Vince4xmas Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 My arches are exactly what Matt Johnson did. Love them. Had them for 4 years.....only CCR that has lasted.....since is covered in 2" McMaster Carr polyethene tubing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 Curious for those of you using the Matt Johnson method. How do you keep them in place. Matt only shows the rebar cover as the only "stand" That might keep the arch vertical if on a solid surface (concrete) - until the first puff of wind. And would not stand a chance of keeping the arch upright if on an uneven surface (lawn). I may end up rebuilding mine this year using his construction method - and McMaster Carr is only 20 minutes away from here (and I drive a truck) so no shipping charge for me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtomason Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 2 minutes ago, k6ccc said: Curious for those of you using the Matt Johnson method. How do you keep them in place. Matt only shows the rebar cover as the only "stand" That might keep the arch vertical if on a solid surface (concrete) - until the first puff of wind. And would not stand a chance of keeping the arch upright if on an uneven surface (lawn). I may end up rebuilding mine this year using his construction method - and McMaster Carr is only 20 minutes away from here (and I drive a truck) so no shipping charge for me... I drilled holes through the corners of the rebar covers and drove large nails through them into the lawn when I had them on the lawn (using metal strip instead of wood as a base). Worked well. Now on the porch rail they are grip-clamped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kapkirk Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 Changes for 2021 I am taking the 5 shooting stars off my roof to go from my front yard to the neighbors tall pine tree, and will try to install some form of lights near the top to light after the shooting stars go off in order, not to be very easy because the tree is a good 80-90 feet high. But that is the first half of my change. The other half is I am going to construct a 4' x 8' American Flag out of aluminum and stainless steel cable, with the lights tied to the cable to form the flag and then place it on the roof where the stars are. I am using the cable because I believe the wind will be negated that way and not become a wind sail. We had 55-60 mph winds this season and had to take my buddies flag off his roof because of the wind. And I hope constructing this way I can tilt the flag for best viewing angle regardless of wind. And the last change is I found 2 spare controllers in my office (thought only had 1 spare), so I think I will add them to my 24' Mega Tree, currently I am using 45 channels for the 135 light stands, 3 strands per channel for each color. I am thinking by adding 32 channels I can make near 2 strings per channel and make it look better. And of course if I find some more dollars I may add an extra mini tree to the 10 I have for 11. Will make sequencing easier maybe. That is my plan for next year, just ordered the lights for the flag from Holiday Light Express. After takedown only have about 300 days left, dang the days are counting down already LOL. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prevue12 Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 (edited) I'm probably adding eight, 7 section section arches with Super Strings, (RGBW) and maybe 5mm strobes for some "POP", strobes would be one channel, not broke into seven programable. Edited January 1, 2021 by prevue12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmcmillin2001 Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 we'll see how much cash I have come LOR spring mad grab... interested in learning how to weld and making my own wire frames... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prevue12 Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 3 hours ago, tmcmillin2001 said: we'll see how much cash I have come LOR spring mad grab... interested in learning how to weld and making my own wire frames... Welding is worth learning, it opens up lots of things you just can't do with wood or PVC. I recommend you look into it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibblejr Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 On 12/29/2020 at 8:30 PM, jtomason said: Ditto - Love the display and love your sequencing. I've already added 2 more arches this year and relocated them to the spaces between the columns on the porch railing. I'm still looking at options for the roofline (likely a pixel line) and replacing dumb RGBs with pixels around the windows. It'll be my first foray into power injection... Wish me luck. :D 1/2" pvc conduit and the HC clips. On my 40' section I have 6 clips and they have been up there 4 years. Some of them in my garage for my test lights break easy so when the hurricane damage a section of lights I figured they would break after 4 years. I was wrong, they all stayed in place and in one piece. Go figure. I use the rectangular ws2811 5050's They have double sided tape and screw holes but dont put to much torque on them. In 4 years it took a hurricane to wreck that one set but I did post here a video of what 4 years of AL heat and direct sunlight has done. I will be replacing all of them for 2021. I feel they were a great choice since they lasted that long. If they were not so high 40 and 60' I would take them down every year. JR 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~DOC~ Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 (edited) Hopefully two neighbors houses which will only require me to explain what they need to do to outline pixels on their house. Most of my part is just sequencing and making the connection. For me Arches and another smaller tree. Overall I really need to increase my library of sequence plus improve the sequences I have. Edited January 3, 2021 by ~DOC~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james morris Posted January 8, 2021 Share Posted January 8, 2021 8 flood light set I have one programing the sequences Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BWCFWI Posted January 10, 2021 Share Posted January 10, 2021 Going all the way to the top of my boulevard trees this year (4 trees). About 60' tall. Finally got my sane and better looking