My Mega/Spiral Effort

**Wayne J** · 11-07-2011, 02:33 PM

Looks great!

**boyelroy11** · 11-07-2011, 02:41 PM

As far as setup time, I bought the flagpole and cemented it in last Saturday. I worked a couple hours in the evening M/T/W making the light strands (para-cord (ala Mattrob) and two strands per on vertical stringers; light strings only on spiral), made the hook assy and bracket for the star. Thursday I put the pole in, hung the vertical strands, and tested some after worship practice. Friday night, hung the spiral strands. Saturday, added in the controllers correctly, rather than the test configuration, added 4 ssrs for the blue, and fired it up. Total about 12-14 hours from flagpole in box to working tree.

Disassembly should be faster, I'll be working with gravity

**corytcline** · 11-07-2011, 04:21 PM

that is awsome

**a158946** · 11-07-2011, 05:25 PM

I can vouch for this one...Very clean looking install. Good Job!

Oh, and thanks for helping with my PICs the other day.

**boyelroy11** · 11-07-2011, 05:29 PM

No problem, Mike. Good to meet you and Lucas.

Besides, it was your catch on the long file name that saved the day on the diagnostic chips, lol...

**corytcline** · 11-08-2011, 07:42 AM

Very nice love the spiral part.

How Tall is it?

What did you use for the bottom circle?

**boyelroy11** · 11-08-2011, 08:14 AM

It is 15' without the star, and about a 10' diameter base.

There is no physical bottom circle. Each of the vertical stringers is comprised of a length of paracord from a hook at the top to a tent stake at the bottom, pulled taut. This way, they work as a guy wire, and also take any tension off the light strings. The red and green strings are zip tied along the length of each paracord to make the 16 vertical strings. The blue and white spiral strings are simply laid out over top of the vertical strings, and have a few strategically placed zip ties to keep it intact.

Thanks for all the positive feedback.

**kychristmas** · 11-08-2011, 08:16 AM

Where did you get your Para-Cord? Is that available locally?

I have had a 32 3-color string megatree for two years. Never needed additional support on the lights, but I'm planning on doing the Spiral this year and thinking I should consider support.

**boyelroy11** · 11-08-2011, 08:21 AM

It is available from military surplus stores, and all over the web:

Example

Basically, a versatile cord that knots well and is weatherproof for the most part.

Bruce