Lots has happened over the past week so bare with me :)
So the goal to have lights switched on by the night of Dec 1st did technically happen, however the full show was not ready (and still isn't, 5 days later!) But the good news is that as of last night (4th Dec) all RGB strip lighting is now mounted on the roof. I did have to run down to Bunnings and get some liquid nails to glue the zip tie mounts to the roof as the sticky backing was not holding, but now at least I have permanent anchor points for future displays.
So the goal to have lights switched on by the night of Dec 1st did technically happen, however the full show was not ready (and still isn't, 5 days later!) But the good news is that as of last night (4th Dec) all RGB strip lighting is now mounted on the roof. I did have to run down to Bunnings and get some liquid nails to glue the zip tie mounts to the roof as the sticky backing was not holding, but now at least I have permanent anchor points for future displays.
Unfortunately after about 30 mins a couple of sections of Blue LEDs stopped working and no wire jiggling could get them working again, so I may have to bring down those sections and replace them. Luckily I still have a couple of meters spare. I just hope my soldering improves!
The new AC elements of the Blue/White stars & Red/Green stars look great in their new homes for the first time. There are now no more incandescent bulbs in my display at all. I do still have an AC rope Santa in a chimney which needs to go on the roof, but I'm unsure how to secure him at this stage. My daughter accidentally tripped on one of the wires and broke one of the LED stake stars, so I'm down to 7 of these all up. Still surprised these are working after all these years. |
I have finally managed to get the RGB boards to cooperate with my laptop and have control of the lights but I have not completed a full sequence as yet. I hope to have something done by the weekend (although I'm away most of it in the city for a music festival.) I also need to get my AC controller operational, so I can at least get some of the static AC lights (like my rope light mini trees) at least turning off & on as part of the show.
Yesterday I purchased a Raspberry Pi. Sounds delicious I know but its a micro computer the size of a credit card that I will use to run the show. No more clunky computers or laptops, I can program the show on my main PC inside, copy the files to a USB stock and plug it in and let it go. I shouldn't even need to turn it off/on, it can all be set automatically! Hopefully it's delivered very soon. #newtoys
Today I decided to start (& hopefully finish) a new little project and build a 4m long frame to hold my cut up icicle LED strings. I think my whole display, whilst looking new & different this year is still lacking a little with lights, and the icicles are a nice traditional Christmas light. I do have enough of them to run along the entire guttering, but I think for now, the RGB strip is the star here.
So I've bought some more conduit and have cut it up, I'm just applying some coats of black paint to help disguise it at night.
Today I decided to start (& hopefully finish) a new little project and build a 4m long frame to hold my cut up icicle LED strings. I think my whole display, whilst looking new & different this year is still lacking a little with lights, and the icicles are a nice traditional Christmas light. I do have enough of them to run along the entire guttering, but I think for now, the RGB strip is the star here.
So I've bought some more conduit and have cut it up, I'm just applying some coats of black paint to help disguise it at night.