2011/2012 (non-controlled) display

camduncan said:
I hope this is the right area to post this?
Last year after years of avoiding Christmas lights, the bug hit. I say it's because we have a 3yo in the house and it's fun to entertain her, her friends and the neighbourhood kids, but my wife says I'm the real kid :)
Anyway, I haven't graduated to controlled lighting yet, but hope to next year. Here's a picture of what I did last year (pretty basic for most people on this forum I know....) We've made several changes this year, so I'll update it with a new picture in the next few weeks.
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Nice lights! I am also only in to static display, It´s amazing how much the kidz like even the simpliest things.
I compare our display 2007 and how it was last year with a big grown of items.
 
MarcD said:
I really had a lot of resistance from my wife about going down the controlled lighting route. She's still claiming we haven't showed her the plans. We had to compromise. We're only controlling the string lights which are around the edges of things (pillars, windows, guttering etc.) and on the roof while leaving the garden and other areas free for non-controlled items like rope light motifs, 3D objects and so on. After our first test on the weekend (photo attached), I think she finally gets it, although we may have to wind back the voltage a bit so the strings don't over-power the other stuff.

My suggestion, come up with a plan. Mark it out on a printed photo of your house (eg from Google StreetView) and come to an agreement on what should go where. Trust in her vision as well as your own and be willing to compromise.
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This sounds all too familiar....lol. I did the same thing this year, the whole house controlled and the yard up the side static. This is my first year and I'm in Ipswich, so not too far from you. 48ch LOR S3 running 15,000 lights and another 10,000 or so static in the side yard. Ran out of time this year but I have already started for 2013. In actual fact I made 4 arches today that I plan to transform next year into leaping arches. But for now are static on the fence.


The funny thing is that my other half banned me from buying any more about a month and a half ago but she happened to see a static display down the road from us and almost instantly changed the tune to... And I quote "I think we need more lights". It didn't take long but I'm slowly give her the clap too. So this arvo I raced to big w and purchased another 5000 lights. 2400 of which made the arches today. The other funny thing about my wifey is that I began to investigate pixel trees/matrix and CCR but all she seen was the cost. After YouTube videos to show what they were she is now planning for me. The seed has definitely been planted... Lol.


So do you have a location pin on the map? I'll have to bring the family around and check it out. If your out I'll come have a chat. This year seems to have a lot of people doing the controlled optioning our area... Should be interesting to see people's personality and christmas spirit shine through the lights.


Well good luck with this years display and hope we don't get too many more of these freak storms we had last week. I was lucky and had no damage but I'm sure there were some out there that didn't fair so well.
 
Well good luck with this years display and hope we don't get too many more of these freak storms we had last week. I was lucky and had no damage but I'm sure there were some out there that didn't fair so well
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I definately 2nd that. So far I've been lucky as all of the display is under the roof line.... but I really want to get the garden display out today.
Everything I'm putting out is IP44 or better, but I'm still nervous. One advantage I have this year is that I've set up so I can isolate the garden display if it looks like storming. The downside is that I don't often get home before 6.30pm when the display turns on, so I won't be here to stop it if a storm does pop up. ???
 
Final picture of this years setup...... I've added in the inflatable santa on the varandah, and in the garden some Santa Stop signs, reindeer (Reindeer's last year as they are bulbs. Am thinking of stripping them down and using the frame with led lights for next year) and a small tree.

.....and I'm already thinking ahead to next year :)
Will add some shooting star motifs to the varandah poles, a few 1.8m led trees to the garden and will replace the static 240v snow flakes with some flashing stars...
 

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Unfortunately we lost a couple of the 'Santa Stop Here' signs to gusty winds two days ago - tubes snapped right out of the base and tore a led light wire in half (of course it's half way up the tube were I can't get it :() Otherwise everything is going great and we're getting real joy out of seeing and hearing neighbours appreciate the display as they walk past.
 
Looks like a nicely laid out display. The thing about kids, they just love Christmas lights, so a static display is always a hit. And the other nice thing about a static display is there are lots of lights and colour on all the time to look at so it can often can be more appealing than a flashing one, especially if the viewers can get in amongst it.
Well done.
 
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