audio-Cable/dp/B00NO73MUQ/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1502920777&sr=8-4&keywords=3.5+mm+audio+cable

If you use both then run the 3.5mm cable to your fm transmitter and set the radio freq on the receiver to broadcast the music thru the speakers. This gives you the best of both worlds.

Edited by Mr. P
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2 minutes ago, lmr020307 said:

So what my plan is to have my standard LOR program from my laptop but because our display is a walk thru I can not use am FM transmitter since the people viewing will not be in their car.

Don't necessarily rule out an FM transmitter.  Depending on the layout of your show, it may be very practical to have the show computer connect to an FM transmitter and have several receivers scattered around the yard.  Now that does add a complication about needing to keep the receiver(s) dry, but that is doable, and you may need to deal with security of the receivers as well. 

It may also be practical to have one or more amplifiers at a central location and run speaker cables out to speakers placed in various locations in the yard.  This is pretty much what I'm doing.  I have two 75 watt per channel amplifiers in my bedroom closet with four outdoor speakers permanently installed in the yard.  The speaker cable in my case is in conduit.  as Mr. P said, you can use an FM transmitter at the show computer to a FM receiver and run the speakers from the receiver out to the yard.  Saves having to run a good audio connection out to one or more receivers.

17 minutes ago, lmr020307 said:

So that is my question...just outdoor speakers to a receiver but if so how do I connect that into the computer or do my speakers just goto the computer someway?

Your computer sound card can not power your yard speakers directly.  You MUST go through some form of amplifier.  The sound card output will either connect to an FM transmitter or to amplifiers of one sort or another.  As I said last month, if your connection between the computer and FM transmitter or amplifier(s) is short, you can just run a cable with the appropriate connectors.  However, if you are going to run a long distance, simply running a long cable will likely end up with a noisy signal.  In my case, the audio cables from the sound board to the amplifiers for the yard speakers is about 110 feet, and the cables from the sound board to the FM transmitter is about 200 feet.  In both cases, the cables are in the same conduit as computer LAN and LOR networking cables and because I did it right, there is no noise picked up by the audio cables.  If you need to run long distance audio cables, I can tell you how to do it right.

 

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Also, consider Blutooth.

I use a Logitec BT stereo adapter  which takes either RCA or a 3.5 mini plug 9 (like you computer speakers use) to powered speakers or a bigger Amp.

Our local Frys features 'DJ' speakers that contain a Blutooth receiver.  Lots of options.

30' is pushing it, but there are no wires crossing walks / driveways

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Here is my audio distribution from the show computer to the yard speaker amplifiers and FM transmitter.  The sound mixer is a Mackie 802-VLZ3

LOR_audio_distribution.jpg

 

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We don't have a walkthrough display, but we do have a lot of walkers that pass our display, so we've set up a small stereo (a very, very old boombox from the 1990s) outside so that people can very softly hear the music as long as no cars are driving by (but it's not so loud that our neighbors can hear it from inside their houses (we've tested that)).  We have the FM transmitter in the garage, and the boombox set to that station.  We put the stereo in a black heavy duty trash bag so that it doesn't get wet if it rains, and we hide it behind our big holly bush (which makes it painful to "install" it every year!).  The stereo is plugged directly in to our timer that turns on the whole LOR system, so when the show is over for the night, the radio gets turned off automatically as well.  Has worked like a charm the past two years doing it.

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7 hours ago, Jaynee said:

We don't have a walkthrough display, but we do have a lot of walkers that pass our display, so we've set up a small stereo (a very, very old boombox from the 1990s) outside so that people can very softly hear the music as long as no cars are driving by (but it's not so loud that our neighbors can hear it from inside their houses (we've tested that)).  We have the FM transmitter in the garage, and the boombox set to that station.  We put the stereo in a black heavy duty trash bag so that it doesn't get wet if it rains, and we hide it behind our big holly bush (which makes it painful to "install" it every year!).  The stereo is plugged directly in to our timer that turns on the whole LOR system, so when the show is over for the night, the radio gets turned off automatically as well.  Has worked like a charm the past two years doing it.

