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When to buy???


csimmon5

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I am new to this. Saw a Gemmy light show w/ sound this year, ending up buying one, and now I am hooked. I want to upgrade to a light o rama controller for next season ( looking at the CTB16PC ). My question is, when is the best/cheapest time to buy one??

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csimmon5 wrote:

I am new to this. Saw a Gemmy light show w/ sound this year, ending up buying one, and now I am hooked. I want to upgrade to a light o rama controller for next season ( looking at the CTB16PC ). My question is, when is the best/cheapest time to buy one??

During the sale typically early summer - get on the mailing list they send out an announcement.

Harrison
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Also watch this forum and the web site.. Sometimes you get early notice, or other incentives here, beyond the mailing list... But I would not expect any good opportunities past the official summer sale.

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csimmon5 wrote:

How good is the sale? Is it substantially cheaper? I notice right now, the price is $205.


I want to say it was in the 185ish range during the sale - it isnt that bad of deal off sale but might as well where you can. The controlers are the cheap parts.

Harrison
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You might want to get the software now though, there are big changes coming and you'll get the top of the line software if you have it before the summer.

The kit that is $205 now is perfect if you can do some simple assembly and don't want to mess with soldering.

hbomb is right though, the controllers are the cheap part! After the controllers and software (might want to get a USB adapter as well), you've got the FM transmitter, lights obviously, and lots of extension cords. Do not underestimate cords.

Also keep track of power, you can only have 8 amps max per channel, 15 per side. Generally you don't want to max it out either. I actually had to split up my house onto 2 channels per color because of power.

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As David said, get the software now. I am not sure what big changes he was referring too, but it is likely that the software price will increase next year. If you buy the starter kit, LOR will send a link to the software and hold the adapter and cable until you purchase your controllers.

Jeff also brings up a good point about planning. Most major retailers have already started their Christmas sales and lights are becoming scarce. Extension cords is probably the biggest surprise. Remember that each channel will have at least one cord (maybe 2 or 3 depending on what you are using it for). The method I use is to buy cheap $1 6' extension cords and splice wire to it. The cost savings is offset buy the effort to build them. Vampire plugs are an excellent way to go. Funny that the price of wire has not changed much since the plunge in the price of copper. Perhaps we will see nice reductions this summer.

The summer sale will save you a few bucks (not a lot, but a savings non-the less). 2 years ago, there was a free shipping option. Last year they had drawings for a chance at 'free' and a top prize of a computer.

If you can swing it, it's not a bad idea to buy a controller now so you can get a sense for what it is, how it works, and how the lights will look. It will make planner easier.

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If you can check out the LOR boards a couple times a month ... you may get lucky like I did last year, with the year-end inventory reduction sale (aka. the "Secret Sale") ... which LOR did a sale with similar prices to the June sale ... but since they only have limited quantities, only board regulars knew about it ... which was still a LOT of folks. I think that was in Jan or Feb ... my memory isn't too good.

I used the planning spreadsheet from Quartzhill Christmas and that was a critical tool in determining power distrubution and load balancing ... which incorporates into your desired layout. It also helps you determine how many extension cords you will need and how many heavy duty cords you will need to feed the controllers with. For me, 3 of the 6 controllers are so close to the GFCI outlets, that I plug them straight in. The other 3 require heavy duty 12/3 cords that are expensive ... and those controllers are deployed into convienient locations (1 on roof, 1 under mega tree, 1 in yard).

All the planning leads to a good channel configuration being created in LOR S2. Then you start doing songs (sequences) after you have a lot of the planning established. Of course you can always play around with it, as a way of learning how to sequence.

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If you are serious buy the software now. I did the starter package and this is the reply that I got.
Please let us know if you are interested in a controller at this time or if we should only charge you $103.95 for the software and the CD. If you want a controller at a later time please mention in the comment section that you have already purchased the software and to include the USB and 10 foot cable at the Starter Package Price. We will change the prices of the items to reflect that.

Kind Regards,

Mary Baldwin

So when I purchase the controllers I will send the e-mail back and get the rest of it. The software is going to go up in price for the advanced (top) software. Mary was very helpful with the order and look forward to dealing with her again.

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