Guest guest Posted January 8, 2007 Share Posted January 8, 2007 I'm working on planning a system for next year, been reading a lot but just trying ot make sure I'm not way off on my thoughtsI'm leaning towards the Ramsey FM25B for sound $140 or soFor lights I'm thinking of DIY & building & adding on as I goTo start (2) 16 channel CTB-16KS 16 channel - high power heat sinks $149 eachI only need 1 board as a Director? (deluxe) or is that a PC function?SPK-ST starter pack - $99Am I totally off & missiing something?So for less then $600 plus other parts I can get going?I figure this will give me a good start & then I can decide how many more to add Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 If you are going to run it from the PC then there is requirement that you have a deluxe card. I personally like deluxe cards because the the Unit ID switches and standalone posiblities for other projects that can pop up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 LightORama wrote: If you are going to run it from the PC then there is requirement that you have a deluxe card. I personally like deluxe cards because the the Unit ID switches and standalone posiblities for other projects that can pop up. There is? I thought if you ran it from a PC you didn't need a deluxe model? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 I used the Ramses broadcaster this year and it was great. I strongly recommend it. Now that the holidays are over I use it to broadcast my Sirius radio throughout the house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 14, 2007 Share Posted January 14, 2007 2006 was my first year with 16 channels of LOR and a Ramsey 25B. Everything was perfect. The Ramsey worked well. Only added a dipole antenna. Good reception within a good range. Got it from Big Ed through eBay. Prebuilt and tested.One thing you should take into consideration when preparing your budget is extension cords. Depending on your layout, you may need many of them. I spent more on extension cords then I did for lights.:laughing: That might be a stretch, but not too far off. Haven't gone back to compare the individual component pieces.One other thing is time. If you sequence your songs, plan on at least three hours of programming per minute of song time. And the more you get into it, the more you may want to do, so start early. I know the first song I programmed wasn't as "fancy" as the later ones, because I learned as I went on. The last and fifth song I programmed was just over 3 minutes long and took 9 hours 25 minutes to sequence.Good luck and have fun.Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 14, 2007 Share Posted January 14, 2007 I bought a Ramsey 30, will have to build itI have over 1500' of extension cords, and I know I will need moreI will be running outside outlets out into my gardens for the lights this summerI have too many projects to finish this year to get "too" involvedI had a broken rib this past summer so for 2007 I need to finish:10 x10 pool cabana6 x 10 (3) season front porchDormered the back 1/2 of the house **priority #1 per the wife**GreenhouseThen I need to start the garage/addition & of course landscape where the foundation was poured & wrecked the entire side yardI will be happy for this year if I can:Get the music playing & setupGet the mega tree built & tested w/LORI have a lot of planning to do, which I may be able to do this winterOh, and I'm starting a business out of my house too :laughing:and did I mention my son just turned 6 months old?I am REALLY looking forward to this year, I will find the time!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 timdks wrote: 2006 was my first year with 16 channels of LOR and a Ramsey 25B. Everything was perfect. The Ramsey worked well. Only added a dipole antenna. Good reception within a good range. Got it from Big Ed through eBay. Prebuilt and tested.One thing you should take into consideration when preparing your budget is extension cords. Depending on your layout, you may need many of them. I spent more on extension cords then I did for lights.:laughing: That might be a stretch, but not too far off. Haven't gone back to compare the individual component pieces.One other thing is time. If you sequence your songs, plan on at least three hours of programming per minute of song time. And the more you get into it, the more you may want to do, so start early. I know the first song I programmed wasn't as "fancy" as the later ones, because I learned as I went on. The last and fifth song I programmed was just over 3 minutes long and took 9 hours 25 minutes to sequence.Good luck and have fun.TimTim,This is what I have done to help in the extension cord department. Whenever I visit Home Depot or Lowes I look in the wire area sometimes you can find mistakes or cut-offs on cable that may be marked down. (Our local stores have a special bin) I can usually find anywhere from a 20' to 50' piece I buy the connectors in buld so I get a bit of a discount there. I usually average about $3 per cord (depending on length)greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 Thanks for the tip Greg. Since I'm planning on a mega tree this year, I need all the savings in the extension cord department that I can get.Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 Tim,I ment I buy the connectors in bulk not "build":? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 Scuba Dave,Take it from one who has a hectic work and personal life as well. Set your priorities, plan your time and display, and stick to it. I can not stress this enough. You will go all over the map wanting to do this and that. Start small and take small steps.I upgraded my display this to include LOR. I never made my goals for lots of reasons. I had one song programmed, and a "static" display. The family, friends and neighbors all loved what I did have, because it was more than they had seen before.You will need more than you plan on, regarding time and extension cords. I suggest using SPT1 or SPT2 and vampire connectors. This will help with custom connections and lengths. Keep an eye out at Big Lots or something like that. They will have 6-9' on sale for a buck or less. Get all of these you can, cause you will use both ends eventually. Get the demo software asap and get familiar with it now. The only thing you can not do with the demo s/w is control the actual lights.Moral - whatever you do will be fine, cause it's better than last year. Try not to get overwhelmed, plan, plan, plan. Stick to a budget, cause your original $600 did not include all the esoteric items, zip ties, extension cords, misc items etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 I just d/l the demo version & tried to installIt tells me it is not a valid win32 apprunning win xp?