Adopt a Newbie?

[SparkDr]

I've been scouring the forums and tutorials as I prepare for my first season next year, and with the exception of a couple of rookie mistakes, all seems to be going well so far.  Nothing crazy yet....just a single 16 channel LOR controller running strings and mini trees. I purchased a sequence and it has 2 RGB floods as part of it, so it's really got me wanting to add them to the show.  I'm wondering if there's someone here who may be willing to be my source of guidance and direction and mentor me through the process as I select, purchase, and incorporate the necessary components into my display.  I'm guessing I'll probably burn a couple hours of your time over the course of several PM's and/or emails before we're done.  Any takers?     

[scubado]

Do you want ready made or build your own?

[SparkDr]

Ready made, plug & play is the goal.  I've looked at the Rainbow Spot from Seasonal Entertainment but am more than happy to take advice on something else. I also wanted to check out the new 10w RGB flood from Ray Wu on aliexpress, but I couldn't sort it out from the other numerous offerings.  

[kelly jett]

i have to agree with jim on this.  you need to give us a little more info.

 

just cause your sequence had rgb floods doesn't mean you have to use them.  also what are you using them for?  do you need floods, wall runners, or spots.  each one can be used the same if you know what to do.

 

getting a mentor is gonna walk a fine line if you ask me.  you would be better off asking alot of people and getting alot of ideas and seeing what works for your set-up.  what i mean is alot of guys use only certain vendors and certain products.  not that anything is wrong with that but if your guy only drinks coke and you like pepsi it may limit you on all of the other drink options.

 

you may have a better chance getting the members to give their option and you decide.  you may try to find someone in your area that can help with some hands on help.

 

i have the floods from seasonal and they are easy to work with and use.  they do have a little learning curve.   plus you also have to factor in how much money you want to spend.    as far as programming its pretty easy but it just takes a little more time.   i used them on the courthouse for my city and had alot of success.

 

also you have to do your homework and see how much more expense it will be to do add floods.  its not just the cost of the floods you have to factor in cabling, power, and control.  they are really cool to use but you kind of need to plan a couple years ahead.  you don't want to buy the parts to run just the 2 rgb floods.  because you will learn very soon that your imagination will run alot faster than your wallet.  you are gonna add every year so you need to look at getting the better and more powerful then you need cause you'll find something new that you just have to have next year and the next.

 

you can pm if you want i'll help if i can but my knowledge is limited about some of the stuff (thats about everybody. no one on here knows everything about everything) but i can atlease point you in the right direction.

 

welcome to the insanity.

[SparkDr]

My plan is to create a hidden shadow effect by using an RGB as an uplight behind some shrubbery on both ends of my home.  The idea is to have the flashes of color appear while not being able to see the source.  In general, they will be used in sync with the bass rhythm of the sequence.  I'm not really trying to light up anything specific.  I'm just trying to give the appearance of light coming from an unknown source (think heat lightning in the clouds during a storm, for example).  I'm running S3 Advanced software, so I think I'm good there.  After that, I'm at a loss.  Do I need an iDMX-1000 from LOR?  If so, is it really as simple as running Cat 5 to the iDMX & ??? from there to the each flood?  If not, then what should I be looking at?  I'm willing to spend a little more $$ now in order to save some $$ in the long run as far as future expansion goes.  Lastly, before I forget to say it.....THANK YOU to all for any help!

[kelly jett]

i'm not really sure how the idmx-1000 works but if your looking at any of the seasonal products they have their own dongle that converts the lor signal to the dmx configuration.

 

all you do is use a usb adapter (from lor. with booster or not.  usb485b isn't needed in this instance) then connect to the lor/dmx adapter (from seasonal) then cat5 to the multi port blender (board that talks to the devices) then either cat5 or waterproof connectors to the devices.   you can either go with floods behind the bushes or go with wall runners (cheaper) and mount them under your gutters to shine down on the house.   they have videos about both that can help you out with deciding.

 

the idmx-1000 (i've heard) is a great product but the price was the deciding factor for me.

[Surfing4Dough]

Seems to me if you are truly wanting plug & play, then why not these?

 

http://store.lightorama.com/cocofl2flhe1.html

 

They just plug right into your existing LOR network, with nothing new to learn.

 

Next closest thing to plug & play would probably be something like these run off a LOR DC controller:  http://seasonalentertainmentllc.com/rainbowfloodlight.htm

You would have add a cheap power supply to the controller, and also figure out an enclosure to put both the lights and the controller.

