Guest guest Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 I'm new to the LOR line of products, and my wife and I are planning to step up our outdoor decorating efforts for the next holiday season. So I am planning on making a controller purchase after the first of the year.After my purchase when I start to put together some programming, I was wondering what method folks use to test out their sequences. I've read that the programming software can play through or show a sequence on the screen. Is that good enough to see how the lights are actually going to behave?I'm not sure how many controller channels I'm going to purchase yet, but was thinking of setting up some sort of test bay to connect one 120v lamp to each output of the controller for testing purchases. Has anyone built some sort of a test jig that has light bulbs that connect to each of the channel outputs on the controller? Or do you just use the PC to review your programming and then fine-tune your sequences when you actually get all the lights up?Thanks and I look forward to learning more about the LOR products....Randy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 Welcome to the world of computer animation. I have seen people make a layout of their property on a piece of plywood, then put mini lights on it to help them see the effect on a small scale. I was new to it also this year, but I designed it as I built the display. I already have new ideas in my head for next years layout. But before you go too far with it, think about the cords. Do you want short runs or alot of long extension drops? This will help in planning what type of boards you need and how many. Example: If you make some mini trees (like 8 of them) I would get a 8 channel board for them and keep them in one area of the display...This gives you one power cord to the board and 8 short cords for channels. Extension cords is a huge factor in cost...Vision in your head the way the display is going to be setup, then pick between a 8 channel and 16 channel board for each part of the display. Break the display down into pieces or sections to help you visualize what you want to do. This is how I did it this year, maybe someone else will have a better plan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 The software has an aimation utility (right word?) You draw the lights for each channel and they blink/fade/twinkle/whatever just like they will when the display is up and running. It is hard to explain but very easy when you have the software on your computer and it is right there in front of you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 Thanks for the information. I see your point about locating the controller closer to the actual devices to save cords. I've been tossing that around in my head and thinking about the potential for controller theft.I've read that some members hide the controllers in a decorative gift box, etc. as part of the display. How do others deal with the security aspect of this? I'd hate to lose controller worth hundreds of $$$ by leaving them outside like that. Has anyone has theirs stolen? Otherwise it'll take longer cords to run each channel back into the garage. Decisions, decisions!Thanks, Randy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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