hi all new guy here

[Guest guest]

George Simmons wrote:

Welcome guys!

I concur with everyone above who recommend reading, reading, reading. There's help files just about everywhere on look on LOR's site, including this forum. The more you use them, the smarter and better you'll get.

I also recommend getting the demo software TODAY if you haven't already and get started doing your first song. (Don't worry about how bad it looks, even if it sucks. There's not very many ordinary humans here who've ever shown their first sequence publicly.) IMHO one of the best ways to learn the software is to look at AND TRY every single drop-down menu item in the Sequence Editor to familiarize yourself with what things you can do.

Agree with George here. And as to the part I bolded, my first sequence looked like crap, my first year I thought I did pretty well, but a few of the experts here never came out and said it directly, but I knew, my first year looked like crap too. I just DIDN'T KNOW IT at the time! ROFL

But you'll reload those sequences to tweak them for the following year and you'll look back and say, geez, did I really do it like that?

We've all been there and done that, even some of the old timers to this. So if you get replies like "did you see "insert name here"'s display? In response to other comments that may state the obvious or not.

Don't take it too bad, just retweak the sequences and as you continue to work at it, you do get much better at it.

Got to admit my 2nd year for Halloween was soooo much better, unfortunately I had to use some of my first years sequences for Christmas 2011 because I had put so much time into my Halloween show, and NOT ENOUGH TIME into my Christmas Display. 2012 will focus more on getting my Christmas display up to par with my Halloween display!

So Halloween was really awesome from all the folks that saw it live in person and did get some nice comments from the video I took of it, but my 2011 Christmas show, well, let's just say I managed to get two songs sequenced very well, tweaked a few that was "just" passable, but quite a few others still looked like crap. LOL

I can look back now and see just how bad I was my first year, but the more you do it, as I stated eariler, the better you will get at it.

And there are quite a few folks on here that will just blow you away with their amazing sequencing abilities, Geroge Simmons and Cracker (Kevin) are two that come to mind presently, but there are many others.

So welcome to the madness of Holiday Light Synchronization to Music.

You're at the right place to learn and get help when, or if, you do get stuck on something.

Again, WELCOME ABOARD!

[Daryl]

I have been building my show display for almost a year now. Thought I would have a show ready this year but ran out of time. I'm probably the only one still putting up lights to this day trying to get ready for next year. My point.... expect it to take a lot of time and twice as much time as you expect. Of course, I didn't take anyones advice on starting out small as I am starting with 128 channels. A bit much but it's been a fun hobby to start.

Take the time to make a written plan of what you want to do. How many lights do you want to use and how channels for the first year and how are you going to broadcast the music, with speakers positioned outside or via FM transmitter. For the type of lights, I think if you can afford the full-wave dimmable LED's, you will be so much happier that you did. A lot less power consumption means less hassle about overloading a controller channel. Be careful where you buy....not all LED's you get from Home Depot, Lowes and Walmart are the dimmable type and will not work very long with the controllers. I blew up a set of "constant on" in less than 5 minutes.

[dgrant]

Blew out "Constant On" in 5 minutes? I just bought some of those yeseterday. Not very many compared to the total LED I have. What should I avoid doing with them?

Next question is power related: Each controller comes with two power source plugs for 15Amps each. Are you all plugging them into the same socket such as a 15 or 20Amp source socket or using a different source for each? My thoughts were to create a BOB(breakout box) for the power, feeding it from a 240V/40Amp/1P outlet, breaking it down into the two 120's and enclosing the one BOB inside of a weather-proof container. This would allow me to get power out of the garage to the outside with enough current capability and yet on the same phasing, hopefully preventing any issues for the triacs.

I'm going to have issues trying to dim LED's, so yes, I don't expect that's going to work very well and so far, I've found no dimmable types at all.

[Paul Roberson]

dgrant wrote:

Blew out "Constant On" in 5 minutes? I just bought some of those yeseterday. Not very many compared to the total LED I have. What should I avoid doing with them?

Next question is power related: Each controller comes with two power source plugs for 15Amps each. Are you all plugging them into the same socket such as a 15 or 20Amp source socket or using a different source for each? My thoughts were to create a BOB(breakout box) for the power, feeding it from a 240V/40Amp/1P outlet, breaking it down into the two 120's and enclosing the one BOB inside of a weather-proof container. This would allow me to get power out of the garage to the outside with enough current capability and yet on the same phasing, hopefully preventing any issues for the triacs.

