A Blank Slate for 2024

[CommunityGrinch]

Community Input for 2024 Project

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I know for the long timers around here, it is that time of year where we all see the brilliant Christmas lights and displays you have all spent countless hours; full of hype and hope before one-by-one we fade into oblivion - only a brave few making it through to actually putting a display together.

Here I stand before you, asking for your input advice and general knowledge sharing on preparing my relatively front yard into a display for 2024. (Please excuse the bins it is bin day, and the mess in the garage is because we are decorating and so boxes everywhere).

Important Notes
- We currently rent this property so can't really be drilling or building onto, modify the property.
- I seriously injured my neck two-years ago and live with 24/7 pins & needles in one of my arms, so trying to find as basic solution as possible.
- The garage door is our main entryway so trying to avoid using that - in fact I don't remember the last time I used the front door.

The Quick Story
As mentioned above I injured my neck a couple years ago. I have 24/7 pins & needles in one of my arms. I have had to learn that I now have limitations and can no longer do as much as I used to be able to. After having a period of having a sook and coming to those terms I have changed my outlook. This led to me this year on the last day of school buying a Grinch costume and standing out on that footpath handing out lollipops to the kids/parents who walked past.

The smiles, laughs and excitement on everyone's faces let to me being invited to a day care to delivery candy canes (today) and appear at a community event to give out presents. We (by that I mean primarily my wife) are currently decorating our front door way (hidden by the bush) as 'Christmasy' as we can as tomorrow we have people/families coming from the community to take 'Christmas Photos' with the Grinch.

Considering the excitement this has generated we wanted to take it a step up next year and hence looking into Christmas light display next year.

The Plan (currently)
Obviously considering the above our first port of call was thinking of LOR - due to the obvious issues with voltage etc we didn't feel this was the smartest option. We then loved the idea of something like a dumb-light set up, being able to buy props/lights from the stores here in Australia and gradually build our display over the years - we aren't looking to enter competitions we are looking to entertain and do something a bit more Grinchy to 'suit our theme'.

But there-in lies the issue, there are not many 'Grinchy' lights to just simply pick up. Plus when we do find/get a Grinch head display we want to be able to make it look like he is singing.

With the display basically thinking icicle lights along the gutter, rope lights through the shrubs/bushes on the right (there are 5), a Merry Christmas (although Merry Grinchmas would be better) light in the front window you can see and 'The Singing Grinch' in a bracket from the gutter again where the garage door is.

Your Input
I was hoping to find some sort of 'Starter Kit' however after reading the 101 understand why it isn't so easy. My main concern primarily comes down to the wire/fiddly bits when it comes to my pins & needles/numbness.

I would love your input on the idea and your opinion on my best next step?!

 

[Wayne1]

Candy cane's and singing faces give the biggest bang for buck as such IMO. A Grinchy signing face in your case. Build up over a few years to add the dumb lights.

 

[CommunityGrinch]

Thank you Wayne1 greatly appreciate the input

 

[vk3heg]

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Obviously considering the above our first port of call was thinking of LOR - due to the obvious issues with voltage etc we didn't feel this was the smartest option.

LOR is aimed at the USA market and costs lots of $$$$.

Building most of the things in your display (No matter the size) takes time and a lot of us started small and have grown the display over the years.
I started with one of Allen's rPI-28D units here, for my first year. controlling a tree and some strip lights. I now use a Falcon 16v3 with 12764 leds.

So what you would need to go down this route to see if you can do it:
RpiD
Raspberry Pi 3 or 4
12v or 5v PSU.
A some led strings. They come in lengths of 50 LED's.
A Box to put it all in.

Starting now is the best time, so you have plenty of time to think things through, and what your layout can look like.

I would love your input on the idea and your opinion on my best next step?!

Download xlights here, take a photo of your place and playaround with a few things.. Lines, a Mega tree and star, snow flakes etc...

 

[MikeKrebs]

I don't know if you can get GE props but here it is...

