3 months left

[spindler88]

Newbie has 16 channels and i don't know how many lights because i keep buying lights and snow flakes ETC ETC at garage sales. I have 6 songs sequenced almost done with my last song. Now i am not sure how to add my voice to my show, Like Please be kind to my neighbors Etc. I need help to figure out on how to word this and how to get it in my show. I downloaded audacity but can't figure it out. Being it is getting so close and i think i am running out of time i still have to make my sign,make my mini trees, Hope to god everything works when it is all set up.Fm transmitter Etc Etc. Am i the only one nervous because of not knowing of what to expect. If anyone can give me some pointers it would be appreciated. Thank You

[james campbell]

I have been putting things up in the yard since April, nothing like seeing the actual props doing their thing. I would also hook up your transmitter and check for coverage and sound quality. also have you picked you frequency?

[spindler88]

Not yet, I plugged the transmitter in to my lab top and searched a couple of stations. The Transmitter worked OK but not great. I have to figure out where i will have everything set up so i know where to place the transmitter to get a good coverage. I have a question, I have a 2 story house would it be easier to set my lab top and transmitter from the second floor or in my garage?


james campbell wrote:

I have been putting things up in the yard since April, nothing like seeing the actual props doing their thing. I would also hook up your transmitter and check for coverage and sound quality. also have you picked you frequency?

[james campbell]

what kind of transmitter do you have? if you can get good reception the garage would probably be better

[taybrynn]

Have a good "tune to xx.x FM" sign ... and keep the voice overs quick and simple.

http://www.holidaycoro.com/RadioSign.asp

Don't skimp too much on the transmitter ... a bad one can really degrade your show. EDM is what I recommend if budget allows.

[HiTechLights]

As far as voice overs for show intro, rules, etc. I would really recommend you contact The Demented Elf at http://www.thedementedelf.com/. He is very well known in our Christmas lights world here and is very very good. Very affordable too! He can even write all of the voice over scripts let you approve them and then he'll add background music and do the voice over himself. ---Michael

[Surfing4Dough]

HiTechLights wrote:

As far as voice overs for show intro, rules, etc. I would really recommend you contact The Demented Elf at http://www.thedementedelf.com/. He is very well known in our Christmas lights world here and is very very good. Very affordable too! He can even write all of the voice over scripts let you approve them and then he'll add background music and do the voice over himself. ---Michael

Couldn't agree more. Kevin is a pleasure to work with--he does all the work. I get tons of comments from viewers about the voiceovers from him.

[spindler88]

HiTechLights wrote:

As far as voice overs for show intro, rules, etc. I would really recommend you contact The Demented Elf at http://www.thedementedelf.com/. He is very well known in our Christmas lights world here and is very very good. Very affordable too! He can even write all of the voice over scripts let you approve them and then he'll add background music and do the voice over himself. ---Michael

Thank You i will try that. That should save me a bunch of time. What type of wording should i use or should i just let him do a basic? Thank You for your help

[spindler88]

james campbell wrote:

what kind of transmitter do you have? if you can get good reception the garage would probably be better

I have the wholehouse FM Transmitter. It works OK, After work i am going to try to hook everything up to see how it looks. Does a lot of people hang the transmitter outside or just sit it next to the comp? I will let you know how everything work tonight. Thank You for your help. This is starting to get overwhelming for me.I know because i am new to this, But i am sure once i get my first show under my belt it will be a little easier and i will know what to expect. Thanks again for your help.

[jimswinder]

spindler88 wrote:

james campbell wrote:

what kind of transmitter do you have? if you can get good reception the garage would probably be better

I have the wholehouse FM Transmitter. It works OK,

Bad choice...IMO...

That was the first one I bought and sent it back after I could not even get a signal outside my house...and my car was less than 20' from the transmitter.

Lots of people like the EDM...I myself bought a Ramsey Kit.

