Steven Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 This year a new neighbor has volunteered his house to add to our display! (Or to put it another way, we've volunteered to decorate his house.) Attached is a picture.As this neighbor likes to keep mowing his lawn in December, and I don't want to inconvenience him, I've decided to keep his lawn clear of all decorations and wire. This means the biggest decorations will be on the very large city tree sitting in the middle of the lawn. The other 4 city trees in our display are decorated in a similar way: 4 colors of LED lights draped in the branches, divided into left and right sections for a total of 8 channels. Then the trunk is wrapped with incandescent minis, and there are some optional strobe lights.So I'm thinking 9 or 10 channels for the city tree, and 2 channels for the eaves with a possible additional element of a mini tree on the peak of the garage roof. The LOR network will be available from the neighbors on either side.I'm thinking the ideal setup is to use one SPT-1 cord from the corner of the garage, with the LOR signal injected on the power line, to 2 4-channel PLC LED controllers in the tree. I would run a second SPT-1 cord from a regular controller to power the trunk mini lights.Of course, this idea requires the PLC devices that were rumored to have been in the works for 2011. Is there a chance these will be available this year? Attached files Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilliamS Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Heck yeah! My neighbors allowed me t oover flow onto thier yard and house last year, The entire building wants me to setup this year. Im in a Townhouse 8 units. I told them they pay for the supplies Ill do the rest. Has the potential to be a monster when its done, 4 mega trees, 4 webber trees, miles of pixels oh how the ideas are building. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Might I suggest an ELL link for the tree controller? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Posted January 19, 2012 Author Share Posted January 19, 2012 k6ccc wrote: Might I suggest an ELL link for the tree controller?I'm going to have to run a power line over anyway, so adding a network cable is no big deal. I was hoping to avoid a large controller on the tree, using the new "tiny" 4-channel controllers that were announced last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
columbus27 Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Steven Do you have a link to that announcement? I have a few neighbors that would like to join the show. But their major concern is the cost of equipment.Do you have any idea on how much this unit will be, or any suggestions on building a low cost unit? I saw the 8 ch assembled board. But after you part it together you are real close to the $205 for the PC-CTB16PC-COMPLETE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Posted January 20, 2012 Author Share Posted January 20, 2012 columbus27 wrote: Do you have a link to that announcement?In November 2010, in this post, LightORamaJohn said:You will notice that there are no network jacks on the controller. This is the first LOR controller to use PLC (Power Line Carrier) technology. You just plug these into extension cords and then plug the extension cord into an Injector which places the LOR or DMX data on the power line to the devices.In December 2010, in this post, LightORamaDan said:We are also working an a few skunk works projects that will be released next year that I am not ready to talk until closer to the timer of their release.A leak: One of the skunk works projects is PLC devices. (PLC=Power Line Control) High Speed PLC will eliminate the need for data cables by sending the data signal over the standard, extension cord that you were already using.Another Leak: A 4 channel PLC controller (which can also be used with CAT5 if desired) is being tested! On the other hand, in the same post he also said:With 100% certainty, we will be expanding the Cosmic Color series to include Cosmic Color Bulbs and Cosmic Color Floods. The Cosmic Color Bulbs are individually addressable RGB bulbs and the Cosmic Color Floods are high powered RGB LED floods with high power constant current drivers. They are bright!. We spent a large amount of effort last year getting them ready and they will absolutely be sold in 2011. In July 2011, in this post, he said:We are looking at a low channel count controller but have not set a date on the release. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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