Anyone else building a frame for a 12 ribbon CCR tree?

[khawes]

Frank, thank you for all your pictures and pointers.  As a software engineer, I've got nothing to go on in the building world other than a class way back in the 7th grade, which was a long time ago in a galaxy far far away. 

 

I didn't notice the controllers in the shot, but i do now

 

My tubing from Alro arrives Tuesday...   My tree will be 13' tall, and the spider web 13' across.  Any pointers on where best to attach the rope to these monsters so they can be suspended from the roof peak are welcome (and sought after as well)

 

Oh Frank, can your sequences come as LOR v3 files instead of SuperStar files?

Edited August 16, 2013 by khawes

[Frank Farmer]

That rack has almost 30 controllers on it. I use to have them haning up around the garage, but ran out of wall space.

 

I had not thought about suspending the tree. Can you post a picture of where your going to put it?

 

On the sequences, yes. I'll PM you.

Frank

[utb ghost]

Just a quick thank you note to all on this thread. I'm always way behind on this stuff, due to travel and cycling and bow hunting and a college football addiction and what not - but appreciate the help and insight. I will not get my materials until the week after Labor Day - also have decided to reduce costs a bit on the frame by alternating 1/8 and 1/16 lengths and 1/16 for the cross supports. I will use a two extra 20' lengths in 1/8 bolted as legs to support my tree which will free stand between two houses in a natural wind tunnel and probably do the same from about half way down. Trying to keep the metal under $500 and I might just make it.

BTW Frank, neighbors ( some are roof rats for me) are getting old as am I, and I'm thinking of building a frame for the lights I have clipped all across my garage.. Might still use PVC, but now aluminum channel is opening my eyes. We would build the frame, have it on wheels of some sort to have the lights elevated off the roof a bit and enable us to just slide it up the garage roof. The lead wheels will go over the crown of the roof, and the frame should just sit there fine - maybe some weights attached on the legs extending over the crown of the roof ......someday in the future I see a garage roof aluminum frame for s 12 plus CCR's!

Yu guys are awesome

[khawes]

 

 

I had not thought about suspending the tree. Can you post a picture of where your going to put it?

 

Frank

 

 

You cannot see it in the picture but it's held up by 2 parallel 2x4's with several cross braces.  That contraption sits on the roof with only 4" hanging over.  The weight of the 2x4's and the controllers mounted at the far end keep it from falling down.  It's also tethered on the corners.  

 

You also can't see in the picture that the bottom of the tree is about 2' higher than the top of the garage door, which is why my tree height is limited to 13' or so.

 

You can see it in the video's though:

http://christmasoutloud.com/videos.html  (2010)

and 

https://vimeo.com/christmasoutloud/videos (2011)

 

 

and the web from Halloween:

 

Edit: you CAN see the contraption in the halloween video. It's silhouetted against the sky.  those tabs sticking up from the roof are actually LOR controllers. 

Edited August 17, 2013 by khawes

[Frank Farmer]

I've been asked for some additional information on my frame's tube lengths, so here it is:

http://lightshow.franktronics.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/MoreCCRFrameMeasurements.pdf

 

I've also uploaded about 50 pictures to my web-sites photo gallery of the tree's construction.

http://lightshow.franktronics.net/index.php/photo-gallery/

 

Frank

[avionics12]

Hi Frank,

 

Thanks for the info on the frame, it will be useful as I begin to build a frame this week.  I had a plan to build a frame, however yours is much more sturdy and worth the cost and effort.  We sometimes get strong winds here and the initial investment in the frame is worth it.  My question is in regards to the power supply you have.  I will use a dual power supply setup; one each for 6 controllers. Do you have a schematic for the power supply wiring to the CCR controllers?

 

Thanks,

Randy

[Frank Farmer]

I did the same thing, I have two outdoor boxes, each  12x12x8 that I got from Home depot. Each one has a power supply and 6 CCR controllers.I have one on each side of the  tree, that way I didnt' have to cut or add lenght to the CCR ribbon cables.

This image is hi-res, download it and blow it up.http://lightshow.franktronics.net/?attachment_id=871

I used these power jacks from radio shack:http://www.radioshac...614#tabsetBasic

Just wire each power jack directly to the power supply.

