OldMarty
New elf
Hi Everyone,
Great to see Xmas lighting projects have come a long way these days.
I've been around Xmas lighting sites (international) for many years now because there was never any large following in Aus, until recent years ;-)
My claim to fame? - What you now know as "Pixel strips" was my invention long ago.
(i will excuse international people that may have also 'parellel invented' the concepts too)
What you also now know as "Arches" comes directly from my early lighting effect "The Grasshopper" (aka "The Frog").
The creatures chosen were out of respect for chinese culture and my business partner at the time.
The lighting effect simulates a grasshopper (or frog) jumping around the garden.
However, my original concepts are that the ends of the arches must be placed inside small shrubs & bushes, or even in between pot plants for maximum effect.
If you try this, you won't be sorry ;-)
I started creating intelligent Xmas lighting for my own house almost 20 years ago after dealing several 1,000's of wires and decided to move forward with serial RS232 connections before developing my own protocols and interfacing products.
After teaming up with Chinese business parter long ago, we soon came head to head battling for the final solution, we both had pro's and cons, mine was cheaper and didn't need 1 chip-per-led, but my partner/opponent had full access to cheaper manufacturing overall with his local contacts, which was prematurely proto-typed and marketed before i had any further say.
In later years, i moved my wiring systems onto flexible ribbon pcb strips which was far less painful to make and not as much wiring and soldering required for manufacture, but of course this concept also fell into the hands of my (now) opponent and then led strips/pixel strips was born.
My opponent continues to make 50+Mill annually on led strip sales, while i make $0, call me bitter, lol ;-)
However, an ongoing patent ruling might still bring me the financial resolution still owing ;-)
I continue these days to create custom designs to corporate businesses and make a very comfortable living that way.
I'm happy to share my technical expertise of 35 years to newbies wiring up lights & controllers.
Believe me, Technology & Xmas lighting these days are faaaar easier than the old days, and far less current consumption too.
Looking forward to helping whoever needs assistance
Old Marty.
Great to see Xmas lighting projects have come a long way these days.
I've been around Xmas lighting sites (international) for many years now because there was never any large following in Aus, until recent years ;-)
My claim to fame? - What you now know as "Pixel strips" was my invention long ago.
(i will excuse international people that may have also 'parellel invented' the concepts too)
What you also now know as "Arches" comes directly from my early lighting effect "The Grasshopper" (aka "The Frog").
The creatures chosen were out of respect for chinese culture and my business partner at the time.
The lighting effect simulates a grasshopper (or frog) jumping around the garden.
However, my original concepts are that the ends of the arches must be placed inside small shrubs & bushes, or even in between pot plants for maximum effect.
If you try this, you won't be sorry ;-)
I started creating intelligent Xmas lighting for my own house almost 20 years ago after dealing several 1,000's of wires and decided to move forward with serial RS232 connections before developing my own protocols and interfacing products.
After teaming up with Chinese business parter long ago, we soon came head to head battling for the final solution, we both had pro's and cons, mine was cheaper and didn't need 1 chip-per-led, but my partner/opponent had full access to cheaper manufacturing overall with his local contacts, which was prematurely proto-typed and marketed before i had any further say.
In later years, i moved my wiring systems onto flexible ribbon pcb strips which was far less painful to make and not as much wiring and soldering required for manufacture, but of course this concept also fell into the hands of my (now) opponent and then led strips/pixel strips was born.
My opponent continues to make 50+Mill annually on led strip sales, while i make $0, call me bitter, lol ;-)
However, an ongoing patent ruling might still bring me the financial resolution still owing ;-)
I continue these days to create custom designs to corporate businesses and make a very comfortable living that way.
I'm happy to share my technical expertise of 35 years to newbies wiring up lights & controllers.
Believe me, Technology & Xmas lighting these days are faaaar easier than the old days, and far less current consumption too.
Looking forward to helping whoever needs assistance
Old Marty.
