Photos of set-up

[deplanche]

Before everyone takes down their set-ups (not that I expect anyone will do that for a few more weeks, given the time it seems to take to set them up), I was wondering if anyone can post some photos of what they have done. However, I am not looking for ones of the lit up displays, but all of the equipment to get it to look good at night... the various boards connected together and to the computer, the control cables, the extension chords, etc. If these are on here already, I appologize, but I can't seem to find anything like that.

Also, being new to this, I am still looking for some good, yet simple directions, on the boards and assembly to see if this is something I will be able to do myself or not. There is lots of good information on this site, but I am having difficulty finding it all, or putting together the information from several locations. So any suggestions you may have would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Jon

[NanoWit]

Check out the 3 videos posted by Xmus

http://doityourselfchristmas.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2096

As a newbie, I found them most useful.

[Macrosill]

Jon,
There is not much that really needs to be done to "hide" things at night. It is dark and when the lights flash peoples are are adjusted for the darkness so things get bright and they can be almost blinded at times. The white and orange cables blend in and are not seen except by you and a few eagle eyed individuals. The only thing I do is when I am building props and enclosures I paint them black. Like the pvc light canons,Mega Tree frame and relays housings. This are painted black. Other than that not much effort is put into hiding things.

Pics may come in a day or 2.

[rrowan]

Like the pvc light canons,Mega Tree frame and relays housings. This are painted black. Other than that not much effort is put into hiding things.

Pics may come in a day or 2.

Wait, what are light canons?

Rick R.

[Macrosill]

[siteimg:e9d55af4f2]160[/siteimg:e9d55af4f2]

[hutchijw]

There are a few pictures to be seen here
http://www.putfile.com/hutchijw/images/140312

also, more here
http://www.woodmerechristmas.com/Setup.html

Feel free to ask any questions.

[acewingman]

I put up a few pictures of some creative uses of PVC...

http://www.putfile.com/acewingman/images/168692

Can not remember the person I got the idea of the PVC endcap pod from but I think it was someone on this website. I thought it was a great idea and used it for my SSRs.
http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/12/36410511084.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=7388158) http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/12/36410510941.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=7388151)
http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/12/36410510934.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=7388152) http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/12/36410510966.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=7388155)
http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/12/36410510930.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=7388154) http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/12/36410511023.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=7388156)
http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/12/36410511044.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=7388159) http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/12/36410511092.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=7388160)

[Mudsculpter]

Nice Pods,.. great use of duct tape

That was here and,... Thank you for saying so.

http://computerchristmas.com/christmas/link-how_to/HowToId-115/SSR_Pod_enclosure

[petefats]

I used the exact same enclosure for my SSRs. They have been sitting under about a foot of snow for the last week, running every night. None have failed.

Not too shabby for a $2 enclosure. Gotta love PVC.

[Matt]

Looking good at night is easy. Looking good in the daytime is not so easy.

Some quick suggestions:

-Cover your SSRs with black plastic or ziploc bags, or put them inside.

-White cables tend to stand out the most, sometimes even more than orange extension cords!

-Put SSRs and controllers behind bushes, inside mini trees or blowmolds, or inside the garage or house.

-Keep cable runs together with cable ties or tape.

-Try to cut cables to the exact length they need to be - not too short, or you will be cutting corners to get them where they need to go, resulting in an untidy mess.

-If a cable is too long, put the excess length in a hidden place (in controller enclosure, in garage, in gutter) rather than laying the excess in a heap in the open.

-Paint enclosures and display elements a color that blends in, preferably black.

-Use the green extension cords in grass and brown cords in beds, for highly visible runs, even if they are more expensive.

-I have heard it is possible to use rit dye or something to darken bright cables.

Hope a few of these help!

-Matt

[Macrosill]

Matt, those are some great tips. Maybe you could add them to the Qwiki tips page on the Christmas Wiki (http://doityourselfchristmas.com/wiki/index.php)!

[Matt]

The above tips have now been added to the Qwiki Tips page on the wiki.

-Matt

[WWNF911]

[siteimg:e9d55af4f2]160[/siteimg:e9d55af4f2]

Just an idea based on your design Brian. Do you think it's do-able?

Super Light Canon

[Macrosill]

Not sure if that would be an easy unit to build. You are adding a rotating wheel with the colors on it. So you now need a motor and some way of indexing the colors location so you could have the required color in front of the bulb at the time needed. You can buy premade units that will do this but they run off DMX. This does not mean it can not be done but 3 bulbs is easier than adding moving parts. IMO.

[WWNF911]

Thanks Brian,

Would it have to have a rotating wheel or could you just use four different color leds mounted to a pcb of some kind in a larger housing?

Thanks

Leon

[Trepidati0n]

Looking good at night is easy. Looking good in the daytime is not so easy.

Some quick suggestions:

-Cover your SSRs with black plastic or ziploc bags, or put them inside.


I would disagree with this one because if moisture does get in, it will be trapped inside.

[kostyun]

I would disagree with this one because if moisture does get in, it will be trapped inside.

I have to disagree on your disagreement. I think this all depends on where your at. An upside down bag has worked fine for me for years without any issues. I think others have used this in snow also, with no problems. This year I had almost 3" of rain during december and didn't have a problem with the SSR's that were bagged.

[WWNF911]

I would have to disagree with your disagreement about our agreement to disagree,.... Oh sorry,... wrong conversation.

Hey Brian,

I appologize. I hadn't seen what the MR-16 actually looks like until today. (Action lights catalog arrived) I'm getting it now. I suppose it's still do-able. Just have to fugure out how to make an enclosure that would work.

Thanks

Leon