Let me know if your looking for more detail.

Frank

[avionics12]

Thanks for the quick reply!

 

I was hoping for more detail because I looked at the link you provided for the power supply and it says it has one output.  Do you connect all of the positives (+) to one terminal and all of the negatives (=) to the other terminal?

[Frank Farmer]

It's true, just one output, 12VDC. There are 9 screws on the terminal block of the power supply. Three for AC in-netural, hot and ground. Then there are 3 screws for DC ground and 3 screws for DC positive.  I hooked two controllers to each set of DC screws.

 

Does that make since?

 

Here is the spec sheet and it has PIN assignments on it.

http://www.jameco.com/Jameco/Products/ProdDS/244743.pdf

[avionics12]

That makes it quite simple doesn't it!  A few ring terminals, the power jacks, and wire should do the trick.  Thanks for clarifying the hookup.

[larryk5]

Frank:

How are the Radio Shack power jacks wired? Is the center the +?

Larry

[Frank Farmer]

Yes, center pin is positive.

[Heffo]

Hi all

I am planing on building my CCR tree frame some time soon I will try to post some photos what I was thinking of doing is making one big

A frame with 50 X 25 RHS on the sides 50 X 50 RHS as a H frame at the bottom and 25 X25 RHS for the cross braces then for the lights to mount to I was thinking of screwing some 20 X 20 wood to that to keep the weight down I will see how it goes as it will be free standing I may need to bolt it down or put some weights on it

What do you think I will try to post some pics when I get started

[avionics12]

OK, here's the silly question of the day.  Does the width of the tree at the bottom matter?  I looked at the dimensions of Frank's tree and the tree I am building is considerably less.  Prebuild dimensions are 19 ft tall with star and 7' 8" in width at the bottom.

[scottam67]

OK, here's the silly question of the day.  Does the width of the tree at the bottom matter?  I looked at the dimensions of Frank's tree and the tree I am building is considerably less.  Prebuild dimensions are 19 ft tall with star and 7' 8" in width at the bottom.

There are many variations, mostly due to individual space requirements.  You can find Brian's original dimensions on his website here:   http://superstarlights.com/SuperStarConstruction/CosmicColorRibbons.php

[Heffo]

I don't think it matters I am just going with what I think looks the best

[Frank Farmer]

avionics12,

My original design did have a narrower base.  While designing the star I figured out that if I made the base wider, the outter ribbon bars would line up with the edge of the star, giving the star a more secure connection to the rest of the tree.  See the back view of the star and tree in this picture: http://lightshow.franktronics.net/?attachment_id=714

I also think the wide base makes the tree look larger.

As Scottam67 and Heffo said, it's mostly what looks good in your display.  The side of my building, where everyone view the lightshow from is 150ft wide. So I've got lots of space to spread out. (Animation background=http://lightshow.franktronics.net/?attachment_id=876)

[canadianchristmas]

 

Here is a picture of my controllers, two matching sets, one for each set of 6 controllers.

 

Where did you get the box the CCR controls are in?

[Frank Farmer]

Home depot.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Carlon-12-in-x-12-in-x-6-in-Junction-Box-E989R-UPC/100404149

 

It includes some nice tabs for mounting too.

[Seattlemusicguy48]

Regarding the width of the frame at the base:

I just laid out my frame on my driveway.  I am using a smaller star for the top (the 30 inch 4-element exploding star from 3-G) so the height from the base to the tip is shorter in my case.  In laying out my configuration I lined up the outer ribbon bar with the line of the star.  Once I got things square I measured the distance from the tip of the star to the base.  It came out 234 inches (19-1/2 ft.).  Note that the points of the star are 36 degrees apart and if you take the measurement from the center-line to the outer point is going to be half of that or 18 degrees.  I did some trig math and found that Sin(18) = .309.  Thus the distance from the center line to the end of the outer ribbon bar will be .309 X 234 = 72.3 inches or a full width of 144.6 inches (about 12 ft.).

 

I agree that lining up the outer ribbon bars with the star makes it look aesthetic.  I didn't realize this until looking at Frank's drawings as they show the line of the star extended to the base of his frame.

 

Now off to drill some holes; lots of them.

Ken in West Seattle