half's blessing on renting a boom lift. Need to make up for 2020 as only got up about 3000 lights before the Covid put me down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebrown1972 Posted January 24, 2021 Author Share Posted January 24, 2021 I decided to stick with my 1200 pixel matrix but changed the spacing from 1.9" to 1.5". It looks great in my opinion. I purchased 40 snowfall ws2811 tubes and plan a project with them (not sure exactly just yet). I also purchased my first wire frames from Doug at wire frame dlites. One is Jesus carrying the cross and one is of him standing. I plan to use pixels for the wire frames. I will also have 78 sets of 100 count 5mm strobes this year. I bought 16 sets last year and really like the look they give and decided to go all out on them. I plan to place them all over my roof. I still plan on using my moving heads this year (didn't get to it last year). It's going to be a busy year getting things built and sequencing but I look forward to it very much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james morris Posted January 26, 2021 Share Posted January 26, 2021 Also adding moving Head Lights got one to start working with 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orville Posted January 26, 2021 Share Posted January 26, 2021 For 2021 I'm adding 7 more CCB100D Controllers {for a total of 12 controllers} and a lot more C9 RGB Bulbs. Not even sure where I'm going to put them at yet. Still trying to figure that out. Also am trying or attempting to convert an old Permit Box that was left at my house after the construction of my 66 foot wrap around handicap ramp. Will be using bullet nodes for the matrix project, if I can ever figure out what I'm doing to make a matrix and make it work and get it created in the Visualizer and hopefully SS providing some funding comes in so I can register it at the 40 CCR level. Matrix will be 24 nodes across and 8 nodes down. It'll be small, but hopefully can use it to make a tune to sign and maybe scroll some Christmas greetings across it. Not sure if it'd be suitable for displaying any type graphics. Since I've never created one or sequenced one, that'll be a new experience for me. Or if that isn't feasible, maybe just turn it into a simple Tune To sign. The bullet node strands are 50 count, but will be cut down to 48 nodes to fit the matrix set up/ So 24x8 is what I think it will be, but I haven't tested that out to make sure I can do that on the box front as yet. Got to pull the Permit Box out and do some checking to see what I end up creating with it. But that's part of my plans for Christmas 2021. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hasslerk Posted January 27, 2021 Share Posted January 27, 2021 13 hours ago, james morris said: Also adding moving Head Lights got one to start working with What did you get? I was thinking about adding a couple as well, and want to get one to start playing with to figure it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hasslerk Posted January 27, 2021 Share Posted January 27, 2021 On 1/24/2021 at 10:38 AM, ebrown1972 said: ...I also purchased my first wire frames from Doug at wire frame dlites. I had not heard of this site before. I went out to look and he has a disclaimer that orders for all of 2021 have already closed. I guess I am like @tmcmillin2001 and want to learn how to weld anyways; maybe this is the year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibblejr Posted January 27, 2021 Share Posted January 27, 2021 1 hour ago, hasslerk said: I had not heard of this site before. I went out to look and he has a disclaimer that orders for all of 2021 have already closed. I guess I am like @tmcmillin2001 and want to learn how to weld anyways; maybe this is the year. Yes, my friend Doug's frames are highly soft after. You need to contact him very early for the next season. LOL JR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebrown1972 Posted January 27, 2021 Author Share Posted January 27, 2021 10 hours ago, hasslerk said: I had not heard of this site before. I went out to look and he has a disclaimer that orders for all of 2021 have already closed. I guess I am like @tmcmillin2001 and want to learn how to weld anyways; maybe this is the year. I'm sure building wire frames is doable for most folks and it appears that welding is very minimal on the frames. I say go for it. Good luck and keep us updated on how it turns out if you decide to start building them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tlogan Posted January 27, 2021 Share Posted January 27, 2021 11 hours ago, hasslerk said: I guess I am like @tmcmillin2001 and want to learn how to weld anyways; maybe this is the year. I keep thinking the same thing. Every time I get an add with a coupon from Harbor Freight I REALLY think about it. Let me know when you're ready and maybe we can do it together. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Life With Lights Posted January 27, 2021 Share Posted January 27, 2021 Welding is fun i will say that. Where I work that was part of the job. They gave me a crash course on how to weld. i was working 3rd so had lot of time playing with the welders here. So about 7 yrs ago i bought the 90 amp welder from Harbor Freight and started making some wire frames. I would search the internet for ideals. I first would use poster board for making my templets. Now I have upgraded to the Vulcan 220 it works so great. Also making my templets I use MDF Boards because it want burn as bad and you can put nails to form around. The metal I use 3/16 rod that I get from a local metal shop whole lot better the big box stores. The lights I use Walmart LED sets for most of them you can cut them in half. Plus you can swap out the lights to line up the colors you want. Since they are just for me it gives me more meaning for doing my light shows. And now I got me a 3D printer that has opened up a whole new world of possibilities to create for my show. The spider and webs I made last yr going to make 2 more this yr for other side of the house. The soldier and cannon was one of my favorite things I made. I do want to add more soldiers to it. There is a bunch more i have made but this are the only ones i have pictures of on my phone today. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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