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Posted

I was going to say that I wanted to ramp up quickly,but I'm someone who commits and just goes for things. So, I'm going to run to the top of the ramp and jump off.

These are my thoughts. Any comments and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I highlighted my questions in red in case you want to skip past my abundant background.

About me

First, I am 47 years old and I started my first Christmas displays fairly independently when I was 12. I used to save my paper route money and go to the after Christmas sales.

I have a degree in computer science with heavy electrical engineering background. I have worked in the IT industry, but not EE.

I am a fairly solid DIY guy and comfortable with home wiring from the outlets and switches back through the circuit breakers.

In the past, I have done a lot of home automation using video modulation, X10, IR distribution, computer interfaces and programming.

On to Christmas

This year's display had about 11K lights. Most are incandescent mini-lights. About 2,400 of those are inside the house on various household circuits. I use four 15amp circuits to power the exterior lights.

Here is a video of this year's display if you want to get an idea of what I do.

http://static.ak.fbcdn.net/rsrc.php/v1/yX/r/rRonvvrNV1M.swf?v=2839757797644&ev=0 (The music is dubbed to the video and not part of the display.)

I control the lights with X10 which is fine for simple color cycling, but could never be used for synchronizing. I have 20 channels to control the lights.

I purchased about 3,000 LED lights this year. Some will be simple replacements of my incandescents. Others will be to add a "Tree" center piece to my display.

The Plan

I'm thinking that I want to start with ten 16 channel controllers. (Yes, I know...I'm crazy).

I think that I will purchase one of these http://store.lightorama.com/ctascpa.html to get familiar with the technology. It seems to be the best value for controllers. Am I correct? Does this have the appropriate heatsinks for 8 amps per channel?

I will also purchase the generic starter kit with the advanced software. http://store.lightorama.com/spk800.html

Am I purchasing the right stuff? Am I missing something?

My impression is that I should use the visualizer software first.

Once I have that set up, I could do the sequencing. (Should I use the superstar software? Or do you recommend something else?)

Once that is done, I think that I should set up the hardware to test and familiarize myself. I could then use the sequencing editor to tweek the sequencing.

I only plan to do 1 or 2 songs with some color cycling between shows. Maybe a 6-10 minute show.

If it is all looking good, I would purchase the other 9 controllers.

I want to have this all done by mid-summer so that I can start with the setup prior to Thanksgiving.

I want to do FM transmission. Does anyone have any experience with this unit? http://wholehousefmtransmitter.com/ If this isn't a good unit, what cost-effective unit do you recommend?

Any other thoughts, comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Posted

Am I correct? Does this have the appropriate heatsinks for 8 amps per channel?

It is 8 amps max on one channel, 15 amps per side,30 total per controller.

want to do FM transmission. Does anyone have any experience with this unit? ]http://wholehousefmtransmitter.com/]http://wholehousefmtransmitter.com/ If this isn't a good unit, what cost-effective unit do you recommend?

Don't do it! Due a search on FM transmitters and you will see why.

EDIT: Put your location in your profile, it may change some things you are told due to weather conditions.

Posted

Thanks Pete. I will search. What is your recommendation for FM?

Posted

Do a lot more reading around the forums before you jump in so heavily. It is apparent to me that you haven't done much readily around here lately or else you would know that the Whole House Transmitter is junk (since there has been several thread about this topic here in just the past week or 2). Most, including myself, are happy with EDM transmitters.

I agree that you should only start with 1 or 2 controllers to get the hang of it before you go all out for 10. Download the software now and start doing some sequences (made in the sequence editor and viewed in the Visualizer). The Demo software allows you to create sequences but just not control hardware (until software is purchased). This will give you the best idea of what you are getting into, and help decide what you want/need.

Posted

Well okay, you are crazy!!!! :shock:


Welcome to the club of crazies!!

Definitely read, read, read. That will help more than anything else for this hobby. There is so much information available on here and other forums that will save you a bunch of time and headaches.

Also yes you should get 1 controller and the software (I would recommend the adveanced license too) and then sit down and play/learn the software and hardware to see what it can do as well as how to make it do it before you dump the money on a lot of controllers.

There are a lot of people who can make an excellent show with just a couple of controllers and there are those who want to use 20 controllers.
It is more about how you set it up and use things rather than the number of controllers you have.

Once you have the basic hardware and "see" how things interact and are used, then you can decide on how many controllers you may or may not need for your display.

This is a lot of fun but it also is a great amount of work and that is something that you must consider as well.
Most of the folks who are really into this will tell you that it is a year round project to maintain, upgrade, make improvements, and just to do the sequencing for the songs.

Good luck with things and we will see you on the forums!

Oh and the only FM transmitter to use is the EDM:
http://www.edmdesign.com/

There are other ones but this is the ONLY one that I have yet to see anyone make a complaint about it! And yes I have an EDM myself!

Posted

Hi,

Welcome to the world of Light-O-Rama.

[What follows is my opinion, and should not be considered any sort of hard and fast rules to go by.]

I strongly believe there are two sides to this hobby/business. The technical and the creative. There are people out there who have been blessed with both, and make this seem very easy. For everyone else, there is a bit of work involved.

Having the EE degree and working in IT, you will probably have an easier time with the technical side of things. There will be some parts of the Light-O-Rama system that are different that what you might think. (For example, LOR runs on RS485, not TCP/IP) While the technical folks usually want to skip the docs, I'd go ahead and run through them. (Which it sounds like you are doing.) A lot of questions will be answered there.

