My "Tune In" Sign

[scodavis]

Hello!  I would like to share my final "Tune In" sign that I will be using this year for my first-ever animated Christmas light show.  In case others are curious how this was made, here is a list of materials and the steps I took to put everything together:

Materials:

• Black Coro Board (Starting Size 8' x 4')
• 2x2x8' Douglas Fir Wood (Quantity 3)
• 100-Count Yellow M6 Full-Wave Rectified LED Lights (Quantity 4)
• Kilz Premium Latex Primer
• Black Exterior Flat Paint with Primer
• Galvanized Screws & Stainless Steel Washers

Steps:

1. Planned out all lettering, point by point, on a computer (I used Adobe Illustrator but you can also use graph paper), and printed it out
2. Used 1/8" drill bit to drill holes for all letters
3. Cut 2x2 boards to the proper length to build the frame (3 long horizontal pieces, two vertical pieces)
4. Primed all wood with Kilz primer, then painted black
5. Drilled holes to attach Coro to wooden frame
6. Used galvanized screws and stainless steel washers to attach Coro to frame
7. Used longer galvanized screws to secure various pieces of wooden frame to each other
8. Pushed lights into all 394 holes from behind

I plan to have more pictures of the build up on my website, which should be up this summer (so the web address you see on the sign currently does not go anywhere).

Naturally, I will follow this topic so feel free to ask questions if you have them.  This was a long project that took about half a day to design and drill the light holes, and a full day to do the painting and building.  I am extremely happy with the result.

[Cdanna77]

Very nice job. Well done. 

[Old Sarge]

I like it... Looks like a good project. how often do you check to make sure you do not have to change freq.  

I was on one freq and after one season had to change to another because I could hear a distant station coming on the one I was using.

Dont want to get anyone complaining to the FCC about it.

[B.Y.R.G.]

Looks good but maybe you could paint those silver screws in front black?

[George Simmons]

2 hours ago, B.Y.R.G. said:

Looks good but maybe you could paint those silver screws in front black?

I agree.

But having said that, I think it would also look pretty cool to paint the black silver.

[scodavis]

21 hours ago, Old Sarge said:

I like it... Looks like a good project. how often do you check to make sure you do not have to change freq.  

I was on one freq and after one season had to change to another because I could hear a distant station coming on the one I was using.

Dont want to get anyone complaining to the FCC about it.

My 2016 show will be the first I've ever done, so I have never had to change the frequency.  I chose the frequency based on two things - (a) it tested well at my house, and (b) a local neighborhood (5 miles away) that also animates their lights uses this frequency so I know it works very well in our area.

That said, when I wired up the sign, I do have several extra lights, all of which I left behind where the frequency numbers are.  If I do need to change the frequency (as long as I keep it under 100) then I can simply punch a couple extra holes and move the lights.

[scodavis]

18 hours ago, B.Y.R.G. said:

Looks good but maybe you could paint those silver screws in front black?

I was thinking about that, and I probably will.  But even with how bright and shiny the screws and washers are, when it is dark outside and you're looking at the sign, all of the focus is on the lights and reading the lettering and you don't even really notice the screws.  But yeah, it would be a simple matter to brush some black paint onto them.  I've got plenty of exterior black latex leftover from when I built and painted the frame.

[k6ccc]

Looks very nice.  What is the overall dimensions of the frame?

I have had two very simple signs for the past two years - visible in the 5th photo from the top at:  http://newburghlights.org/CCP_Arches.html

I want to do something nicer this year, but still pondering what exactly to do.  Something that uses low voltage DC lights is logistically easier as I have extra DC channels available (and an idle 24 channel DC controller in addition to that).

 

 

[scodavis]

1 hour ago, k6ccc said:

Looks very nice.  What is the overall dimensions of the frame?

I have had two very simple signs for the past two years - visible in the 5th photo from the top at:  http://newburghlights.org/CCP_Arches.html

I want to do something nicer this year, but still pondering what exactly to do.  Something that uses low voltage DC lights is logistically easier as I have extra DC channels available (and an idle 24 channel DC controller in addition to that).

Thanks, Jim!

Spacing between the individual lights is approximately 3/4 of an inch.  The finished sign is 77 inches wide by 21 inches tall, and weighs 17.5 pounds.  The photo below shows the back so you can see how everything is mounted.  I laid things out very carefully and only had to waste one light - on the right hand side, where I go from the bottom section to the top - due to the distance between the letters.

I like the idea of using dumb RGB pixels or something - you could give each of your words a different channel, and vary them between songs (or even slowly during songs if you wanted).  I'll bet it would look really nice.

I also commend you on your CCP arches - they look really neat and you clearly put a lot of effort into their design.  It's amazing to see how much that PVC lights up with the CCP inside it as well!

-Scott

[k6ccc]

29 minutes ago, scodavis said:

I also commend you on your CCP arches - they look really neat and you clearly put a lot of effort into their design.  It's amazing to see how much that PVC lights up with the CCP inside it as well!

Thanks Scott.  Please note that the pipe is PEX and NOT PVC.  PVC attenuates the light more than the PEX and more important, changes the color quite a bit (makes it very yellow), whereas the PEX does not make much difference to the color.