jim6918 Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 One of the first things I want to change for 2010 is a better "Tune To..." sign. Although I really liked my design for the first year, there wasn't a single place I could put the sign in the yard that was very good. Either it was blocked by part of the fence, a tree, a parked car, too high, too low, etc., or it would block part of the display. If I put it in one place it was great for one direction of traffic but sucked for the other. I had a few (thank God) people even tell me that they never even saw the sign and didn't know the display was animated to music. I toyed with the idea of having a rotating rectangular sign, but don't want to mess with slip rings and such. Any ideas for a multidirectional sign that can be seen from different angles? Backlit would be better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ponddude Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 My sign is backlit. I had a local sign company make it for me. It actually came out excellent, but for the price I paid it should have. It is some sort of vinyl that is put over clear acrylic. I than have a bunch of rope light twisted around in the back and it lights up really well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimswinder Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 Ponddude wrote: My sign is backlit. I had a local sign company make it for me. It actually came out excellent, but for the price I paid it should have. It is some sort of vinyl that is put over clear acrylic. I than have a bunch of rope light twisted around in the back and it lights up really well.I did the same thing...was $47 for a 18" x 24" sign. At the shop it looked PLENTY big...but once I got it home and hung in the yard, it was quite small. I also am going to do something different...and BIGGER as many people did not know they could tune into a radio station. I am thinking perhaps a big plywood snowman holding a "Radio Sign", but I have no other "animated characters" in my display (just lights) so am thinking it will look out of place. Oh well...got 9 months to figure it out.The nights I was out directing traffic, I had a "sign" that read "Tune To..." on one side and "Headlights Off Please" on the other that I would show the car as they drove up.Where the heck did January go?!?!?!?!Will the next 9 months fly by too!!?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shfr26 Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 Hey Jim, I have a picture of my snowman if it gives you any ideas. Just hit the pic and it should show up. Thats just below the avatar ,actually below post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimswinder Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 shfr26 wrote: Hey Jim, I have a picture of my snowman if it gives you any ideas. Just hit the pic and it should show up. Thats just below the avatar ,actually below post.Yeah..I had seen yours before...hmmm...guess that's where I got the idea!!!! LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimswinder Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 jim6918 wrote: Any ideas for a multidirectional sign that can be seen from different angles? Backlit would be better.how about putting it on an oscillating fan motor?? LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shfr26 Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 jimswinder wrote: shfr26 wrote: Hey Jim, I have a picture of my snowman if it gives you any ideas. Just hit the pic and it should show up. Thats just below the avatar ,actually below post.Yeah..I had seen yours before...hmmm...guess that's where I got the idea!!!! LOLThat O.K. I'll share with ya. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bulldogs92 Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 jim6918 wrote: I had a few (thank God) people even tell me that they never even saw the sign and didn't know the display was animated to music.Jim,I have found that dealing with the public, that you could have a flashing neon sign (see attachment) in 15" letters, and they still wouldn't see it. Do what makes you happy. You will still have people say that didn't realize that your display is set to music. Attached files Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t.vanhouts Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 Here is how I did my sign last year. a Piece of glass. sandblast the words on it. Put in in a fotoframe or some other frame with led tubes around the glass. This way you can look through the glass when the sign is lit.Here is a picture of it by daylight. On my website i have also photo's by night. Sorry for the bad quality of the photo's. Attached files Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radioguy1007 Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 Tom:Where are your heat sinks on the triacs on your controllers? Even the low power ones that come with the kits are better than nothing. I know you are 220 volts there (half the current), but still the triac package alone does not dissipate much heat.Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Don Gillespie Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 Jim6918 wrote[line]Any ideas for a multidirectional sign that can be seen from different angles? Backlit would be better.[line]What I have done is a sandwich board that I put out nightly and take in when the show is over I put it on the sidewalk closest to the road this may not work well for you as I am on a corner lot it works great for me. I have actually thought of a sheet of plywood painted black with holes drilled in it to insert lights to display the frequency FM channel then I said thats a lot of work so I went with sandwich board. what ever you do it will be great, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t.vanhouts Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 radioguy1007 schreef: Tom:Where are your heat sinks on the triacs on your controllers? Even the low power ones that come with the kits are better than nothing. I know you are 220 volts there (half the current), but still the triac package alone does not dissipate much heat.MikeHi Mike,The CTB16PC kit controller I bought with the high power heat sinks and the original LOR enclosure. This controler I used for my five 3 channel trees and my coca cola truck. The high power heat sinks are mounted on the board in the enclosure. My two CMB16D controllers don't use heat sinks. The CMB16D controllers where delivered without heatsinks.The DC controller with 16 channels and eight channels of my second DC controller are 24Vdc. These are used for my 3 seven channel arches, the Tune to sign and a spare. The other 8 channels are 12Vdc. Those where used for my spotlights on the wall and my LED merry christmas sign.The channels for my spotlight are using 2,5Amps a channel, my arches 0,5Amps a channel, the Christmas sign 0,5 Amps a channel and the tune to sign 3Amps. The CMB16D controllers have a capability to draw 4 Amps a channel without using heatsinks.So as you can see I can put more lights on the DC board without overheat my triacs. The only thing is that a can't get more out of my 24Vdc and 12Vdc power supply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redbirdruss Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 I went to my local FEDEX/Kinko's and had them create a yard sign for me similar to a realtor yard sign. I light it with a white spotlight. It worked really well for me this year and looks very professional. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmoore Posted May 12, 2010 Share Posted May 12, 2010 Here is a solution from HolidayCoro.com: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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