Hello!

[outdoorsman97]

obviously, new to the Forum. used to do a fair amount of static displays back in the early 90's - once the grandkids came along, I started having more fun with it - I had three identical wireframe jumping deer - I welded up some different length posts/adapters, painted them flat black and sent the deer flying. that was such a hit I made up a sequencer on a proto board, and made it a "4 count" - and the little girls didn't want to leave the display - now they ere three and 4, but they loved the deer. until they became teenagers, this was a thing every year  - and I loved doing it - always striving to make something new somehow every time.

I designed, etched and made up my own boards to sequence - adjustable speed, could make them up to 18 outputs - but pretty soon - like 2009, sequencing was not enough. I could adjust the speed, so I would do a small one going slow and a larger one going faster, just to make it hard to se the  sequence. about 2014, I got my first LOR box. also got a solder it up kit. (still not assembled, but found it!

I did a small sequence to do leaping arches, built one arch, just to see if it would really work - and wow!

then life happened with a vengeance. then covid got me, and I got fired for honoring the quarantine. from an on-the job exposure. I also got covid from that, and had some rough years - last July I was in a nasty highway speed motorcycle crash - still recovering, but walking. my hands are still a mess - I cannot open my own jars - can barely make my own coffee.

so, last November I had the idea to put up some Christmas lights. that used to always cheer me up to do.

my house is on the back corner of ten wooded acres, with a 20 mph corner that has the road go on two sides of the property. cannot see the house from the road. aside from the corner, it is a 50 mph county road. no need to decorate the house - it is all at the edge of the woods.

I loaded some lights and a placement stick in a wagon and hobbled the 1000 feet to the end of the driveway, and put lights in a tree as far as I could reach - no ladders for me yet - and proceeded to put up a rather pathetic, very meager probably 10 strings of lights. scrounged through the gear I have not seen in years, found a timer for the lights, and fired it up the Sunday after Thanksgiving. was down there making sure it all lit, and the first car going by almost stopped, and they were checking out the lights. got a thumbs up! suddenly I realized I was smiling, and for a few moments I didn't even feel any pain.

so every day I made a trip down there and added to it as best I could. found the LOR box. dug out my (single) leaping arch. spent about 24 hours struggling with the keyboard to get a 3 minute sequence done to run the arch, and 7 lit trees, and one beast of a star (legacy). overall, not an amazing show - but it has been the best therapy for me.

with the sudden loss of income, and no full use of either hand - I have retired early, and going to entertain myself and the commuters for several holidays, but on a very tight budget to work from, so improvements will happen as I can. seeing people smile and slow down has been uplifting, and well worth it. we did have one brave soul stop and backup to see the entire show.

I have no intention of sequencing with music - just animated lights - the county will get after me if I create a traffic hazard.

so, I am here for inspiration and ideas. I didn't want to just lurk around - and kind of wanted people to understand where I am coming from if I have questions.

because of occasional flooding - there is a berm around the pump-house - I am planning on adding a "lake" (experimenting on how to make it look cool), with a waterfall, or river with rapids coming down the berm, and then like a blue river feeding out from there - because I have a few scraps that can be set together and looks like a bridge - and I can decorate the bridge.

long winded, I know - but just wanted to say hello.

[dgrant]

Well, Hello back to you! I'm not a legal expert in any way, but I can't imagine the county getting onto you. Its your property so you "should" be able to do as you wish. Lights to music is not as hard as you might think but it takes more time. Since you have time, sorry about that, you can do it if you wish. Depending on the channel count, it usually takes the average person about 3 hours for every 1 minute of music. The better you get at it, the faster it goes.

    The rewards for seeing the lights respond to the music is more appreciated when you see it run. Your passing viewers, also get to see and hear it. It makes a difference. You do need to account for a few changes such as a transmitter for the cars to tune too, a sign to tell them what channel to tune too, possibly speakers to the yard if you wish so basically the infrastructure to make it all happen.

    As for your built in possible enhancements such as the berm, bridge and whatever you create, you can really have fun with it. Almost anything you can dream up, can be done in one way or another. Yeah, its a matter of money usually so those of us living on less income than desirable, it becomes more of a challenge but oh well. My display is massive, spanning two houses and with that, comes storage issues. I created all of my props to be able to come apart for storage but strong enough to stand up to winds, rain and sometimes hail, ice and snow. So each of us have our limitations but oh well.

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[k6ccc]

Welcome to the forum!  sorry to hear about your last few crappy years.  Hope you continue to recover.

One question is will there be places where people can safely park to be able to watch the show?  That may substantially affect what you can an can not practically do.  The last thing you want is for someone getting hurt because they were forced to make a dangerous road crossing to get to where they can park.

One other suggestion is to specify your location at least a little tighter than "Oregon" on your profile.  You will find people who may be able to assist you or want to come see your show if the better know where you are.