Oh god!! what did i stumble upon

[PacMang]

My first day here and i have spent all day trying to figure out how to break it to my wife on what i plan to do next year!!! I am in so much trouble. I am already addicted.


So i have had a fairly large "STATIC" display (all white lights) for a few years now.

Added a bunch more from sales this year... then i stumbled onto this site... and now i realize I have been totally focused on the wrong thing... they would look 300% better animated.

So where to begin?

I know i want:
-dimmable
-somewhere around 128+ channels for the lights i already own..
-minimize the amount of cirucits i need to draw power from (dont want to add a sub panel unless necessary)
-cheap so my wife does not kill me.

Any suggestions to which controllers to look at?

I know how to use a soldering iron but its been 15 years since i did any real electronic tinkering... Although i am a Computer guru... already playing with vixen :)

[Trepidati0n]

Welcome to the forum. I'll be brutally honest about one thing...it costs about $10/channel in reality after you get all the stuff together. Thing like extension cords, CAT5, etc all add up in a hurry.

I would start here...

http://christmasinshirley.com/wiki/index.php?title=Comparison_of_DIY_Boards

While reading...figure out how you want to group you lights and it should help clear the mud a little. However I think most people are a fan of combinations of small clusters of channels (4) and larger groups (lynx, rendard24, etc). The table is pretty complete.

[P. Short]

If you are already set up in terms of power for 128 channels, you should be good to go when you switch over to dimming. It should use less power (perhaps a lot less) than the same number and type of static lights.

--

Phil

[jwells]

Welcome, first update your profile so we know where you are located. We have a lot of people all over the world here. Also this is your last chance to turn back and forget you ever saw this stuff your last warning LOL addictive does this no justice its worse than that. Yes its $$$ as well but all hobbies are. Take time and read a lot of the posts to get a feel for all that is out there. Xmus has just recently made some great videos for new people that really help you understand how things are setup. Tell us more about how you think you might set your home up and we can help answer your questions.

Again Welcome to our world


Jim

[wbuehler]

Welcome

If you would like to see my slow decline into addiction check this out
I am new and trying to show what the Journey is like atleast for me

http://www.christmasinshirley.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1750

Bill

[scubasteve]

Funny you say that you had to break it to your wife....It happened just the opposite for me. My wife said that she wanted to show me something. She took me to a light show near one of her friends house, and I pounced like a cat on a ball of yarn.

sS

[Trepidati0n]

Funny you say that you had to break it to your wife....It happened just the opposite for me. My wife said that she wanted to show me something. She took me to a light show near one of her friends house, and I pounced like a cat on a ball of yarn.

sS

Ditto here...my wife is a Christmas & Disney nut. I could probably drop $10k a year on disney/christmas stuff and she would be like "thats it?"

[Trip]

Ditto here...my wife is a Christmas & Disney nut. I could probably drop $10k a year on disney/christmas stuff and she would be like "thats it?"

Same here, I can spend $10 on my sportbike and she freaks. (Still trying to figure out how to break it to her I already registered for a track day in march at Barber.) Then I tell her I am going to give her blinky lights to music and she gets all excited and cost isn't a factor. Go figure........

[kylec]

Also this is your last chance to turn back and forget you ever saw this stuff your last warning LOL addictive does this no justice its worse than that.

Jim

I second that. This is way beyond addictive!

[PacMang]

to late.. so i just added 7000 light to next year..

I know i want dimmable... so i need one SSR per 4 channels (is that correct?)



How many ren-c or ren-t do you need to make a grinch dimmable?


Also... i really cant decide between Lynx, Renard 64, or FireGod... what are the real differences, benifits?

[rrowan]

to late.. so i just added 7000 light to next year..

I know i want dimmable... so i need one SSR per 4 channels (is that correct?)



How many ren-c or ren-t do you need to make a grinch dimmable?


Also... i really cant decide between Lynx, Renard 64, or FireGod... what are the real differences, benifits?

One Grinch = 1 Ren-C 1 Ren-T
Two Grinch = 2 Ren-C 1 Ren-T

Lynx you need a DMX controller (dongle)
Ren64 or FG ?? Not really sure myself besides NOT being DMX

The above to correct to the best of my knowledge.

Rick R.

[PacMang]

I only really need to worry about DMX if i am going to use some DMX items (Mostly theatre lights etc... right?)

Never even heard of DMX before starting to look at this site.. lol

[RJ]

You only need DMX if you are going to build DMX dimmers (currently Lynx, Lynx Freestyle), snowmachines, or other commercial Equipment. Otherwise you will use you serial port, Lpt port, or buy a usb to serial adapter to use the usb port.


RJ