I'm going to have issues trying to dim LED's, so yes, I don't expect that's going to work very well and so far, I've found no dimmable types at all.

Using one 15 amp outlet or two 15 amp outlets to power your controller by depends on what draw the lights plugged into the controller will have.

I have all LEDs (only 1-100 count string on each channel) and have converted all my controllers over to using just one power input cord. (Instructions are in the manual) My mega tree has 8 controllers and all of them are plugged into the same GFCI receptacle.

[amazingblue]

Wow, lots of good questions and info here. Expecially for someone like me that hasn't bought anything YET. My wife has been rolling her eyes at me also, hahahah. She is the one that got me started on hanging lights out though. I have lots of the incodescent lights but I think I will start switching to the LED's. Good thing that I read about the constant on ones, I never knew that there was a difference. Thank you everyone.

[KStatefan]

dgrant wrote:

Blew out "Constant On" in 5 minutes? I just bought some of those yeseterday. Not very many compared to the total LED I have. What should I avoid doing with them?

Next question is power related: Each controller comes with two power source plugs for 15Amps each. Are you all plugging them into the same socket such as a 15 or 20Amp source socket or using a different source for each? My thoughts were to create a BOB(breakout box) for the power, feeding it from a 240V/40Amp/1P outlet, breaking it down into the two 120's and enclosing the one BOB inside of a weather-proof container. This would allow me to get power out of the garage to the outside with enough current capability and yet on the same phasing, hopefully preventing any issues for the triacs.

I'm going to have issues trying to dim LED's, so yes, I don't expect that's going to work very well and so far, I've found no dimmable types at all.

In the US 240 volts is two phases.

Where have you seen that using two phases is causing issues with triacs? There are a number of users that are using two phases which is good. You want a balanced load on each phase.

[bblumka]

Well, just ordered SPK-ST Generic Starter Package and the PC-CTB16PC-Complete today. Thanks Don!!!

Should be here before the weekend. I understand there is some assembly required to this, but hopefully I can get that done before the weekend is actually here. I've been cleaning up the basement for my new "hobby". Looking at putting 16 christmas trees made outta tomato cages in my basement and hooking it all up so I can actually see things light up as I start in on my first sequencing. Also, to see how it all works. I'm hopin Friday nite and Saturday nite will be noting but a few cocktails, lights off, glare from the monitor and the trees dancing as I work. Most likely it will be me pullin my hair out trying to get it all hooked up and assembled and too many cocktails.

I do have two free circuits in my box and plan on this spring to have lines run out to the front yard. I will also be adding another 16 channels before the 2012 season. I believe that those two dedicated lines will be enough for a little while at least, still workin on the power issue and reading more on it. Lookin at addin at least one 16 channel controller per year. Not sure when I will need to upgrade the service yet, but I am working on that.

Oh yes, did I mention reading yet? Trying to pick up alot of information in a short time. Alot of information on these forums and alot of helpful people. On that note, THANK YOU all!! Too many people to mention how have put out good posts for newbies like me.

[hemiguy]

I have Squids these are surge protected 1 plug at 1 side to house 5 on the other side can i plug single into controller and run 5 strings from squid ends to lights made for outside by nnoma

[welder_man12]

I think my wife is wondering what the heck im doing also. We watched a light show here in town run by the same system and she loved it, thought it was pretty cool. Probably because it wasn't our money that payed for it. Looking forward to my first display in 2012 should be alot of fun. I have a pretty good grasp of the software already so we will se how it goes. Read Read Read ( I hate reading too) oh well.

[veedubbman]

I’m with most of you guys on this thread. Wife likes the idea but wonders if I’ve bumped my head. I got a CTB16PC kit over the holidays and have been reading and reading, which always leads to more reading because I see something else I need to read about. LOL. Good thing is that I have notice tons of info and really smart and friendly people helping out. I even saw a glossary of words which was awesome. Found out what a .lms file was. I don't know how to use it yet though. I thought I’d download a seq and dissect it to see the ins and outs then use that as a model for my own, as it turns out....I need to read some more cause I don’t even know where to put the files I got. sorry I couldn't help the owner of this thread but I felt at home reading it and wanted to share.