Now the creative side. I tell anyone who will listen (and it doesn't phase me when they don't) that one of the hardest parts of this adventure is taking the idea in your head, one that you see in 3D type visions, and transfering those to the 2D excel spreadsheet looking Sequence Editor. However, once you grasp that concept, things will be (relatively) easy.

Instead of rehashing everything else here, I'll point you to an article I wrote in the Nov 2009 Planet Christmas Magazine. (http://planetchristmas.com/Magazine.htm) I talk about how I took my display from static to animated, and what I feel is the best way to do so. Some of the informaiton there may be helpful to you (or it might not.)

While others seem to be answering your questions, I would suggest you look at the manual for the controllers again. I think they do a pretty good job of explalining the amperage limits of the controllers. As for a transmitter ... if I were to sell them, I would not be selling the Whole House Transmitter.

  • Like 1
Posted

Yup you are crazy!!!!!
Last week I was interviewed by a TV station and when it aired the first thing the public hears from me is because I am crazy!...
So you are in good company!
Any how my advice is run away! LOL
Too late? Then get the software and start sequencing.
160 channels is going to be hard! You might want to start just programing say the house to the song then go back and things later. I have used LOR for 3 year now and have 13 controllers and it takes me about 8 hours to program 1 minute of each song.
Good luck and use these forums there is wealth of information here!

Posted

the controller you picked is the one I chose I think it's the best bang for your buck. look into making you own extension cords,if you plan on doing 160 channels you will need a ton of them. download the demo s3 software and plan out what you want , the programing is where you will spend most of your time. superstar as you said is mainly for rgb products like the cosmic color ribbon

Posted

I'm going to do the same but not quite that many controllers as I simply dare not spend that much in one shot. I'll go with 64 channels first out and see what happens with that. Buying more lights right now and it'll be %90 LED. Next comes cords...oh yay and I'll order the controllers.

Posted

Thanks all for your advice and comments. I'm glad to join in the craziness. :)

I'm a little unclear about sequencing. It seems like the timing should be done through the sequence editor and not the superstar. Right?

Seems like the tapper would be difficult to use. The VU Wizard seemed like a decent option. Any opinions or suggestions?

Posted

eurbani wrote:


I'm a little unclear about sequencing. It seems like the timing should be done through the sequence editor and not the superstar. Right?
I'd say that is correct.

Seems like the tapper would be difficult to use. The VU Wizard seemed like a decent option. Any opinions or suggestions?


Here's how I use the wizards:

Beat Wizard: To help lay down the timing of the track(s)

VU Wizard: To get a more precise on/off for an element in my decor.

Tapper Wizard: To use for setting the vocals or harder, more discernable beats in a song.

Once I use a wizard, I then go back and "clean up" the sequence block by moving things to where a beat or vocal starts, usually 1 block ahead of the actual start of the beat or vocal. I also may change an on/off to a fade or other effect I want to use for a particular element in my display.

The beat wizard allows you to turn on/off a channel as well as fade it after it is on for a length you can set, I use the fade option quite a lot in the Beat Wizard. I also use the faster tempo settings for specific elements in my display in the Beat Wizard.

How you use them or set them is entirely up to you. But after using any of these wizards, I do find I need to "clean up" the sequence to get better synchronization and control of the display element. Occasionally, I don't have to clean up an element and can use it exactly as the Beat Wizard, VU Wizard or Tapper Wizard laid it down.

The Tapper Wizard makes it a lot more interesting trying to tap out to the song beat exactly on the time of the beat or vocal tract. I have yet to accomplish that feat for either! LOL
Posted

eurbani wrote:

Thanks all for your advice and comments. I'm glad to join in the craziness. :)

I'm a little unclear about sequencing. It seems like the timing should be done through the sequence editor and not the superstar. Right?

Seems like the tapper would be difficult to use. The VU Wizard seemed like a decent option. Any opinions or suggestions?

Download the demo software and start playing with the sequence editor and see what method you like best (everybody is different).
Posted

160 channels is a big first bite, but it's certainly doable. I did 144 my first year, also after decades of static displays, and people told me it looked pretty good. I got started with the LOR demo software about this same time of year and finished up connecting my last channel about fifteen minutes before the first show was set to go live. If you think you can do it, then go for it!

The sequencing is the key. If it's something you enjoy doing, that's half the battle. IMHO that's where you should invest 98% of your efforts for the next couple of months. Begin by drawing out a graphic representation of your display using either the Visualizer or the animation option. (The animation has a much shorter learning curve) Give it until Easter, and then see what you think. You should have at least three or four songs done by then. (Choose easy ones with a good beat as your icebreakers) If you're not seriously hooked by that time, then you can re-consider.

Posted

FM Transmitter? EDM. Don't buy anything else.

Posted

I recommend Christmas with a Capital C, by Go Fish. Real good beat and the challenge is syncing the voices.

Posted

I have four songs by Go Fish that have great beats and fairly easy to work with. The other three are:
We Three Kings
Joy To The World
Joyful, We adore Thee. This one I had started but got stuck on what I wanted to do with it. I'm not going back to it until I set in stone what I'm doing with the display.

Posted

He's about 30-45 minutes from me and I've sent an PM to him :D Hope he doesn't make the mistakes I made my first year :D

Tom Straub

Posted

as someone who jumped off the deep end of the pool with 64 channels start slow and low in channel count tim allen from tool time wasn t always right bigger isn t always better. as far as the learning curve read read some more keep a watch on these forms read if all else fails then ask somebody will answer there's a bunch of good people here who will offer help thay might kick ya but thay will help.as far as the f.m. thing unless you like throwing your wallet out the window so to speak get the edm

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