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| PICTURES |
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| TECHNICAL DETAILS |
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Our display uses 5 light controllers made by D-Light Designs and Light-O-Rama.
Each control board controls 16 channels of lights and pulls 15 amps. Our display currently uses 79 channels and pulls about 70 amps when all the lights are on!
I use the Light-O-Rama control software to sequence our lights and schedule the light show.
The light controllers connect to a computer via RS-485 over Cat 5 cable. Almost 100 extension cords distribute power from the controllers to lights.
I spent quite a bit of time sequencing my songs.
The first step was to load the song in the software, and tap out the rhythm while the software records the taps.
This creates events in a timeline which match the music perfectly (hopefully.)
At this point many hours are spent going through these events and deciding which lights should come on when.
You can set any intensity from 0-100% and do fades, twinkles, etc.
It turns out that this sequencing process is very time consuming and ended up taking much longer than I originally anticipated.
If you're looking at creating your own display, feel free to contact me. I'd be more than happy to share details on how I got started on my display and what is involved.
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| TOYS FOR CHILDREN |
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Throughout the 2008 Christmas season, we're going to be collecting unwrapped toys for Children's Medical Center of Dallas. They have a need for toys for all ages of children from infants through teens.
We have a collection box for the toys on our front porch.
Here's a wish list from Children's Medical Center indicating which toys they are specfically needing:
 2008 Toys Wishlist
This is a great way to help make Christmas brighter for a child in the hospital.
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| OUR DISPLAY |
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2008 Light Show
November 29th, 2008 - December 31st, 2008
5:30PM - 10:30PM
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(except during heavy rain)
The music can be heard through speakers in the yard,
or at 92.3 FM on your car stereo.
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2006 was the first year for our animated Christmas light display, using 32 channels of computer-controlled lights. We synced our Christmas lights to several Christmas songs, including two from
"A Charlie Brown Christmas."
In 2007 we doubled the number of lights and had 64 computerized light channels synced with six different songs.
For 2008 we've added 16 additional light channels, for a system capacity of 80 channels. These additional channels are mainly used to provide additional colors (red, green, and white) for every tree and shrub. Several additional songs are also added to the mix.
I was inspired during the 2005 Christmas season from an
internet video of
Carson Willliams' display "Wizards in Winter."
After I first saw the video I was immediately intrigued, and did a quick google to find the software Carson used along with his sequence file.
I knew at that point that this was the hobby for me!
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| ABOUT US |
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We love Christmas and celebrate it as the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.
It is by far our favorite holiday and we love to decorate and get into the Christmas spirit.
I've always had an interest in computers, electronics and Christmas lights - what a fun way to bring it all together!
I'd like to hear from you whether you'd like to comment, ask a question, or just say hello.
E-Mail: bretharrell@hotmail.com
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