[cumberland]

  you don't live far from the Light-o-rama  store, maybe visit them when you have time

 

 

Light-O-Rama
22 Hudson Falls Rd.
Unit 52
South Glens Falls, NY 12803

 

 

 

just my .02 cents

 

de

Dan

Edited February 23, 2013 by danrose

[scubado]

If you buy led floods that plug into AC, they don't dim!  Led floods or spots are best controlled by DC whether LOR or DMX.  LOR is easier, but more expensive.  DMX is cheaper, but more learning and possible fustration.  I personally use 10 or 20W led's from ebay and use a LOR DC controller to run them.  LOR controller can handle more current than the DMX controllers.

[Orville]

If you buy led floods that plug into AC, they don't dim!  Led floods or spots are best controlled by DC whether LOR or DMX.  LOR is easier, but more expensive.  DMX is cheaper, but more learning and possible fustration.  I personally use 10 or 20W led's from ebay and use a LOR DC controller to run them.  LOR controller can handle more current than the DMX controllers.

I just bought some cheap Bright White L.E.D. floods {~AC~, came with a red and green lens} from Walgreen's used in my 2012 Christmas Display, they aren't RGB, but they were able to be dimmed, shimmer, fade and twinkle just fine on my LOR CTB16PC controllers.

 

So there are some ~AC~ L.E.D. floods that will do all the effects LOR CTB16PC ~AC~ controllers have to offer.

[Surfing4Dough]

I just bought some cheap Bright White L.E.D. floods {~AC~, came with a red and green lens} from Walgreen's used in my 2012 Christmas Display, they aren't RGB, but they were able to be dimmed, shimmer, fade and twinkle just fine on my LOR CTB16PC controllers.

 

So there are some ~AC~ L.E.D. floods that will do all the effects LOR CTB16PC ~AC~ controllers have to offer.

 

That is nice to know, but SparkDr specifically indicated he is looking for RGB floods.  For that matter, if he wanted to use AC controllers, he could just buy a red, green, and blue incandescent flood bulbs and just mount them next to each other, with each bulb on a separate channel.  But I don't think AC is the route he he desiring (nor that I would recommend).

 

Edited February 23, 2013 by Surfing4Dough

[scubado]

I just bought some cheap Bright White L.E.D. floods {~AC~, came with a red and green lens} from Walgreen's used in my 2012 Christmas Display, they aren't RGB, but they were able to be dimmed, shimmer, fade and twinkle just fine on my LOR CTB16PC controllers.

 

So there are some ~AC~ L.E.D. floods that will do all the effects LOR CTB16PC ~AC~ controllers have to offer.

I bought a couple of those after Christmas real cheap.  Waiting for Spring to play with them.  I don't expect them to be as bright as my other floods.

 

The OP needs to figure out what he wants to use to control them because it is additional hardware to his first controller.

[Orville]

I bought a couple of those after Christmas real cheap.  Waiting for Spring to play with them.  I don't expect them to be as bright as my other floods.

 

The OP needs to figure out what he wants to use to control them because it is additional hardware to his first controller.

Agreed the OP needs to know exactly what he wants to do and then to plan it out accordingly.

 

The two ~AC~ L.E.D. floods I bought are extremely blinding, and they do light up a fairly decent area very well.  So I like them, just wish I could have found more of them after Christmas.   Since they had none in any of the stores I checked after Christmas, I have been trying to get Walgreen's to sell them year round.

 

Especially since I really wanted at least 4 more of them to mount on the back of my house to illuminate a very dark and small wooded area. 

 

But because they come with the red and green lens, they consider them only seasonal, and will only have them available at Christmas.   {I think they need to make them with an orange and purple lens for Halloween use too!}    

 

Now I tried finding them online via their SKU # or manufacturer  name{Living Solutions}, but came up empty and I searched for over 2 weeks and many hours a day trying to find them somewhere, e-bay, amazon, anywhere I could think of, but came up with nothing like or even close to them.

 

Mainly because they are ~AC~ powered, work with LOR CTB16PC controllers effects, and are the brightest, whitest L.E.D. flood lamps I've come across for such a low price.   But they appear to be specifically exclusive to Walgreen's and they don't even list them on their website.

 

And for the record surfing, the only reason I brought up these ~AC~ powered L.E.D. floods in the first place was because scubado said that "AC L.E.D. floods didn't dim", and that isn't completely true.    Otherwise, I wouldn't have even responded to this thread at all.

Edited February 23, 2013 by Orville

[scubado]

The ones on Ebay don't dim.  They use a 10W or brighter led with an AC driver that's rated for a wide voltage range.  The RGB ones on Ebay have their own controller and not compatible with LOR.  You could still buy one and eliminate the guts and use a LOR DC controller.  You could run both on the same three channels or control them independant of each other and use 6 channels.

 

If hooking the the RGB directly to a controller using 12V, some resistors need to be added.  The red uses 6.7V and blue uses 11V.  Also depends on which led is being used.

Edited February 24, 2013 by scubado