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leaping arches


Mario

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Hi There, I have a question about leaping light arches.[/align][align=left] I have seen some being constructed on UTube and, for example, one person had 9 strings of lights per arch. Would this mean that there would be 9 channels of a LOR contoller used to get the fx as seen. If so, if I had 4 arches with 9 stings of lights per arch, that would be a total of 36 channels used, am I right?? Or is there a special technique used?? Thanks..

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Yes you are correct, that is one way to do it and if you can afford to dump 36 channels on such a small element of the display then go for it. The advantage is you have full control of each arch. The arches I am building are 5 sections, each section will share a channel on each arch. I don't have full control so each arch will mirror one another but if you are creative you can make some nice sequences. So I will be using 5 channels for my 4 arches which saves a lot of channels compared to 36. You will notice people will build them with odd number sections 5,7,9 reason being is this way you will have a section top center with even amount falling on each side which will make the leaping effect more effective. I have seen one person with 4 section arches that look good but only one. Otherwise you want to look at 5,7,9 sections. Hope this helps.

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I used 8 channels per arch (3/4" ID, ten foot sections) on mine.

One way you can conserve channels (at the cost of extension cords or zip cord) is to have two arches in separate locations using the same controller. Yes, they will burn at the same time, but if you place them strategically, no one will notice.

Another sharing a controller technique is to have them go in opposite directions at the same time. For instance, one arch goes north to south and the other goes south to north.

When spaced across a display, it will generate a look that you have more channels than you really have.

Being able to do this will depend on how you have your arches set and how you want them to look.

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hello im new at the arches 2 im going too do 4 arches with a 16 chanels. my question is can i put a 3 way on 2 arches so they can go on a the same time too save chanels or put 4 chanels on each arches of a total of 16 chanels plus how can i do 2 color per arches on a 16 chanels please help thank u guys :)

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yes you can. like dale posted.

Another sharing a controller technique is to have them go in opposite directions at the same time. For instance, one arch goes north to south and the other goes south to north.

as far as colors, your going to eat up a lot of channels

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  • 1 month later...

You can but your are limiting your self to one effect. You would not be able to control the speed or direction.

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Someone on PlanetChristmas posted a thread on "doubling your channels" that involved a relay switch to change which set of channels is being controlled. It cost about $40.00 in parts and the losss of one LOR channel to control the relay. The only disadvantage was it was an either/or not both arches at the same time.

Brian

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Hi Mario,

Last year I did 4 arches, 8 segments each, but had them wired as two pairs of arches for 16 channels total. We live on a corner lot and I had 2 arches on each street frontage. I was very happy with the results. My arches were each made from 2*4 metre lengths pvc with 4 segments on each length. This allows easy pull apart for storage. Because my arches are mounted above our fence, the lighted length is just over 3 metres each half, with the other 900 mm being used for attachment to the fence. (see pic)

This year I am adding a second colour ( and another 16 channels ) so I will have clear minis and blue LEDs with separate controls. Because the LEDs are brighter (and more expensive), I am using only half the number of LED lights relative to the minis. Tests so far look very promising but I have yet to rewind my first arch.


Attached files 152173=8850-Resized 800-IMG_3623.JPG

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Geoff: Did you change the intensity levels on your leaping arches when you went to LED's. If so how much? I have made a 9 channel arch with 140 LED's per section and the comet tail effect looks like fading sections that are easy to see.

Dennis

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Dale

I'm still putting the 2008 two colour arches together, but I plan on using dimming with both the LEDs & the minis. LOR dimming on the Minis worked fine in 2007. Being in Australia, the lights come with low voltage transformers - 24V. I used a PC LOR board to control & dim the minis last year.

I plan to get some DC LOR boards at the June sale for control of the arch LEDs and other LEDs. My LED strings came with 24V DC plug packs, but the response on power down is too slow probably as the packs includes filtering capacitors, so I have bought 24V switch mode power supplies to power the LOR DC boards.

My initial testing looks good, but I won't have a fully operating arch til July or later.

Regards - Geoff

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  • 6 months later...

Geoff,



Sorry Silly question.....newbie here........living in PErth........where do you ge good LED lights at a decent price in Australia....or is that an oxymoron? :)

Do you have a website to view your Xmas lights?

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Guys,

Check out Lowell Fuher's (Papa-LF on the forums) how to video for the leaping light arches. He did a great job. I think he is out of his winder kits that he uses in the videos, but if you approach him, he might sell you his personal copy. Here is a link:

http://www.constantlychristmas.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3852&highlight=leaping

This will hyper link you to his site.

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Folks, after seeing these photos, I began to wonder how delicate these arches are when using those incandescent glass mini bulbs? It seems that if the arches aren't handled with care, and they fall over during setup, some of the bulbs would break.

I have not built my arches yet, but I was thinking about using some of those thin rope lights from Walmart and wrap them tighly around the pipe. I saw some in the store for $7 that were 18 feet long with 216 bulbs. If I did the math correctly, 18 feet wrapped around 1 inch pipe would yield a segment about 66 inches (5.5 feet) in length.

Anyone else using rope light?

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zman wrote:

Guys,

Check out Lowell Fuher's (Papa-LF on the forums) how to video for the leaping light arches. He did a great job. I think he is out of his winder kits that he uses in the videos, but if you approach him, he might sell you his personal copy. Here is a link:

http://www.constantlychristmas.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3852&highlight=leaping

Looks like it isn't going to play without signing up to be a member.
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For reference:

In the UK I purchased most of my lights from http://www.lights4fun.co.uk

They are the most reasonably priced that I can find!

I have put ten sections on my arch this year. The arch is about 6/7m long - 18/21ft in old money. All one colour.

I used 1" PVC cable trucking to create it, but its rather flimsy to say the least (it was the best I could come up with at the time). Any suggestions on how to stabilise the entire mass? Is there a well known trick that I can copy or is it trial and error (Im guessing thats what it is!)

Regards

Rob

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Maybe you could add a 1/2" PVC conduit *inside* the 1" conduit. Not sure if it would fit, but if it did I would imagine that would make it less flimsy.

-Jeff

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