[Surfing4Dough]

spindler88 wrote:

HiTechLights wrote:

As far as voice overs for show intro, rules, etc. I would really recommend you contact The Demented Elf at http://www.thedementedelf.com/. He is very well known in our Christmas lights world here and is very very good. Very affordable too! He can even write all of the voice over scripts let you approve them and then he'll add background music and do the voice over himself. ---Michael

Thank You i will try that. That should save me a bunch of time. What type of wording should i use or should i just let him do a basic? Thank You for your help

Download the questionnaire form here where you enter your basic display info, and he will come up with the wording for you. He will send you the mp3 files then, and you can ask him to tweak any that you want done differently. He is extremely easy to work with and will redo any until they are just right for you.

http://www.thedementedelf.com/component/remository/func-startdown/13/

Go to his samples page and listen to the "Open" sample (5th on the list). This is a type of voiceover you can expect from him.
http://www.thedementedelf.com/samples



From the years of reading on these forums, it seems that the general consensus about where to hang the whole house transmitter is out on the curb (in the trashcan).

[HiTechLights]

Surfing4Dough is correct about Demented Elf's questionnaire, etc. I also agree 100% about the Whole House FM Transmitter... it belongs in the trash! Sorry, I know that's tough to hear of an investment you made in it, but it's the truth. ---Michael

[Jim Saul]

spindler88 wrote:

I have the wholehouse FM Transmitter. It works OK, After work i am going to try to hook everything up to see how it looks. Does a lot of people hang the transmitter outside or just sit it next to the comp? I will let you know how everything work tonight. Thank You for your help. This is starting to get overwhelming for me.I know because i am new to this, But i am sure once i get my first show under my belt it will be a little easier and i will know what to expect. Thanks again for your help.

I have the whole house 2 transmitter, and am very happy with it. It does not have the range that some of the larger units do, but it works well for what I use it for.
There are 2 things to do to it that will help
#1 - attach the extra antenna wire that comes with it.
#2 there is a switch in the battery compartment - may be under a label? use a pen to flip that and it will boost the power.

Even with both of those done, mine would not broadcast from my basement where the computer is out to the street, so I picked up a 50 foot 1/8 stereo headphone extension cord and relocated the transmitter to my front lawn. I ran the antenna wire up the front of the house to the gutter. After that, you could listen to it from 5 houses away with no static, and that's about as far away as I want to broadcast.

[Surfing4Dough]

Jim Saul wrote:

spindler88 wrote:

I have the wholehouse FM Transmitter. It works OK, After work i am going to try to hook everything up to see how it looks. Does a lot of people hang the transmitter outside or just sit it next to the comp? I will let you know how everything work tonight. Thank You for your help. This is starting to get overwhelming for me.I know because i am new to this, But i am sure once i get my first show under my belt it will be a little easier and i will know what to expect. Thanks again for your help.

I have the whole house 2 transmitter, and am very happy with it. It does not have the range that some of the larger units do, but it works well for what I use it for.
There are 2 things to do to it that will help
#1 - attach the extra antenna wire that comes with it.
#2 there is a switch in the battery compartment - may be under a label? use a pen to flip that and it will boost the power.

Even with both of those done, mine would not broadcast from my basement where the computer is out to the street, so I picked up a 50 foot 1/8 stereo headphone extension cord and relocated the transmitter to my front lawn. I ran the antenna wire up the front of the house to the gutter. After that, you could listen to it from 5 houses away with no static, and that's about as far away as I want to broadcast.

Note that Jim has a WH2 transmitter, which is reportedly a tad better than a WH transmitter.

[Steven]

spindler88 wrote:

Does a lot of people hang the transmitter outside or just sit it next to the comp?

Everybody does it differently. I have a dedicated (and cheap) show computer that stays in the garage and the transmitter sits next to it. The first couple of years I built a dipole antenna (cheap, out of 12-gauge copper wire) that I hung in the garage rafters and connected to the transmitter with (cheap) TV coax.

Because my house has a metal roof, the signal was not good if visitors parked across the street, so now I have a vertical antenna on the garage roof, made with brass rods.