Thanks in advance for all the people I’m going to bug over the next few months. Halloween is right around the corner you know...and time is running out !! !!

[Surfing4Dough]

veedubbman wrote:

I’m with most of you guys on this thread. Wife likes the idea but wonders if I’ve bumped my head. I got a CTB16PC kit over the holidays and have been reading and reading, which always leads to more reading because I see something else I need to read about. LOL. Good thing is that I have notice tons of info and really smart and friendly people helping out. I even saw a glossary of words which was awesome. Found out what a .lms file was. I don't know how to use it yet though. I thought I’d download a seq and dissect it to see the ins and outs then use that as a model for my own, as it turns out....I need to read some more cause I don’t even know where to put the files I got. sorry I couldn't help the owner of this thread but I felt at home reading it and wanted to share.

Thanks in advance for all the people I’m going to bug over the next few months. Halloween is right around the corner you know...and time is running out !! !!

Welcome to the fun! Just reassure your wife that this hobby will occupy so much of your time that it won't allow time for you to be wandering the streets boozing and womanizing.

Great job on doing lots of reading so far. You will pick up so much more out of these forums when you already have some of the basics down due to previous reading. Plus it gains a lot of respect from members when it appears that you have put that effort in already. Make sure to contribute where you can around here too.

[dgrant]

KStatefan wrote:

In the US 240 volts is two phases.

Where have you seen that using two phases is causing issues with triacs? There are a number of users that are using two phases which is good.  You want a balanced load on each phase.

You are absolutely correct. Right after I posted that, I woke up, had another sip of coffee and thought to myself how stupid that was. Sorry. But, my question remains...can a controller be connected across the two phases, regardless whether its me using a power cable or someone plugging into so different sockets that happen to be on two different phases? Will the controller have issues with this or possibly cook a component?

[dgrant]

I started sequencing my first tune based on 32 channels yesterday. What a time consuming process that is. Mostly its getting things to sink to the beat. Yes, beat wizard, tapper both tried and so on. Using the animation view to see things as I can't figure out how to tie the channels into the visualizer yet and yes, using the "Advanced" license now. Also, what length of tunes do you all usually sequence? This first one is just over 5 minutes long and now I'm thinking to chop it by half and move onto the next tune, for the show display. I'm feeling that people viewing it might get bored with the same tune for that long. What is your experience with this?

[welder_man12]

I was wondering g the same. Thinking maybe do a medley of 4or 5 songs. Will have to wait see I guess. I change my mind on what I want to do so often.

[Surfing4Dough]

dgrant wrote:

I started sequencing my first tune based on 32 channels yesterday. What a time consuming process that is. Mostly its getting things to sink to the beat. Yes, beat wizard, tapper both tried and so on. Using the animation view to see things as I can't figure out how to tie the channels into the visualizer yet and yes, using the "Advanced" license now. Also, what length of tunes do you all usually sequence? This first one is just over 5 minutes long and now I'm thinking to chop it by half and move onto the next tune, for the show display. I'm feeling that people viewing it might get bored with the same tune for that long. What is your experience with this?

I tend to find that once a song gets past 3-3.5 minutes that I get a little bored watching it. It has to be a very good song to hold attention past that point. I like my 2 minute songs probably best.

[LORi P]

Daryl wrote:

....... Be careful where you buy....not all LED's you get from Home Depot, Lowes and Walmart are the dimmable type and will not work very long with the controllers. I blew up a set of "constant on" in less than 5 minutes.

Hi Daryl,

I am not sure what your definition of "constant on" is or how you tell if LEDs are "constant on". This year I used unsealed 1/2 wave LEDs from Walmart, Menards, Lowes, Home Depot, Walgreens, Biglots, and Sam's Club. None of them have any claims on the box as being dimable, nor do any of them have any warnings against dimming. I also have some full wave, sealed LEDs from Holiday Lights Express and Forever LED.

