Protege94 Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 Ive always been a huge volt meter fan, but haven't heard many people in the community suggest having one. I had a few vampire plug extension cords go out on me and if I didn't have a volt meter to test the voltage coming out of the controller and then the volts at the end of the extension cord I would have never imagined that a cord laying on the ground working one day without being touched wouldn't work the next day. Another good item to have is a flashlight that is pose-able. This way you can work on any issues you have during testing or during normal operation without having to take everything apart and go inside or have someone else hold a flashlight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibblejr Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 (edited) 4 hours ago, Protege94 said: Ive always been a huge volt meter fan, but haven't heard many people in the community suggest having one. I had a few vampire plug extension cords go out on me and if I didn't have a volt meter to test the voltage coming out of the controller and then the volts at the end of the extension cord I would have never imagined that a cord laying on the ground working one day without being touched wouldn't work the next day. Another good item to have is a flashlight that is pose-able. This way you can work on any issues you have during testing or during normal operation without having to take everything apart and go inside or have someone else hold a flashlight. Oh, its been discussed, but a refresher is also welcome. Just like backing up your sequences. Edited January 21, 2017 by dibblejr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 5 hours ago, Protege94 said: Another good item to have is a flashlight that is pose-able. This way you can work on any issues you have during testing or during normal operation without having to take everything apart and go inside or have someone else hold a flashlight. Invest 20 bucks or so in a bright, good quality, head or hat-mounted light. Or, do it the way I did and buy a couple of cheap ones, and when you finally get frustrated with their shortcomings, THEN go buy one for about 20 bucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibblejr Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 7 minutes ago, George Simmons said: Invest 20 bucks or so in a bright, good quality, head or hat-mounted light. Or, do it the way I did and buy a couple of cheap ones, and when you finally get frustrated with their shortcomings, THEN go buy one for about 20 bucks. My wife got me a what appeared to be very nice spot light for the boat for my birthday last week. Charged it as instructed, even an extra day. I needed it to find a water leak and placed it to help me, 15 mins later I smelled smoke, dang thing had a smoke out! Luckily I was there or no telling what could have happened to the boat, bot shed all my tools. I almost for got to tell he, doing it now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizywk Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 Here's an old thread with several contributions from the community. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Belisle Posted March 18, 2017 Share Posted March 18, 2017 Make a big effort to get to know your neighbors and offer to help them out whenever you can, grass, snow, lending of ladders, fixing lights....Manage your show times, set-up/take down and be as considerate as you can to your neighborhood. As your show grows having everyone on side with your display will keep your annual event very positive. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carsonsig Posted December 11, 2018 Share Posted December 11, 2018 vampire plugs and zip wire. OMFG. I fought this for a long time... why make cords??? I have hundreds of feet of heavy green extension cords... I have 16 trees in a line on my roof and just made a vamp/zip cord for each, and then zip tied the whole thing together into like a harness... it will take me like 5 minutes to power it next year. and probbaly weighs 1/10 what 16 ind. 3 wire green cords weigh... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
{Bryce} Posted December 25, 2018 Share Posted December 25, 2018 (edited) Keep backups of all of your sequences/showfiles on a flash drive or external hard drive to prevent loss of your show in case something happens to your computer. Edited December 25, 2018 by {Bryce} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~DOC~ Posted December 25, 2018 Share Posted December 25, 2018 (edited) I am new to LOR but have decorated for years with lots of lights. Fishing tool box with all lights, zip ties, clips, extra plugs, fuses, tools (side cutters, strippers etc) Just added die electric grease and multimeter. Just so you can grab it and go to the area of trouble or as you set up it’s all there nice and handy. spare lights strings. Sometimes it’s just easier to replace and figure out the bad string later. Make a repair sequence that you can run during the day that keeps the lights on all the time so you can diagnosis your faulty prop Or an extra long extension cord to use rather than unplugging from the controler if a light prop goes out #1 A spouse that supports you in this hobby! LOL She is great. Edited December 25, 2018 by ~DOC~ Forgot to add I am Newbie to Lor but not to decorating Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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