Arch Sequences

[captainron19]

Anyone have any arch sequences they want to share? Not looking for a specific song or anything just different types of arch movements. I havent built mine yet (still in the planning stage) my email is captainron19@aol.com

[shfr26]

Sending a 7 channel example

[Bob Wingert]

There's one here:

http://lightoramasequences.com/component/option,com_remository/Itemid,42/func,fileinfo/id,167/

[captainron19]

Thanks guys will check em out - if anyone has plans for building arches I will take any advice also. I bout 2 new LOR Units this year to comit to the arches so not sure how many I am going to build yet - dont want them too high - am I correct in assuming it is better to have an odd number of channels dedicated to each arch?

[TJ Hvasta]

The number of segments is purely a preference thing... 8 segements if you want them to easily match beats, 9 if you want a segement at the top of the arch (with 4 on each side of it).. there can be as little as 3 or as many as you want.. if you go with 8 segments, it fits with 1 side of the controller (8 channels).

If you have a lot of arches and you want to save channels (arches are definately channel hogs) just mirror the arches.. put each of the archs same segments together, (Arch1, Segment1, Arch2, Segment1, A3, S1, etc). You wont be able to leap from arch to arch, but the arches will all leap at the same time... saves a lot of channels.

[captainron19]

Good tips TJ thanks

[Bob Wingert]

My arches are 10ft. I have 6 channels per. Each strand is 70 led's, when wrapped they take up 18" per strand. Making it perfect for a 10ft'. 9feet of lights, 6" on each side to spare, that goes over the rebarb

[captainron19]

pokrplr wrote:

My arches are 10ft. I have 6 channels per. Each strand is 70 led's, when wrapped they take up 18" per strand. Making it perfect for a 10ft'. 9feet of lights, 6" on each side to spare, that goes over the rebarb

When you say 10 feet - is that the size (in length) of PVC you are using? If so, what is the height of your arch?

[Steven]

My arch is 49 feet with 9 channels. Instead of wrapping, I used wire ties so I could point all the 5mm LEDs towards the street.

The attached sequence is the demo I used in the video.


Attached files Standing in Motion demo.lms

[Bob Wingert]

captainron19 wrote:

pokrplr wrote:

My arches are 10ft. I have 6 channels per. Each strand is 70 led's, when wrapped they take up 18" per strand. Making it perfect for a 10ft'. 9feet of lights, 6" on each side to spare, that goes over the rebarb

When you say 10 feet - is that the size (in length) of PVC you are using? If so, what is the height of your arch?

Yes 10ft PVC. The height is around 4-5 feet tall, that will depend on how I bend it for the best look

[wallleyes]

I built 4 -8 channel arches this year.I used 1 inch gray conduit and walmart 100 count mini lights.I have a 6 inch space that is blank on each end to keep the lights off the ground.I also used spt wire and buried it under the wire as i was wrapping each light strand.I cut the male ends off of the lights and soldered them all at one end(saves on needing extension cords).I would use gray conduit as it is made to bend easier and also holds up without cracking in very cold temps.Here's a link to youtube.

[Philip]

you can also find a bunch of them here ... http://www.lightertainment.com/st-lor.html

[toddmoon]

I made three arches last year for a summer program. I did get a lot of help and suggestions and incorporated what I could.

Here are some of the sequences that I used.

http://lightoramasequences.com/component/option,com_remository/Itemid,42/func,select/id,27/orderby,5/page,17/

[Robert G.]

I took 6 10ft by 1 inch pvc pipes, painted them black and attached them with a coupling and made 3 arches. They stretch out 16ft in length from the bases. 8 strands of lights make up the 8 channels on them. Use 2-3ft rebar and angle it into the ground and slide the pvc over them. Keeps pretty stable and looks great.

If you want, check out my Arches Tutorial video on my website:

http://www.Ourlightdisplay.webs.com


P.S.- I also have many sequences posted there that contain 8 channel arches. Download and check out the Halo Theme Song sequence and watch the arch movements, it's my best one.

[etherealone]

Just finished building 4 10ft long arches this past weekend with a buddy of mine (who is also building for his display) and pretty much did what wallleyes described.

Used 10ft length of 1inch grey PVC (this is the outdoor rated stuff as mentioned).

Used 60ct LED strings (the short nubby ones, not the long bulb/minilight looking kind).

Cut off about 4 inches of the PVC, leaving 6 inches from the ends (to leave a bit of space at the ends keeping the lights off the ground), measured off 8 segments of 13 inches each.

Start from the inner most sections, and wrapped each section, working my way outward. So you end up wrapping 1/2 of the pipe 1 section of at a time.

I had cut and soldered the custom lengths like wallleyes described using SPT2 wire (sounds harder than it is)...this saves a TON of hassles as it relates to cords and such. It also hides the cords underneath the light strings as you wrap.

The only real key is to anchor the cord lengths along what will be the underside of the arch length so that when the PVC is flexed, you wont be pulling or stretching the soldered connections...also you can wrap the lights pretty snug but not too tight for the same reason...you want to allow for a tiny bit of flex.

The 1" diameter along with the light strings I used ends up with a perfectly distributed and dense set of lights around the pipe...

If anyone wants exact materials and procedural instructions, just mail me directly:

cdodd@kiersted.com :cool:

[captainron19]

Thanks for the tips..... When you anchor in your rebar (which I assume you are using) what length pieces of rebar is everyone using and at what spacing (which obviously affects the height of the arch)

So with a 10' piece of PVC what heigh are your arches and do you find that you need to guide wire them at all?

[toddmoon]

I am using 20 foot pipe with a spacing of 10 feet apart. I use 3 foot long rebar with 2 feet in the ground.

I do not use any kind of guy wires however I usually have mine close to my house so they are usually protected better from the wind.

[Brian Mitchell]

I have 10 ft arches, use 8 ft spacing, 2 ft rebar. No supports. Once the ground freezes, nothing moves.

Your mileage may vary.

[George Simmons]

I also have 10' arches. I use a 7.5' spacing which results in an arch approximately 3' high. I use 1/2" rebar - varying lengths according to where the arches are and how soft the ground is when they're installed - and no other supports. Like Brian sez, once it freezes nothing moves.

[captainron19]

Thanks for the replies guys! I swear I say this every year - this forum is great with the amount of assistance everyone provides to one another.

With that being said here is another question...

I only have 32 channels to spare for my 4 arches that I plan on making but I wanted to reserve one channel per arch to have a star at the ground (under each arch) so I only have 7 channels to use for each arch. I see a lot of you are using 8 channels per arch.... do you think I will run into a problem with only 7 channels each using 10' pvc? If not I would consider using my stars in a static display and dedicate 8 channels per arch if you think it would make a difference.

Also... what the best lights to use? I thought of the mini leds but never had any luck with their fading - I thought of clear white minis. and i found some good prices online...

50 Bulbs 25 feet 6" spacing $4.57 each or...
100 bulbs - 21 feet 2.5" spacing $4.98 each
got these prices at 1000 bulbs.com

I am leaning towards the 100 count any opinions?