ShaggySS Posted October 15, 2014 Author Share Posted October 15, 2014 Here is a snippet of the arch in action to This is Halloween! Still working on some detailed pictures of its construction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Santas Helper Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 That is too cool Shaggy!!! great job!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShaggySS Posted December 15, 2014 Author Share Posted December 15, 2014 After a long delay here is how I built it. First I made these cute little pigtails each with 6 lights you can do more or less but I found this to be a good number. 44 of these bad boys was the most time consuming parts. So if you are going to do it make these in the off season but be careful because unlike strips which come with a nice arrow which shows you the direction of the data these do not so if you do like I did you could end up doing one backwards and messing it all up and having to redo a bunch so my advice is test each one before you heat shrink and test both ends. Made these with these lights - http://www.aliexpress.com/item/100pcs-DC12V-12mm-WS2811-led-pixel-node-with-all-WHITE-wire-20AWG-IP68-rated/1032292235.htmlAnd these pigtails - http://www.aliexpress.com/item/10pcs-lot-3-Core-BLACK-Waterproof-pigtail-50cm-long-each-male-and-female-male-connector-s/1495727183.html Needed these longer ones so I could easily connect them together without jumpers. In many casesI had way too much slack but very easy to ziptie to the frame. I then drilled holes into each pumpkin to push the lights in. I made the holes only slightly larger so they push in but don't fall out. I bought step drill bits from harbor freight for dirt cheap. Looks like these. http://www.amazon.com/Neiko-3-Piece-Titanium-Drill-Steel/dp/B001OEPYWK/ref=sr_1_2?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1418673512&sr=1-2 This is a picture of a foam pumpkin but the plastic ones worked so much better. As you can see I attached them to the frame with various methods, some I put a hook in and others I drilled two holes and stuck a wire and attached it to the frame directly. You have seen pictures of the frame in my first post but after all the pumpkins came off here was the end result. The key for this is just get creative and attach them how ever you can. You can see below that the 3/4 PVC fits perfectly into the C9 hole that comes with these. As I was putting it up I kept pulling sections out and attaching more T's to simplify the pumpkin attachment process. C9 with a pumpkin 3/4 PVC works perfect. Close up of the frame. Another I bought this to put between the pumpkins and make it look pretty during the day. Storage? This is what it looked like for storage. Fits nicely in the attic. Since the pumpkins are so light I had no issues just tossing these on top of the insulation. None of the PVC is glued except the top row. I used wire to attach it to the house so it wouldnt blow away or sag but the weight on the top was too much so I did glue that so it was straight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Santas Helper Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 Very nice Shaggy. Thanks a bunch for sharing the detail. Love it!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caniac Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 awesome, I am gonna give that a try this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmacw Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 yeah, I agree, Great job! Yet another project to do this year! Gotta go see my doctor for this OCLORA illness! (Obsessive Compulsive Light O Rama Addiction) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpageler Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 Your arch is super cool. Thanks for sharing details on the build. Hesitant to show my wife this...she'll say "build it". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1983ss454 Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Spent my afternoon watching playoff football and making over 20 of the light pigtails for mine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1983ss454 Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Thanks for the help and idea shaggy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orville Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 That pumpkin arch is way beyond awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fsdusawrestling Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 I'm just a beginner at this but were a Halloween type ppls.......how many channels did you use to set this all up?.....I see you put 6 lights together with quick connect end where did you buy the quick connects?.......we were debating on doing something in the front of the house using numerous pumpkins hanging from out tree........... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sax Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 In Shaggy's posts are links. Just click his highlighted words to go to where and what he bought.There are other ways to make lights for pumpkins on an arch of course. Shaggy used pixels. My pumpkins that are not part of an arch are normal RGB. The advantage here is I can put as many lights in the pumpkin I want and control the whole pumpkin as a standard 3 channel (1 RGB channel) prop. With pixels it becomes a little harder as each bulb is controlled separately. Programming is what becomes harder as each pumpkin in a pixel setup is 18 channels (6 RGB channels) to program.But, with just 15 pumpkins, that is 15 channels of rgb so controllers start getting pricey (LOR DC controller is 24 channels for 8 RGB channels...so 2 would be needed for 15 pumpkins).With pixels you will need a pixel controller. These controllers can typically handle hundreds of pixels so one controller could do the entire arch and have the ability to do another prop or two as well. LOR has a pixel controller coming soon so you have more options then ever for pixel controllers. What you don't have is much time. So get building if you want it this year!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1983ss454 Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 In Shaggy's posts are links. Just click his highlighted words to go to where and what he bought. There are other ways to make lights for pumpkins on an arch of course. Shaggy used pixels. My pumpkins that are not part of an arch are normal RGB. The advantage here is I can put as many lights in the pumpkin I want and control the whole pumpkin as a standard 3 channel (1 RGB channel) prop. With pixels it becomes a little harder as each bulb is controlled separately. Programming is what becomes harder as each pumpkin in a pixel setup is 18 channels (6 RGB channels) to program. But, with just 15 pumpkins, that is 15 channels of rgb so controllers start getting pricey (LOR DC controller is 24 channels for 8 RGB channels...so 2 would be needed for 15 pumpkins). With pixels you will need a pixel controller. These controllers can typically handle hundreds of pixels so one controller could do the entire arch and have the ability to do another prop or two as well. LOR has a pixel controller coming soon so you have more options then ever for pixel controllers. What you don't have is much time. So get building if you want it this year!!! I built mine with pixels, controlled by a sandevices E6804 and then set grouping to 6 so it basically is setup as each pumpkin is dumb rgb. Much easier to program Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bostonchris81 Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 those are awesome ! i'm jealous !!! great job guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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