PajdaProductions
11-01-2007, 11:18 PM
Hello all!
A little introduction..
My name is Marcus, I am a 17-year-old high school student living in Illinois, USA. I have been helping my dad do the lights since I was about 8 and spearheading the project myself since I was about 13. Every year the display gets bigger! I first saw the famous video of christmas lights set to "Wizards in Winter" a year or two ago, and since then I have been dying to get my hands in this stuff. I am highly involved with computer technology and I have a pretty good understanding of electronics. I understand it's getting a little bit late for this season, but I am looking to pull off a display and I am making a lot of free time to do it, so I want to get going quickly. I can finally get started on some of this stuff because I have a job and I get a little income that I can spend, as my parents don't want to front the money for it. :)
I have to first say that I have been doing my homework... I've clocked more than 45 hours of time spent reading this and countless other forums, websites, wikis, manuals, you name it, etc. Still, it's a lot to wrap my head around, and I am now coming to the real geniuses (th
at's you) for some help on getting my display worked out. After looking at so many sites, I have found that the people here are very kind and helpful people who really just want to have fun and share ideas about Christmas lights. Those are the people I want to talk to.
Anyway, on with why I'm posting here. Basically, I've seen all kinds of designs and layouts and etc. I've visited like 50 parts sites and seen hundreds of parts. I've seen various coop board types and all that stuff, but I just can't come up with one place where I can get all the relevant info at once. I've got a general idea about what I want to implement, but I would like some experienced help to tell me exactly which parts and boards and such I need to do it the best, but cheapest way (I'm working part time at min. wage, paying for a car, insurance, gas, and trying to save for college here too :), so I gotta think pretty cheap.).
So here's what I'm aiming for:
- I made a great plan for a show with around 50 channels, so a setup for 64 would be good.
- Although it isn't the most necessary thing, I'd love to have them be dimmable.
- To save money on cords and wires, I'd like to use the module-like concept as used on http://www.lindsaylights.com/Technical/index.html . Basically, I want to have a few boxes that go out to various locations in my yard that the light strands go into, so that i have about 10 or so cords running under my garage door instead of about 60.
- As I mentioned, I have a limited budget, and it seems that I can actually make this feasible by making my own SSRs instead of buying them. This I could also use a little guidance on.
So, I know it's asking quite a bit, but if anybody who knows more about this and has working solutions can help me figure out what parts I need to buy, which design style I should follow (Grinch, 595, Renard?), and all that, I would be sooooo thankful you wouldn't believe it. Also, if anybody has ANY parts at all that may be of use to me, such as controllers/SSR boards you no longer use, spare wire, or ANYTHING, regardless of what I said above that I wanted, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE let me know and I will talk to you about buying it from you!!! As I have said, I've fallen in love with this stuff and I'll gladly try to make use of anything I can to get a display put together!
I thank you all so very much for taking the time to read my (incredibly long) post, and I hope to learn a great deal from you all and eventually become a valuable member of the DIYC community.
THANKS,
Marcus P.
A little introduction..
My name is Marcus, I am a 17-year-old high school student living in Illinois, USA. I have been helping my dad do the lights since I was about 8 and spearheading the project myself since I was about 13. Every year the display gets bigger! I first saw the famous video of christmas lights set to "Wizards in Winter" a year or two ago, and since then I have been dying to get my hands in this stuff. I am highly involved with computer technology and I have a pretty good understanding of electronics. I understand it's getting a little bit late for this season, but I am looking to pull off a display and I am making a lot of free time to do it, so I want to get going quickly. I can finally get started on some of this stuff because I have a job and I get a little income that I can spend, as my parents don't want to front the money for it. :)
I have to first say that I have been doing my homework... I've clocked more than 45 hours of time spent reading this and countless other forums, websites, wikis, manuals, you name it, etc. Still, it's a lot to wrap my head around, and I am now coming to the real geniuses (th
at's you) for some help on getting my display worked out. After looking at so many sites, I have found that the people here are very kind and helpful people who really just want to have fun and share ideas about Christmas lights. Those are the people I want to talk to.
Anyway, on with why I'm posting here. Basically, I've seen all kinds of designs and layouts and etc. I've visited like 50 parts sites and seen hundreds of parts. I've seen various coop board types and all that stuff, but I just can't come up with one place where I can get all the relevant info at once. I've got a general idea about what I want to implement, but I would like some experienced help to tell me exactly which parts and boards and such I need to do it the best, but cheapest way (I'm working part time at min. wage, paying for a car, insurance, gas, and trying to save for college here too :), so I gotta think pretty cheap.).
So here's what I'm aiming for:
- I made a great plan for a show with around 50 channels, so a setup for 64 would be good.
- Although it isn't the most necessary thing, I'd love to have them be dimmable.
- To save money on cords and wires, I'd like to use the module-like concept as used on http://www.lindsaylights.com/Technical/index.html . Basically, I want to have a few boxes that go out to various locations in my yard that the light strands go into, so that i have about 10 or so cords running under my garage door instead of about 60.
- As I mentioned, I have a limited budget, and it seems that I can actually make this feasible by making my own SSRs instead of buying them. This I could also use a little guidance on.
So, I know it's asking quite a bit, but if anybody who knows more about this and has working solutions can help me figure out what parts I need to buy, which design style I should follow (Grinch, 595, Renard?), and all that, I would be sooooo thankful you wouldn't believe it. Also, if anybody has ANY parts at all that may be of use to me, such as controllers/SSR boards you no longer use, spare wire, or ANYTHING, regardless of what I said above that I wanted, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE let me know and I will talk to you about buying it from you!!! As I have said, I've fallen in love with this stuff and I'll gladly try to make use of anything I can to get a display put together!
I thank you all so very much for taking the time to read my (incredibly long) post, and I hope to learn a great deal from you all and eventually become a valuable member of the DIYC community.
THANKS,
Marcus P.