Attached files

[spindler88]

Steven wrote:

spindler88 wrote:

Does a lot of people hang the transmitter outside or just sit it next to the comp?

Everybody does it differently. I have a dedicated (and cheap) show computer that stays in the garage and the transmitter sits next to it. The first couple of years I built a dipole antenna (cheap, out of 12-gauge copper wire) that I hung in the garage rafters and connected to the transmitter with (cheap) TV coax.

Because my house has a metal roof, the signal was not good if visitors parked across the street, so now I have a vertical antenna on the garage roof, made with brass rods.

Wow that is is nice. I think i need to do that after last night. I set my lab top out in the garage hooked the fm Transmitter up. I was able to here the music in the garage with my stereo pretty clear. But not real good in my car pretty stat-icy. I really think i need a bigger antenna or a different transmitter.Steven do you have the whole house transmitter connected to that antenna?

[jimswinder]

spindler88 wrote:

I was able to here the music in the garage with my stereo pretty clear. But not real good in my car pretty stat-icy. I really think i need a bigger antenna or a different transmitter.

Remember...the lights are only 50% of the display...

if your "customers" aren't getting good audio..then they won't get a good experience either.

You didn't skimp on your lights or LOR equipment...don't skimp on the other half (audio) either...

[spindler88]

Surfing4Dough wrote:

Jim Saul wrote:

spindler88 wrote:

I have the wholehouse FM Transmitter. It works OK, After work i am going to try to hook everything up to see how it looks. Does a lot of people hang the transmitter outside or just sit it next to the comp? I will let you know how everything work tonight. Thank You for your help. This is starting to get overwhelming for me.I know because i am new to this, But i am sure once i get my first show under my belt it will be a little easier and i will know what to expect. Thanks again for your help.

I have the whole house 2 transmitter, and am very happy with it. It does not have the range that some of the larger units do, but it works well for what I use it for.
There are 2 things to do to it that will help
#1 - attach the extra antenna wire that comes with it.
#2 there is a switch in the battery compartment - may be under a label? use a pen to flip that and it will boost the power.

Even with both of those done, mine would not broadcast from my basement where the computer is out to the street, so I picked up a 50 foot 1/8 stereo headphone extension cord and relocated the transmitter to my front lawn. I ran the antenna wire up the front of the house to the gutter. After that, you could listen to it from 5 houses away with no static, and that's about as far away as I want to broadcast.

Note that Jim has a WH2 transmitter, which is reportedly a tad better than a WH transmitter.

Yep, I have the same one. I think i need to do what Steven did Below LOL That transmitter does suck. I bet i could build a tower and my next door neighbor wouldn't be able to get a good signal. Man i wish i did some research before i bought it. Well i am going to have to live with it until next yr when my wife gives me the OK.LOL

[Steven]

spindler88 wrote:

Steven do you have the whole house transmitter connected to that antenna?

No, I use an EDM.

This is the show computer on a table in the garage. The EDM transmitter is the black box in the front. The white cable on the left is TV coax (TV and FM radio use the same frequency band (VHF)). It goes up to the roof where it exits from an eyebrow vent and to the antenna I posted earlier, which is mounted to a PVC frame. I spray-painted the whole thing black so it blends with the roof, and also protects it from UV radiation (since I'm not going to climb the roof in January to take it down or in November to put it up!)

[spindler88]

james campbell wrote:

I have been putting things up in the yard since April, nothing like seeing the actual props doing their thing. I would also hook up your transmitter and check for coverage and sound quality. also have you picked you frequency?

James what does your neighbors say? I think my neighbors think i am crazy. I can't imagine what people say when they drive by and see through my front window. My living room is my test spot. So i know they could see the lights they are pretty bright. My Neighbor across the street told a little while back his wife came to him and said is Erin having a party he says no he is messing around with his Christmas lights again. LMAO. I don't know if i should be embarrassed or like who cares.