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 Hmmm, not sure on that one. It is a valid Windows app. Most of us run it on XP, me included. I might try to grab the software once again, maybe something happened in the transfer. I know that to happen from time to time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 Hmmm, not sure on that one. It is a valid Windows app. Most of us run it on XP, me included. I might try to grab the software once again, maybe something happened in the transfer. I know that to happen from time to time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 Greg, good tip on the wire. I'll keep my eyes outFunny, extension cords aren't an item that normally go on sale. I bought over 4 dozen this year JUST for the lawn decorations & existing lights. I'm tripling my light count this year, but a large number of them will be on the mega-tree.I'll have to check around, and check out Big Lots more often. There is a dollar store but their prices were more then HDI think next year I will be walking into HD & buying a few cases of extension cordsI also have a 250' spool of black 18-2 wire, so I can run some custom lengthsI plan on having the controller near the mega tree, as that will be the bulk of what I will be controlling. My wife doesn't like animation/flashing lights. I installed a big picture window flanked by 2 other windows which looks out on the front yard.So the show will be on the side yardIn addition to the mega tree I have 18 soldiers/nutcrackers to control & 18 mini treesThat's all I plan on for this yearI will have 43 100 ct green strings & 43 100 ct red stringsThe "plan" at present is to control 1 mini tree & 1 soldier at the same time as they will be side by side. With 3 boards I would have 48 channels, so 30 channels leftA "Merry Christmas" sign will take 2 channelsThat leaves 14 channels for each color on the Mega treeSo I would control 3 strings per channel =42 - 1 channel will have 4 stringsI intend to put a blow mold Angel on the topBut, if the sale is pretty good maybe I will buy 4 or more boards this yearThe $600 is just a ball park to get goingWaiting until April sale (?) will let me save some money up Plus give me more time to planI have a Architect program that I can layout my yard & start design workI'll be hanging out here until it's warm enough to finish shingling the side of my houseThanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 For the beginners or as some of you might say "Newbies":} There is a qoute here on PC that goes like this " crawl, walk then run " Take your time in getting into the field of animation. If you think that buying some premade controllers then plugging the lights in it is all you have to do....You are so wrong. Animation takes time. Plan on spending a min. 1 hour for every minute of music in your show. :shock::shock::shock: Work what you have in your display to match the music. Sometimes you can have too much animation if it is all going at once all the time. I started out with 48 channels. I am now to a point to where I feel somewhat comfortable with it to add another 48 channels this year. I have seen a lot of post from "Newbies" saying that they bought 100, 200, 300 channels and now "NEED HELP". Take the time to learn it and you will enjoy it even better in the long run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 Scuba Dave!I think you might need an XP utility for the demo. I remember having to updatesomething before it would run.Now as far the whole crawl, walk, run deal. I put up 100,000 lights and 250 channelsmy first year. BUT I don't have a real job. I also tend to be very anal about organizingeverything. By April I knew where all the lights were going to go. I also had all mypower requirements figured out by June. I only had two guys help me for two days.I won't recommend what I did to anyone.One aspect I did underestimate was the time required for sequencing and troubleshooting. I think you need about one hour sequencing per minute of song per 32 channels. So that means I should have planned about 20 hours per song.You can buy pre sequenced songs now but you still to manipulate them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 At present I just plan to stick with 32-48 channelsI will "only" be animating the Mega tree, the mini-trees & matching soldiers, & Merry Christmas sign. Keeping it very simple for the 1st year to play with it & see what works/looks goodI do not plan on sequencing the music to the light show (this year)I just plan on playing Christmas musicI'll be sticking with the 46,000 lights I haveI put up somewhere over 15,000 this year. 10,000+ of the new lights will be on the mega tree. The rest are a combination of decorations (icicles, trees, signs) that are fairly easy to setup.With a week between Thanksgiving & Dec 1st (night I light up) I should have enough time to setup. I do plan on walking before I try to runI think I will have my hands full with what I am planning - but it's do-able based on my setup this year (by myself) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 I started off my first season this past year with a C.Crane transmitter and although the power was good, the stereo separation and quality of the signal was disappointing. I'm sure I was a bit picky about this, but I immediately ordered a Ramsey FM30b kit and managed to get it assembled before most of the traffic started showing up. The quality of the signal was superior and although there is no power tweeking mod like the C.Crane has, my signal strength was just as good using the antenna that came with the unit. I was able to pick up the signal in my front driveway with one of those portable fm headset radios without a problem which I couldn't do with the C.Crane. The stereo separation was as good as any FM station in the area. A decent car radio could pick up the signal about a block away with little interference. I did have a small amount of hum when using the AC adapter that came with the unit, so I found a 12volt gel-cel from a computer UPS that I had setting around and used it to power the transmitter. That took care of the ground loop or whatever the hum problem was. I just charged the battery every couple of days and placed it back in service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 So much for sticking with 32-48 channelsWith 3 colors on the Mega tree, & 2 colors on the minis I need 72 channels alreadyIt's going to be a busy year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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