1990's boom box. I'm sure this new generation doesn't have a clue as to what it is. Should be easy to spot though if someone steals it since in todays standards it would be similar to walking around with a rack component stereo on your shoulders. 

Even gets AM.

JR

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depending on how big your property is will depend on what sort, and how many, outdoor speakers may be required.

You may get away with a cheap amplifier and couple of standard outdoor speakers mounted under eaves, or for a bigger property you may consider a multi channel amplifier and several speakers scattered thru the yard, eg: outdoor rock speakers on amazon if you want to 'hide' the speakers. 

The amplifier connects to the audio out of your show computer. 

have a look at at this outdoor speaker planning guide for some ideas.

I've just got an fm transmitter connected to the show computer and a 'dj' amplified speaker (which has a built-in fm receiver) in the yard, I made a coro box (decorated to look like a christmas present) to cover the speaker

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9 hours ago, OzAz said:

depending on how big your property is will depend on what sort, and how many, outdoor speakers may be required.

You may get away with a cheap amplifier and couple of standard outdoor speakers mounted under eaves, or for a bigger property you may consider a multi channel amplifier and several speakers scattered thru the yard, eg: outdoor rock speakers on amazon if you want to 'hide' the speakers. 

The amplifier connects to the audio out of your show computer. 

have a look at at this outdoor speaker planning guide for some ideas.

I've just got an fm transmitter connected to the show computer and a 'dj' amplified speaker (which has a built-in fm receiver) in the yard, I made a coro box (decorated to look like a christmas present) to cover the speaker

What bugs me about that multiple speaker guide, is the failure to pay attention to Phasing.  The typical in home setup has the Stereo pair facing the same way. In their Pool and Fire pit, the speakers Face each other (FWIW Surround Amps take phase into consideration)

+1 on the 70V system for really huge layouts. SPT-1 works good for even 200' runs

For really long runs, use 3 wires (per feed.) Amp connects to the Black and White. Connect the Black and Red AT THE FAR END. The speakers, connect to the RED and WHITE.  This makes the wire length to ANY speaker, the same, ensuring balanced power distribution.

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Just saw this in recent list and thought I would chime in.... I have the showtime starter package with the built in mp3 card reader/director and fm transmitter. I am not sure if you have that showtime starter package but...  Mine has a headphone jack already built in from the mps director to the fm transmitter if I recall. I just put a headphone jack y-splitter  (about $3 on ebay) on it and run it directly to an old house stereo in my garage. I have (2) 100' sections of speaker cable and run the outdoor speakers into the yard and turn the volume low for those who come by that are not in cars. They look like small grey rock I think I got them from ebay for like $35 shipped a few years ago. I have it set up to the same timer as my main showtime box. That way it turns the radio on and off when the timer turns on or shuts off.

Some people run it through their cpu and just use the headphone jack to run it to a stereo. I have seen videos of it online.

As for the channels, I am pushing boundaries with mine and had no issues. My house is all c9 led reels from walmart and I have up to 18 of the 52' reels on each channel. Not any problems at all.  I like to think of it as a Griswold display. But wattage with led is hardly anything and you can go crazy with them. Think of it this way, When you see the old style bulbs they have a warning of no more than 3-5 sets in a row... Well led normally say 15 - 30 depending on the type of sets you use. Our house kind of pushes the wattage and believe it or not it all runs on 2 outlets.. We have 2 channels for the walls with lights every 5 inches going up and down with one channel for all green and one with all blue. Same with roof, 3 channels for 3 different colors. It holds these perfectly. I use to pop breakers with the old style lights and used 6 outlets. I'm down to two outlets now controlling the whole display and it handles great with led lights. One outlet in garage and one in the front by the window. No power issues or warm wires like I use to get from my old incandescent style lights. Granted this is only 16 channels but it still shows what you can do with led lights.

a house 2.jpg

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