Life before LOR

[Paul C]

Before I found LOR, I was using plc's triggered by a couple solid state relays connected to a stereo. Before that it was a motor turning a cam that would actuate switches.

MY question is to all of you LOR's is , what did you use to manipulate your Christmas lights before LOR.

[John Hertig]

Paul C wrote:

Before I found LOR, I was using plc's triggered by a couple solid state relays connected to a stereo. Before that it was a motor turning a cam that would actuate switches.

MY question is to all of you LOR's is , what did you use to manipulate your Christmas lights before LOR.

I started off with a 'gray box' timer wired into one circuit. Quickly started blowing that circuit. Then I went with a second circuit and several photocell timers. Pretty much maxed those circuits out (everything on at once). Then I added a couple of those 'original' light controllers (the ones with 6 channels and 20 pre-programmed patterns, no sound). 2 after Christmas sales ago I got the GE 'Lights and Sounds', but never used it because the very next summer I got LOR, which I used last Christmas.

[rwertz]

Thanks for asking. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Brian Peek referenced as an inspiration for a show. But had it not been for his example code on how to control lights using VB, I’d still be static.

I started with this program:
http://blogs.msdn.com/coding4fun/archive/2006/12/07/1230660.aspx


Rewritten to control a couple of these:
http://www.electronics123.com/s.nl/it.A/id.1712/.f?sc=14&category=35

[iresq]

Jeff Millard wrote:

Paul C wrote:

...what did you use to manipulate your Christmas lights before LOR...

The plug on the end of the extension cord that had all the lighs on the other end... I would plug it in, and just like magic the lights would come on in perfect time.

Jeff

Falling in my father's footsteps, we too utilized the plug and play as outlined by Jeff. Followed by X10, then Lights and Sound. The good old days.

[S Hughes]

I controlled about 2 strings of C9 (I think one year was icicles on the front of the house) by remote:

Honey,plug in the lights

or

Honey, make sure you unplug the lights before you goto bed

She is taking revenge on me now.....she keeps coming up with more stuff to program/wire/and try to find a place to put in the yard!!!

[Dale W]

Other than the twinkle bulb, there was a digital decorating instant light show controller that would allow you to choose up to 19 pre-programmed varieties of fade, twinkle for 6 circuits. I had about 4 of these across the yard that I had purchased from Target.

[Robin]

Jeff, I sure am glad you said it first. I would run around the house plugging stuff in and then at the end of the night unplug stuff. Man how I hated the end of the night.

[Paul C]

Hay guys, how long has LOR been around?.

Wish I new about it ten years ago. It was then that I first learned about PLC's. Can remember standing in front of an electrical panel, for our tray washer, asking how does that box with all the blinking outputs work. Thats all it took, no more static Christmas lights for me.

Thanks for the input guys.

[LightEnthusiast]

I believe LOR has been around since PLUS 2003.

[doublea]

The first year I did something more than just lights was 2004, I made everything blink, and I learned it does not look cool, so never again would I do that.


2004 everything was on a blinker....
2005 just music through a speaker, no blinking.
2006 digital decorating ( it's like mr Christmas, with no sound )
2007 lor 16 channel 3000 lights
2008 lor 16 channel 10000 lights, and the project moved to my friends house, and we now work on the show together.
...2009 lor 80 channel 40000 lights again on my friends house, mine is too small.

[LightsByGreg]

I had twinkle bulbs and chaser units, then I wanted to go with AL but it cost too much, then I used 2 of the digital decorating units, then I found LOR in 2005.

Thanks,
Greg

[doublea]

Humm digital decorating unit? I didn't know those things were popular, I got mime on some off wall website in 2006. I did see the digital decorating unit at walmart in 2005, but that was not in my budget that year.

Supprised to see that thing got soMe other folks into lor also.

[George Simmons]

I also used a digital decorating unit until it got destroyed in 2004 by a couple of medium-sized beasts passing themselves off as children. Before the DDU (and in other parts of the yard where the DDU wasn't) it was chasers and multi-function sets. I was never big into flasher bulbs, although I did find a couple of uses for them in various devices and contraptions over the years. And I always had c7 twinkle bulbs on a tree somewhere. I wouldn't have called it "static" back then, but compared to LOR, well yeah it was primitive. Charming, I hope, but definitely primitive. Ditto on the racing around to plug everything in - I never figured out how to get ANY brand of timers synchronized and I'm too anal to wait for stuff to get around to turning itself on.

I also looked into what DIYers were doing; didn't understand it and couldn't afford what little selection of stuff was being sold. I have finally found my salvation with LOR and have discovered what I was really put on this earth to do each Christmas...

[doublea]

I did manage to get some digital timers synced, it was way better than trying to do it with the analog timers.

Although many times I did run around turning them on by hand, when people were visiting.