My musical sequences do a lot of dimming/fading, and my lights cycle through long fades all night long. I did not lose any lights this year except for 1/2 a string of Walmart lights which went out within a week of being put outside. I think that is pretty good considering that I used over 100 strings of Walmart lights outside this year. So my failure rate on my lights from Walmart was less than 1%. And many of the strings from Walmart and Menards I used in last year's Mr. Christmas (non-dimming) display. So many of my LEDs from Big Box stores survived two seasons... And we had a lot of rain this year as well.

Obviously my experience with store-bought LEDs has been much different from yours, but I have found that many brands from many stores have worked well for me. There are many people on here who swear by full-wave sealed LEDs, and the full-wave have also worked great for me this year.

I guess my advice to newbies is: be a little cautious of lights from the big-box stores, but don't be scared away completely. I fade and dim a lot. My display would have only had 5,000 lights this year (instead of 15,000) if I did not use lights from big-box stores bought on-sale after Christmas last year and the year before. I am buying some full wave sealed during the January pre-sales this year, but I am also buying 1/2 wave unsealed during the after Christmas sales at the big box stores as well. The size of my display would be severly limited if I only used what my budget would allow for sealed full-wave.

I am probably going to get flamed by some of the strong believers in full-wave sealed LEDs only, but I am just speakign to my experience so far. I cannot speak to longevity of big-box store LEDs beyond two years.... because I have only had a display for two years. But so far, this is been my personal experience.

[Ken Benedict]

dgrant wrote:

KStatefan wrote:

In the US 240 volts is two phases.

Where have you seen that using two phases is causing issues with triacs? There are a number of users that are using two phases which is good.  You want a balanced load on each phase.

You are absolutely correct. Right after I posted that, I woke up, had another sip of coffee and thought to myself how stupid that was. Sorry. But, my question remains...can a controller be connected across the two phases, regardless whether its me using a power cable or someone plugging into so different sockets that happen to be on two different phases? Will the controller have issues with this or possibly cook a component?

Don't put a controller on seperate electrical phases. They need to be on the same phase (or leg).

Nothing will be damaged, but one bank of channels may not work properly.

It's good to balance your electrical load by putting one controller on one phase (leg) and another controller on the other phase (leg).

Get your load meter out and check the load when you setup your lights, so that you have a better idea of the loading.

And good luck.

[KStatefan]

Ken Benedict wrote:

dgrant wrote:

KStatefan wrote:

In the US 240 volts is two phases.

Where have you seen that using two phases is causing issues with triacs? There are a number of users that are using two phases which is good. You want a balanced load on each phase.

You are absolutely correct. Right after I posted that, I woke up, had another sip of coffee and thought to myself how stupid that was. Sorry. But, my question remains...can a controller be connected across the two phases, regardless whether its me using a power cable or someone plugging into so different sockets that happen to be on two different phases? Will the controller have issues with this or possibly cook a component?

Don't put a controller on seperate electrical phases. They need to be on the same phase (or leg).

Nothing will be damaged, but one bank of channels may not work properly.

It's good to balance your electrical load by putting one controller on one phase (leg) and another controller on the other phase (leg).

Get your load meter out and check the load when you setup your lights, so that you have a better idea of the loading.

And good luck.

The only place that it would mater is if you were using two phases of a three phase system. On standard 240 volts two phase system it does not mater if the controller is hooked up to one of both of the phases.

[dgrant]

quote]
The only place that it would mater is if you were using two phases of a three phase system.  On standard 240 volts two phase system it does not mater if the controller is hooked up to one of both of the phases.


My concern would be a phasing issue with one controller plugged effectively plugged into the two differnt feeds from the house. It would only matter depending on the internal wiring of the controller itself. I'm guessing its probably best and safer to insure a controller is only plugged into one side of the circuit breaker box rather than across it, so that's how I'll proceed.

[KStatefan]

dgrant wrote:

quote]
The only place that it would mater is if you were using two phases of a three phase system. On standard 240 volts two phase system it does not mater if the controller is hooked up to one of both of the phases.

My concern would be a phasing issue with one controller plugged effectively plugged into the two differnt feeds from the house. It would only matter depending on the internal wiring of the controller itself. I'm guessing its probably best and safer to insure a controller is only plugged into one side of the circuit breaker box rather than across it, so that's how I'll proceed.

If that was a problem LOR would only have one power cord on the controllers.