Light Arches in Honor of service men / women

[Mateo]

I'm fairly new to LOR, this will be my 2nd year.  This year in remembrance of my son who is off in the army and won't be home anytime soon, I'll be incorporating 3 arches into my display. Red, White and Blue, in honor of him and all the men and women of our armed service.  I'll be following the arches used by the guy in www.fantasychristmas.com,.  The lighted segments for these arches are 18 inches long.  My question to you all is:  What type of lights looks best with arches, that is 5mm, wide angle, 5m or another type.  Which lights are the easiest to wrap?  and Lastly, are there any LED light sales between now and Christmas that you all know off.  I'm needing pure white led lights.  Thanks in anticipation for your response. 

[missieod]

Mateo,

 

I don't know the answer to the arches question- this is only my second year- but I wanted to say what an awesome way to honor your son.  I'm a vet and my husband is currently deployed so I now know the sacrifices of both the soldiers and the families left behind.  Please thank your son for his service and thank you to your family for supporting him.

 

And, this is such an awesome idea, if you don't mind, i'd like to use it in my display too!

[zman]

Mateo,

 

Great thought for your son. I too did a dedication to my Nephew-in-law who was in Iraq 3 years ago at Christmas. I added and sequenced the song, A Soldier Silent Night. I still have it in my display now. I again will need it again in 2013 as he will be heading off to Kosovo in 2 days.

 

If you use M5 or M6 LEDs and wrap a 1" or 1-1/4" Electrical conduit it will look great. I have 6 arches that I use in my display that are 2 joined pieces of Electrical conduit. That works best if you are going to go with a larger arch as the bell mate holds tight. Not sure you need 200 lights per section, mine has 100 and they look just fine, saves cost too.

 

Most of the vendors here have early season sales that end in Feb-March, but you should search to see if any of them still have something going. I use Creative Displays, Reinders, Christmas-LED, but there other very reputable vendors you can order from.

 

Just a word from someone who has been using LEDs for 9 years. Make sure you like the look of pure white. When I started, that was all they had available and I went with it. I have started to incorporate warm white where I can, to soften my displays look. Don't get me wrong, I do like the look of pure white, but it can be brilliant.

 

Good luck to you and your son.

Edited April 8, 2013 by zman

[SoCalJimH]

Great Idea Mateo!

 

I used C6's for 4 small arches. 

 

I made them out of 1/2" PEX cut to 5'4" for each arch.  I marked out 5 - 12" sections (leaving 2" open at each end for mounting)  I wrapped each section with 60 bulb Pure White C6 strings.   While my arches are small they really 'punch' out the light!

 

Good Luck!

[harrison0550]

Mateo have you considered using rgb strips, ccr's, ccp's or pixel nodes? Cost wise it is very comparable and maybe even cheaper than wrapping all those sections with led strings but would give you much more control.

 

I used pixel nodes on my 4 arches last year here....

 

Controller = $87

PSU = $30

Pex = $30

pixels = $96 for all 4 strings

rebar = $10

Total build cost = $253

 

It would also require a software level of advanced LOR to control them.

 

[Mateo]

I sure do appreciate all the input that you all had on the arches and the kind words for my son and the other service men / women fighting for our country.  As for the arches,  I guess, I'll head to home depot or lowes this weekend and see what I can come up with.   I'll post a picture when completed.  Thanks again.