HC "CCR" Pixel MegaTree Kit owners - please chime in.

[SparkDr]

Have been researching and considering this kit http://www.holidaycoro.com/product-p/814.htm in pre-assembled form for some time now and am about ready to take the plunge, but thought I'd turn to the forums for a voice or 2 of experience.  Specifically, I am looking for someone who has purchased and used this same setup in either 12 or 16 CCR configuration.  It appears to be as close as possible to "plug n play" at about $1000 price point without the purchase of additional hardware or software (as long as I'm running the sequences as-is and not wanting to modify them).  I'm a 2nd year LOR user with S3 running a single 16 channel controller and won't pretend to know much of anything about the deeper technical side of this stuff.  I will be using purchased sequences from Holidaysequences.com.  I have spoken on the phone with them and they have offered to help me by walking me through the configuration process with my LOR when I'm ready which, to me, is probably the most intimidating part of the process.  I know there's a lot of other options and choices when it come to this stuff.  While I respect the myriad of personal opinions on which is better or preferred, I'd really like to hear the "been there's" and "done that's" from someone using this specific product.   

[iflights]

I purchased most of the same items individually from HC for this year's 16 strip MT, but I didn't buy the kit because I already had duplicates of a couple of items..121V power supplies, CG-1500s, shrink wrap, power cords, etc...although in hindsight the $100 I saved by not re-purchasing those things didn't outweigh the huge HC customer service option of having pigtails pre-attached to the pixel strips which I didn't take advantage of.  

 

The Pixlite controller is perfect for setting up 16 strips on each of its 16 outputs, and I put each strip/output in its own universe.  That makes conversion of existing CCR sequences totally painless.  All I have to do is delete out the macro channels in each SUP.LMS file, then copy and paste whats left into my sequence. Takes 3-4 minutes to convert an existing purchased sequence.  I've converted sequences from HolidaySequences, and SuperStarLights with no issues.   I'm sure there are other ways to manipulate the universes/pixels, but time is important to me, and I'm not invested yet in Superstar (waiting for details on what the next version of SE will have in it).  Speaking of time, I used Vegomatic to generate the 16 - 50 pixel strips, and merged them into my existing channel template and that took about a minute.

 

That was the easy part.

 

Figuring out how to mount the 16, 16.6' strips on some substrate to create a tree, took the most time.  I didn't want to ty-rap them to ropes or strings, and a metal or plastic tree frame is out of the question because I don't have anywhere to store such a thing after the season.  I finally landed on Poly strapping, with 3M VHB double sided tape to attach the strips to the strap.  Very pleased with the results.

 

Hope this information helps.

[SparkDr]

Thanks for the info iflghts.  It's a good sampling of what I was hoping to hear.  Keywords like "easy" and "painless' are right up my alley!

[SparkDr]

Decided to take the plunge yesterday and had just a couple of more questions before doing so.  Pored through the HC website in search of a phone number only to find out that they do not publish one, so I sent off an email.  In the email, I requested a phone number to be able to talk directly to someone instead of trading emails and this was the reply from David...."We are at full capacity  - the two busiest weeks of the year and are unable to provide extended phone consultation (we even suspend our consulting services).  We can answer general questions via email though."  I may be wrong in my reaction, but this immediately soured my desire to do business with them.  I'm always leery of any company that hides behind an email for lack of better words, yet I've also heard a myriad of good things about HC.  I did my homework before reaching out to them.  I asked questions on the forums.  I watched all of their videos.  I read all of their FAQ's.  In short, I did what I was supposed to do before reaching out and still wound up with just a few question that I still needed answers to.  I've got to believe it would take much less time for them to talk to me on the phone for all of 5 minutes than it would be to write emails back and forth.  At the very least, an offer to call me when they have a moment or 2 would've been a much better response.  We're not talking high finance here and I can accept that I'm a small fish in a big pond.  My entire order would be just under $1100, but it does represent a significant budget number for a 2nd year newbie like myself with a small (but growing) display.  We all get busy - I understand that.  In my trade, the cost of acquiring a new customer is about $400 for marketing and advertising expenses.  I've never purchased from HC before, so the opportunity to secure a relationship for however long I continue to grow and invest in this silly hobby is (or was) ripe for the picking, but now I'm having second thoughts and looking elsewhere.  Am I rightly offended?  Overly indignant?  I know I can always count on you folks here to set me straight if I'm getting out of line on a train of thought.

[larryk5]

I've ordered many products from HC over the last 3 years. I've emailed David several times and the response was quick! This time of year it's crunch time for the vendors and the lighting hobbyists. I think he is being honest and he will do his best to help. Now if it was July and you started then I don't think you would have any problems with getting help!

[blbeattie]

Decided to take the plunge yesterday and had just a couple of more questions before doing so.  Pored through the HC website in search of a phone number only to find out that they do not publish one, so I sent off an email.  In the email, I requested a phone number to be able to talk directly to someone instead of trading emails and this was the reply from David...."We are at full capacity  - the two busiest weeks of the year and are unable to provide extended phone consultation (we even suspend our consulting services).  We can answer general questions via email though."  I may be wrong in my reaction, but this immediately soured my desire to do business with them.  I'm always leery of any company that hides behind an email for lack of better words, yet I've also heard a myriad of good things about HC.  I did my homework before reaching out to them.  I asked questions on the forums.  I watched all of their videos.  I read all of their FAQ's.  In short, I did what I was supposed to do before reaching out and still wound up with just a few question that I still needed answers to.  I've got to believe it would take much less time for them to talk to me on the phone for all of 5 minutes than it would be to write emails back and forth.  At the very least, an offer to call me when they have a moment or 2 would've been a much better response.  We're not talking high finance here and I can accept that I'm a small fish in a big pond.  My entire order would be just under $1100, but it does represent a significant budget number for a 2nd year newbie like myself with a small (but growing) display.  We all get busy - I understand that.  In my trade, the cost of acquiring a new customer is about $400 for marketing and advertising expenses.  I've never purchased from HC before, so the opportunity to secure a relationship for however long I continue to grow and invest in this silly hobby is (or was) ripe for the picking, but now I'm having second thoughts and looking elsewhere.  Am I rightly offended?  Overly indignant?  I know I can always count on you folks here to set me straight if I'm getting out of line on a train of thought.

 

I have ordered many items from David and HC over the last 4 years, and have had nothing but positive experiences. He does answer his emails in a timely manner, but you also have the option of using the "Live Support Chat" (when they're online) on HC's website. That gets a near-immediate response.

[PaulXmas]

I have never ordered from HC.

I understand where they are coming from, this is a very busy time of the year for them (and most of us).

Send an email with all the info.