Product Advice

[Guest guest]

2007 will be my first christmas with stuff. Like a lot of people I'm waiting patiently for the sale but I just want to be clear in my mind that I'm looking at the right products.

Cost is an issue, plus I want to build up slowly and get to know the products before I go hog wild. I will be starting off with a 16 channel display. I picked up almost all the lights I'll need during the after Xmas sale (thank god I found these forums and read that suggestion). My other main requirement is that it run without connection to the computer.

What I'm leaning towards is the CTB16PC mated with the DC-MP3 card. If I understand it correctly the DC-MP3 will allow me to run the shows from the flash card, controlling the CTB16PC. This will also set me up for 2008 when I hope to add broadcasted music and will almost definitely add another 16 channels. The only concern I have is how to "box" the DC-MP3 card.

Am I missing anything?

Mike

[Guest guest]

Extension cords! - get them while they are cheap!

Welcome to the club.

[Guest guest]

Yeah I have started collecting cords. My wife thinks I'm insane. I tell her "Just wait until Christmas"..lol

[Guest guest]

I thought I was going to start out small, but it blew out of control in under a year. Lights, Mega Trees, Mini-Trees, wireframes, inflatables, blowmolds, the plastic covered animated things at the box stores, storage bins for all the stuff, and then extension cords.

The only good thing, is that I am now wall to wall and filled the attic with STUFF I have to have for decorations.

That, and spending Easter Weekend sequencing songs (today was the first day I have really gotten into it since January). I spent most of the day doing it and got a lot done on a couple of songs - but I am seeing double now - :shock::shock:

I know you will enjoy your LOR.

I went with the DC-MP3 too. In all seriousness, you may consider a spare card in case yours gets damaged or if you want to reprogram your card without having to kill the display.

[Guest guest]

Dale W wrote:

I went with the DC-MP3 too. In all seriousness, you may consider a spare card in case yours gets damaged or if you want to reprogram your card without having to kill the display.

That's a good point about the spare card. I'd like to get another 16 channels this year just in case I think up something more to do, or like you say the card dies. I guess that will ultimately depend on how good the sale is..

[Guest guest]

CrazyMike wrote:

Dale W wrote:

I went with the DC-MP3 too. In all seriousness, you may consider a spare card in case yours gets damaged or if you want to reprogram your card without having to kill the display.

That's a good point about the spare card. I'd like to get another 16 channels this year just in case I think up something more to do, or like you say the card dies. I guess that will ultimately depend on how good the sale is..

If I understood Dale correctly, he was saying that you should have an extra SD card on hand just in case something happends...

[Guest guest]

I did have a card that had something happen to it. So, I ended up replacing it. (I purchased two of them at the local walmart).

In addition, I found that by having a spare, I could change the show at will without having to remove the card that was playing for the few minutes required to reprogram it).

I had an instance, one evening, where people were cranking up the radio and walking around. In lieu of interupting the show for several minutes, I programmed a second card with a request to stay in your cars and listen at a reasonable volume.

I quickly removed the 1st card and inserted the 2nd one in between songs with a minimum interuption to the show.

After that, if I had to edit a sequence, I would switch out the card.

[Guest guest]

'06 was my first year with computer controlled lights. I ordered a 16ch LOR board and loved it. The software was easy to use, and you can got good at sequencing songs fairly easily.

MY only recommendation is to consider starting with 32 channels. If you only have 16, they do go quick. The CTB16PC is priced very competitively and you will definitely find use for the extra channels.

Enjoy your new "hobby"!!!

[Guest guest]

lkcubsrule wrote:

CrazyMike wrote:

Dale W wrote:

I went with the DC-MP3 too. In all seriousness, you may consider a spare card in case yours gets damaged or if you want to reprogram your card without having to kill the display.

That's a good point about the spare card. I'd like to get another 16 channels this year just in case I think up something more to do, or like you say the card dies. I guess that will ultimately depend on how good the sale is..

If I understood Dale correctly, he was saying that you should have an extra SD card on hand just in case something happends...

Thanks for clearing that up. It was late and I wasn't seeing that.

[Guest guest]

Dale W wrote:

So, I ended up replacing it. (I purchased two of them at the local walmart).

On this note I was at Wally Word yesterday and they had 1 gig card for $15, I know there are better deals on the net but need a few in a pince, so I bought 5.

[Guest guest]

2006 was my first year with a truly computerized display and started slow with 16 channels. I didn't want to have the controller teathered to a computer, so went for the LOR1602MP3 Computerized Light Controller with MP3 player. It is truly a complete musical light show in a box as advertised. Since it all comes in a box, I didn't have to worry about finding a box for it. Costs a little more, but you buy it and your are set to go, almost.

All I had to do was sequence the songs, five in all. And as you will see in other forums, it took me about 3 hours for each minute of music for only 16 channels. There is a learning curve and a lot depends on how precise you want to be in syncing your lights to the music.

You can do a lot with 16 channels, but I'm hooked so really going to ramp up things this year. But I'm glad I did start out "small" to get a feel of everything without being too overwhelmed. If you can swing it, I'd recommend getting the a low watt FM transmitter to make your display pop. It will really wow your audience and let them Listen to the Lights.

Have a great time with your first LOR experience.

Tim

PS - Agree with getting a second SD card. The LOR1602MP3 comes with a 128mb card, and you can pick up a second one for little money. In fact I only wanted to get a 512 card, but the 1gig card was cheaper.

[Guest guest]

Hey thanks for the reply timdks. It's good to hear from someone who has just gone through what I'm about to.

I get this nervous excitement when I think about what I'm getting myself into. There is nobody doing this in the city that I live in so I'd really like to have a great show from day one. I'm having fun pouring over the forum archives for idea's and suggestions. I haven't started tackling the programming just yet as I want to lock down most of what my display will be. I'm hoping that people will get curious as to how they could do it so I can steer them to these forums and to where to get the equipment.