The Mean One

You're A Mean One Mr. Grinch V2 from xTreme Sequences on Vimeo. This is The Mean One designed for 12mm bullet pixels or mini lights. Talking - 272 nodes Non-Talking - 257 nodes Measures approximately 6 feet tall Works with standard 3" spacing Pixels Optional wiring diagram available Material is...

gilbertengineeringusa.com

 

[Iain]

Firstly, sorry to hear about your neck, and I hope you can turn this into more joy for everyone than you thought possible!

So because of your difficulty in the finer details, I would also start designing in xLights. Get a photo of your house or get someone on fiver to sketch it up for you in 3D (it cost me about $50). Layout your pixels in spacings of either 1, 2 or 3 inches (because that's what most of the pixel strip and pre-made props come in). The whole reason behind this is to that you can "bulk buy" your starting pixels with pre-made lengths, pre-made pigtails, off-the-shelf props etc. and you will minimise the manual making. You will still have to "push" the pixels though - not much you can do to get out of that one! Browse on the Christmas prop websites for items you like, such as trees, arches, etc. It's going to be a tad more expensive to buy everything if you want to start big - it's up to you.

Secondly, if you want to keep a bunch of fairy lights along with adding some new pixels for "smart" lights, you can combine the two. You can still put your fairy lights into xlights, and configure the strings as a single channel. Hanson makes a bunch of controllers that can do this - I think this is one but I haven't used them so double check with him. It depends on the type of fairy lights. You can start with 90% fairy lights next year, and keep adding more pixels as you go. If I recall correctly, notenoughlights uses lots of fairy lights.

To bring the two together, you'll still need a pixel controller, they can be small (a raspberry pi hat) all the way up to fancy (Falcon F16), a power supply(s), boxes, pigtails, potentially radio transmitter or audio amp & speakers. This is where it really gets customised. If you come up with the design, post it in this thread and we'll help you get a picklist together.

I hope that's kind of what you were looking for... let me know if you have more questions! I'm not an expert in this, still starting out.

 

[CommunityGrinch]

Thank you all for your input. I truly appreciate all the time you have all dedicated to helping towards pointing me in the right direction

 

[Indigogyre]

"Start the journey knowing where you want to finish"

If you know you want to finish with pixels and xLights start with that in mind. There is nothing worse than buying something you won't need in a year. It might cost a little more up front but you won't constantly have to be buying upgrades parts with this in mind.

I'm mid-point in life and while not having any hardware installed in me currently it might not be far off. I can only rotate my neck so far and have some nerve damage and carpal tunnel. I can't look up for very long nor keep my hands raised above me to extended amounts of time anymore. Having said that I can understand a bit where you are coming from.

Since earlier this year I decided that new props should go onto pvc frames which I can put up quicker and easier and also swap out between Halloween and Christmas. What might have taken me an hour on a roof is now down to maybe 15 minutes to put up. They come down in under 15 minutes. Pre-planning can help a lot when you go to put things up when you have mobility issues.

When pushing pixels into props I try to pace myself and do so many a day. i found i could push 200 pixels a day without issues. If I do too many my hands become sort of useless for several days afterwards.

Try to order your supplies as early as possible at least with pixels and props since they can take time to put together.

There are a lot of clips out there that can hook, clamp and stick onto things without being destructive. I 3d print a lot of things to hang my props, a 3d printer is nice but not required as others sell clips also. MY eaves are connected to pvc sections and just clip onto my gutters.

Magnets are becoming more popular these days. it looks like you have stucco and there is a good chance there is metal lathe behind it and at the corners where some nice magnets might grab hold. You can easily stand props up so that's not an issue.

Just outlining the house and windows to start can give a great impression with sequenced lights. I think you can have a lot of fun with a Grinch theme if that is what you like. Fireplaces, HD present props, a small tree etc.

It's my 3rd year and i still do not have a single candy cane in my display

 

[Freman]

Heh, we built our house, it's still too new to put holes in.

Some arches, floods aimed at shrubs, or the walls behind the shrubs and outline the shrubs (I just put some floods in they give pretty decent bang for buck), you could probably gat away with doing some props on frames that go from ground to ceiling, peg them in on the ground and hook them on the gutter. Similarly you could probably get a reasonable press fit with your window outline.