G'day from Perth, WA

D

Danno

Apprentice elf
Joined
Nov 18, 2018
Messages
64
Location
Perth, WA
A few weeks ago I was at Bunnings and saw their massive range of Christmas lights, it got me thinking that perhaps I should get a Christmas light setup for my place. After much Google searching, I stumbled across this site, as well as a multitude of other resources to get up and running with a setup for my house.

I've got a background in programming, as well as enjoying tinkering with home automation gadgets such as Raspberry Pi's, switches, relays, etc. So this hobby seems to be right up my ally!

While I've well and truly missed the boat for a setup this year, I look forward to seeing what amazing setups you all create this year, and I'll start planning my setup for next Christmas. (and Halloween? Is that a reason to deck out your house in October and leave it up through to the end of December? :))

Anyone else from Perth on these boards?
 
Many people from Perth, Myself about 2hrs south in Collie :)
I recommend downloading and reading the 101 manual on this site as it is as good as your bible.
There is much to learn, but once you wrap your head around it, it is quite easy... well relatively speaking.
In the U.S. many people setup for Halloween, then Thanksgiving and Finally Xmas, I do believe they have labour day or something in there as well :confused:
I started setting up my display with my matrix and so ran a small sequence giving thanks to our fallen for a couple of nights, but it was really for testing :thumbsup:
If you go to the display locations tab, you will find a map of many of the members that are on here and if you drive by during December, I am sure most will be happy to give you a run through of their display. I know I will.:D
Anyway.... Welcome to the nuthouse o_O I mean... ACL :rolleyes:
 
I'm in Baldivis and happy to help with what ever i can. I am starting to set my gear up starting tomorrow so if your around your more than welcome to come have a look. This is my first year converting from blinky lights to LED smart lights to music using xlights so it was a steep learning curve :)
 
Hey guys, thanks heaps! I'm in Gwelup (a small suburb near Karrinyup), quite far from you two, but I'm definitely keen to see your setups.

I've done heaps of reading on this site (including the 101 guide) as well as other sites, over the last few weeks. I'm at the point now where I want to buy some things and start making things happen! I'm telling myself that I should plan it all out and not buy anything until I settle on a design (which would make sense to do early next year after I've seen a lot of setups over this Christmas). I'm very impatient though :)

I've started sketching a design, but I think it's going to be pretty ambitious for a first timer... It will keep me pretty busy through the year making it all happen
 
Danno said:
Hey guys, thanks heaps! I'm in Gwelup (a small suburb near Karrinyup), quite far from you two, but I'm definitely keen to see your setups.

I've done heaps of reading on this site (including the 101 guide) as well as other sites, over the last few weeks. I'm at the point now where I want to buy some things and start making things happen! I'm telling myself that I should plan it all out and not buy anything until I settle on a design (which would make sense to do early next year after I've seen a lot of setups over this Christmas). I'm very impatient though :)

I've started sketching a design, but I think it's going to be pretty ambitious for a first timer... It will keep me pretty busy through the year making it all happen
Click to expand...
I started by buying a couple rolls of led strip, a dongle and a power supply. I downloaded vixen3 and xlights and had a play, settled on Vixen, then started to sequence. To start with I did the Pixar intro, and once I saw it run, I was hooked. went strait for a mega tree and fence line window line and a few other modified strings onto traditional trees.
My ambition was only let down by my funding. The first year was all dumb strips because of cost. but then the price of pixels dropped and so my mega tree has been redone in pixels and the dumb strips are slowly getting replaced, I then use them for different areas in the show just to add more light.
So what I am saying is, get yourself a couple strings of lights, a power supply, a board to run them and some software and start sequencing to get the feel, then as you research you will come up with ideas which you can then add to your display, prioritise what you want and start with that.
Have a look in the buy and sell section on here, https://auschristmaslighting.com/threads/various-controllers.11120/#post-98843
Mathew bought a heap of gear off Kane (did a display in Trigg) and is selling a fair bit of it, so may be able to help out on some stuff.
anyway, good luck.
 
Yeah I will probably do the same, I will buy a few starter components early next year to get me familiar with the electrical and wiring concepts. I then want to start making my own props as time permits over the next year (candy canes, trees, maybe a matrix if I'm feeling brave).

I didn't want to buy anything now that I would want to replace or upgrade as I get further into it.

Thanks for the tips on the buy & sell section, I'll check that out. I'll post on the forums before I actually buy anything as I want you all to double check everything :)
 
If you haven’t found it yet videos.xlights.org has a huge array of relevant videos on setting up a show. Not just xlights related. Everything from how to set up mega trees to sequence design to using video mapping.
 
Welcome to ACL Danno!
Yes good idea to confirm the items you want to buy first before pulling the trigger, just to ensure piece of mind for compatibility and/or complexity.
 
Hey Gareth, that would be great!

I started sketching out a plan for next year, I have no doubt that I will totally deviate from this plan come mid next year, but it gives an idea as to the type of props and layout that I'm looking to create over the next year or so.

QjYueP9.png

The block is 15 meters wide, and from the kerb to the portico is 8 or so meters, so I'm hoping to run it all from a single enclosure.
 
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Hey all, I've got my controller and a few strings of lights - everything is working perfectly. I want to expand the enclosure and finish it so I can start focus on making props.

Is my controller wiring OK? can anyone provide feedback on the following setup? I may need more power etc, but keen to understand if my wire gauge is right for this part of the setup?

I guess I could power the F16v3 v2 from the 12V and cut down on needing the use the Ext Power? I haven't done that as I don't have the 12V supply yet.

2018-12-29 13_33_00-Window.png

Cheers

Dan
 
Hi Danno. I’m in Duncraig up the road from you. I’ve been using Falcon and XLights for three years and have a lot of different models and megatree using about 22000 channels. Contact me if you want to check it out before I dismantle the models around new year. Can show you all the electronics and program.
Call me on 0418866441.
 
G'day Tony,
That would be GREAT, thank you! I'll give you a buzz tomorrow and we'll tee up a day & time
 
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