What I learned my first year

[wigginbalz]

1. Must have a plan...no Willy Nilly stuff. I did myself a huge favor a sketched out my entire layout/channels/etc.
2. Use the forums...read all you can. There is a wealth of knowledge here.
3. This is an expensive, time consuming, but really gratifying hobby.
4. Use SPT cord for extension cords. I used all 1000' and then some.
5. LED lights are expensive but so worth it. 32 channels and with everything on, I only pull 6.7 Amps (I have a few incandescent lights from years past).
6. Think safety...no light display is worth burning you house down for.
7. If you buy lights from big box stores...buy on black friday or the day after Christmas. I have 63 strings of new LEDs for next year.
8. Sequencing takes a lot of time. I had 5 songs this year.
   
9. Talk with your neighbors...in my situation I actually used outdoor speakers (so that I could control the volume) I had it fairly low on the first night. My neighbors thought it was so cool that they wanted me to turn it up.
10. Flood lights are awesome...very easy and have a great effect. I bought LED floods from minions web worth every penny.
11. Need more channels...I bought 16, then quickly realized I needed another 16. I'm waiting for the spring and summer sales to buy more.

Here is a link to view my display

http://youtu.be/izoJLUM3O8w

[wigginbalz]

Corrected link

http://youtu.be/izoJLUM3O8w

[jer75]

Very nice wigginbalz for your first year , I've done mine for the first time this year with 32 Channels of LOR but had a problem with the lamps on my mini trees which meant they all went out in the end .
How many white and multi-coloured lamps do you have per mini tree as its a very nice effect , and what LEDs are they ? M5 ?

Cheers
Jerry

[Max-Paul]

wigginbalz wrote:

1. Must have a plan...no Willy Nilly stuff. I did myself a huge favor a sketched out my entire layout/channels/etc.
2. Use the forums...read all you can. There is a wealth of knowledge here.
3. This is an expensive, time consuming, but really gratifying hobby.
4. Use SPT cord for extension cords. I used all 1000' and then some.
5. LED lights are expensive but so worth it. 32 channels and with everything on, I only pull 6.7 Amps (I have a few incandescent lights from years past).
6. Think safety...no light display is worth burning you house down for.
7. If you buy lights from big box stores...buy on black friday or the day after Christmas. I have 63 strings of new LEDs for next year.
8. Sequencing takes a lot of time. I had 5 songs this year.
   
9. Talk with your neighbors...in my situation I actually used outdoor speakers (so that I could control the volume) I had it fairly low on the first night. My neighbors thought it was so cool that they wanted me to turn it up.
10. Flood lights are awesome...very easy and have a great effect. I bought LED floods from minions web worth every penny.
11. Need more channels...I bought 16, then quickly realized I needed another 16. I'm waiting for the spring and summer sales to buy more.

Here is a link to view my display

http://youtu.be/izoJLUM3O8w

Ah, out of the mouths of 1st year newbie. And this one has wisdom that I wish more newbies would have. Read and head gents. The above is the text of wisdom.

So well put wigginbalz and thanks for your input / write up.

[Surfing4Dough]

Max-Paul wrote:

wigginbalz wrote:

1. Must have a plan...no Willy Nilly stuff. I did myself a huge favor a sketched out my entire layout/channels/etc.
2. Use the forums...read all you can. There is a wealth of knowledge here.
3. This is an expensive, time consuming, but really gratifying hobby.
4. Use SPT cord for extension cords. I used all 1000' and then some.
5. LED lights are expensive but so worth it. 32 channels and with everything on, I only pull 6.7 Amps (I have a few incandescent lights from years past).
6. Think safety...no light display is worth burning you house down for.
7. If you buy lights from big box stores...buy on black friday or the day after Christmas. I have 63 strings of new LEDs for next year.
8. Sequencing takes a lot of time. I had 5 songs this year.
   
9. Talk with your neighbors...in my situation I actually used outdoor speakers (so that I could control the volume) I had it fairly low on the first night. My neighbors thought it was so cool that they wanted me to turn it up.
10. Flood lights are awesome...very easy and have a great effect. I bought LED floods from minions web worth every penny.
11. Need more channels...I bought 16, then quickly realized I needed another 16. I'm waiting for the spring and summer sales to buy more.

Here is a link to view my display

http://youtu.be/izoJLUM3O8w

Ah, out of the mouths of 1st year newbie. And this one has wisdom that I wish more newbies would have. Read and head gents. The above is the text of wisdom.

So well put wigginbalz and thanks for your input / write up.

Agree heavily. I hope he will become a regular contributor around here.

[magish01]

1. Learned that January 2011 was almost too late to start for December 2011 show.
2. Spouses input (and permission and purse strings) go a long way.
3. No question is too dumb to ask and the people on this forum are always willing to help.
4. That LOR controllers, CCR's and all items for making a show are like eating potato chips.....can't stop at 1.
5. And I learned that you always have more to learn.

