rgardner518 Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 I have not found a thread on here solely to do with arches, so I though I would start one! I have tried to search for my answer with no results, so I hopw I can get the answers here!What are some tips on making some arches. I will be making 2 ythis summer for the first time. What are the motors are being used for the spinning, and who do you attach it to that said motor. Pictures would be great!Thanks In Advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Fischer Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 Over on PlanetChristmas, there is a whole forum dedicated to arches... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bwaldrep Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 ny_yankee_25 wrote:What are the motors are being used for the spinning, and who do you attach it to that said motor. Pictures would be great!motors? what type of arches are you making? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgardner518 Posted December 23, 2009 Author Share Posted December 23, 2009 bwaldrep wrote: ny_yankee_25 wrote:What are the motors are being used for the spinning, and who do you attach it to that said motor. Pictures would be great!motors? what type of arches are you making?I'm talking about what do yo use to make the arches? I heard of tater motors and drills, all to spin the pole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Fischer Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 ny_yankee_25 wrote:bwaldrep wrote: ny_yankee_25 wrote:What are the motors are being used for the spinning, and who do you attach it to that said motor. Pictures would be great!motors? what type of arches are you making?I'm talking about what do yo use to make the arches? I heard of tater motors and drills, all to spin the pole.Over on PC someone just posted a how-to on that very subject. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LENNY RUEL Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 Unless they are large arches with only doing two spin it by hand. It's easy.I did 4, 16 foot archs of 9 channels each and it takes about 3 hours each max by yourself and about two if someone else does the spinning. This includes cutting off the plugs and extending them to the end of the arch with zip wire. If you use 3/4" grey conduit which is the suggested material because of its flex you will get between 17 and 20 inches of coverage per 100 light string of minis (22-24' long) depending on how tight you wrap.I measured the center and marked 9 inches to either side as starting points for my center channel and worked out from both sides with the other 8 channels. If you are going with an even amount of channels just mark the center and workout from either side of that.Lenny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iresq Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 http://talk.planetchristmas.com/forumdisplay.php?f=175 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 I'm using a 49-foot-long arch this year. Read my post for more information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaceMedic Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 Quick question .....I am planning on doing 2 mini arches for my front lawn.Is it better to have an even or odd number of channels,or does it really matter ?!Thanks,Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lightzilla Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 RaceMedic wrote: Quick question .....I am planning on doing 2 mini arches for my front lawn.Is it better to have an even or odd number of channels,or does it really matter ?!Thanks,DaveMany folks use odd numbers 5,7,9 channels, they like the lights to stop at the very top.I use 8 channels myself and there are others like me. Of course if you add another colour or two then add another 8 channels per colour.Like others have said look at the link above for answers. Most are turning to the sleeve idea now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 Hi Dave,I'll give the counterpoint to Lightzilla. I prefer an odd number of channels. I use seven channels on my arches. The reason is along the lines of what Lightzilla said - the ability to have one solitary channel in the center. I prefer having only one segment light at the "top" of the arch (as opposed to two) for starting a cascade effect. I have eight arches and I also like using just the center channel of the arches for lateral motion across the yard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Don Gillespie Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 Steven I love your arch what do you use to support it from falling down at that height I would be afraid it would crash into my house and wreck my windows are you using cables to support it?? let me know but that is a really cool looking arch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 Don Gillespie wrote: Steven I love your arch what do you use to support it from falling down at that height I would be afraid it would crash into my house and wreck my windows are you using cables to support it?? let me know but that is a really cool looking archThanks for the compliment!When I was testing the arch last October, it did fall onto the house (garage, actually). But it didn't cause any damage, mostly because despite its massive look, it's pretty light. I can fold the arch, pick it up, and carry it to the shed in the back yard by myself.During the Christmas season, the arch is guyed with 4 lengths of polyester twine. Two are in the back, anchored to an eye screw under the peak of the eaves on the garage. One goes to the grill of the van, and one goes to the city tree. I don't run the guy lines to the ground so people don't run into them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Surfing4Dough Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 Holdman's Arch-making video Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaceMedic Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 On a different note ... from your experiences ... my two arches are going to be small ones for the lawn, 6 channels each and I have planned for 100 c6 bulbs 33' per channel ... is that going to be enough ?Thank-you for sharing ALL your experience with a newbie.Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walter davidson Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 We built 10 ea. twenty ft. arches and 4 10 ft. arches and I used a gear driven motor from a icee machine that I got from a salvage dealer and afoor control switch from granger and my wife started in the middle and I was at the end and it it took us about 45 min. to wrap them each. We used 1 inch pvc, I will try to get pics this week-end. Walter Davidson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffBlan Posted February 12, 2010 Share Posted February 12, 2010 May I dare suggest using a CCR? That is what I and many others did. I used two CCR's to create 4 arches and I could make them any color I wanted:-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Don Gillespie Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 I haven,t tried the CCR are they easy to work with and is the programing the same as a musical sequence?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffBlan Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 I mounted the CCR's onto PVC pipe to form the arches. I applied the ribbons to the arch using velcro so I could remove them in the off season. The velcro didn't stick to the ribbon so I had to use silicone to attach the velcro strips which worked quite well.As for programming, it isn't too difficult. I made my ribbons a resolution of 25 so it would cut the number of channels in half. Still that means there are 75 channels to program if you are not using the macros. The hard part for me is when I was mixing the RGB values to come up with the colors I wanted. That was a little tedious.If you use the macros, the programming can be MUCH easier. I used a combination of both. Once you understand how to use the macros, I thought it was rather easy to get the effects I want. When I couldn't get what I wanted, I used the 75 channels individually to get what I wanted.The bad thing about the macros is that you can't see their effects in the animation window so you have to have them plugged in while you are sequencing.If you use the 75 channel route, you can easily setup your animation to have the three RGB channels split into 25 segments to see exactly what it will look like in your display.Anyway, now that I've gone with CCR's, that is the direction I'm heading for the future. I'd like to outline my house with them so I only have to use one string of lights instead of 6 (I currently have red, blue, green, white, yellow and orange lights outlining my house). It would cut down on the number of extension cords I need.I just hope they get the extension cables soon so we don't have to use so many CCR controllers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harbs Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 Take a look at this thread in Planet Christmas.It is a new idea on how to make arches.It makes the wrapping process much easier plus storage and maintenance arealso improved.http://forums.planetchristmas.com/showthread.php?t=36584Harbs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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