[-klb-]

magish01 wrote:

1. Learned that January 2011 was almost too late to start for December 2011 show.

Amen! Can we get a chorus line backing that up?


magish01 wrote:

5. And I learned that you always have more to learn.

Oh heck yes!!! Imagine what all I have been researching...

[digdeepfundraising]

very good advice for a newbie im new and just got all my kit ready for 2012 just one thing i would like to add to your list is keep the wife/partner sweet as you wont be spending much time with here for the rest of the relationship

and fantastic show i just hope mine comes out to look like that

dan

[james campbell]

one biggie I learned is to back up all your files ie music sequences etc. I had a virus on my main computer and did not know if I could get it fixed,but I had mu stuff saved on a cd rom and my laptop as well as a flash drive so I knew I would be good to go

[Cwegele]

I'm even newer - whats SPT cord?

[Surfing4Dough]

Cwegele wrote:

I'm even newer - whats SPT cord?

http://highcountrylights.com/glossary/Glossary-1/S/

http://www.christmaslightshow.com/Spt1-and-spt2-Wire-and-Spt1-and-spt2-Plugs.html


Oh, and welcome to the madness Cwegele!

[dgrant]

Lots of good info here for me as well...reading and learning before I buy the equipment and start up this hobby!

[james campbell]

dgrant wrote:

Lots of good info here for me as well...reading and learning before I buy the equipment and start up this hobby!

well my freind you are off to a great start, welcome to this hobby and have fun blinking the lights.

[dusty72]

+2 dgrant....and thanks Surfing4dough, And everyone else for your kindness and knowledge!! I was wondering how much I was going to have wrapped up in extension cords :shock:

[james campbell]

you will want to make your own cords. I made mine out of spt-2,or lamp wire. it will handle 10 amps depending on the length of run. but I don't have more than a couple amps on each of mine. plenty of presales going on or starting soon ,search the forum for details

[dgrant]

james campbell wrote:

dgrant wrote:

Lots of good info here for me as well...reading and learning before I buy the equipment and start up this hobby!

well my freind you are off to a great start, welcome to this hobby and have fun blinking the lights.

No intent to steal the OP's thread. I'm probably going to start with a 64 channel setup based upon what I'm envisioning doing initially. Cords of course come into play. Yes, I could manufacture my own easily although I'll probably go with 12 or 14 gauge wire therefore they are good for anything else I need. If I establish the CPU inside, then I need to run the Cat5 through a wall or locate in a garage. Wireless is a possibility as well of course, just more money. One thing is for sure, this won't be a cheap hobby but should be fun.

[Max-Paul]

dgrant wrote:

james campbell wrote:

dgrant wrote:

Lots of good info here for me as well...reading and learning before I buy the equipment and start up this hobby!

well my freind you are off to a great start, welcome to this hobby and have fun blinking the lights.

No intent to steal the OP's thread. I'm probably going to start with a 64 channel setup based upon what I'm envisioning doing initially. Cords of course come into play. Yes, I could manufacture my own easily although I'll probably go with 12 or 14 gauge wire therefore they are good for anything else I need. If I establish the CPU inside, then I need to run the Cat5 through a wall or locate in a garage. Wireless is a possibility as well of course, just more money. One thing is for sure, this won't be a cheap hobby but should be fun.

dgrant
Down load the Demo S3 software NOW. Cant control any controllers with it. But you can start to learn to seq. now. And the visualizer is not perfect, but gives you an idea of what you are doing. Oh and for all of you newbies. Make sure your MP3 is coded as fixed bit rate. If not, then you will seq the music to lights. Then when you play it the next day it will no longer sync up and you will be going WTH is this. So, make sure your music is saved in a fixed bit rate. Stay tuned for more hints from the old farts club.

[scubado]

I have two seasons under my belt now and absolutely have no regrets in getting into this hobby. It has been fun being on the forum, gathering and sharing ideas, see it all come together and people's smiles. My wife thinks I've lost it with all the ideas I've bounced off her for next year!

[bretk]

james campbell wrote:

one biggie I learned is to back up all your files ie music sequences etc. I had a virus on my main computer and did not know if I could get it fixed,but I had mu stuff saved on a cd rom and my laptop as well as a flash drive so I knew I would be good to go

Agreed! Try and plan for any and all potential hardware failures and you can prevent the proverbial mental meltdown! Always pick up a few extra strings of each color so you have a spare should one go out. I learned that the hard way in this my first year.:?

[Surfing4Dough]

dgrant wrote:

No intent to steal the OP's thread. I'm probably going to start with a 64 channel setup based upon what I'm envisioning doing initially. Cords of course come into play. Yes, I could manufacture my own easily although I'll probably go with 12 or 14 gauge wire therefore they are good for anything else I need. If I establish the CPU inside, then I need to run the Cat5 through a wall or locate in a garage. Wireless is a possibility as well of course, just more money. One thing is for sure, this won't be a cheap hobby but should be fun.

I hope you are rich because you are going to spend a load of money on 12/14g extension cords. Many/most here measure their use of extension cords in miles. And why 12/14g anyway? Each channel can only carry 8 amps, with a max of 15amps on at a time in each bank (ch 1-8 or 9-16).