Hi All ,
After procrastinating for at least 4 years and lurking this site "for inspiration" I have finally managed to join the group.
Having missed the "boat " most years to start I have spent considerable time contemplating the hows and whys of this as a future ongoing and growing hobby. I look forward to achieving some goals and over past years the twinkly bulbs have broken and some have been replaced by led "fairy" and "icicle" store bought ones. This has enabled a display that looks ok but not what I really wanted and it means a number of isolated 8 or so function controllers scattered around, some not easily accessible to change and all the numerous power packs. Of course the leads are either to short or too long for convenience as I would like to keep it all neat and tidy.
My aims are to supplement and or replace any existing LED strings with smart stuff.
To centralise and rationalise power supply and control functions.
Have a system that is easy to put up and take down and store.
I am restricted by gutter design to under eaves lighting and have found 20mm conduit with lights zip tied on and the matching conduit clips attached on a regular basis a breeze to use with no bowing.
The roof line and edges is still a bit of a challenge. I believe I should be able to silicone the clips to the ridge capping tiles but wire under the tiles has worked to date.
The next step is the magic of computer control and deciding what system to go with .. to allow growth and versatility as the budget permits.
I want to thank all those that have contributed to the forums as your experiences and ideas inspire us dreamers to become doers. The 101 manual is great. Now I have to sort out the options and determine the best for my situation.
I do have an IT background and have done a bit of soldering in the past as I have gone through various radio and electrical hobby phases. Hopefully that will help in some way but at this stage I am trying more to work out the physical and logistic aspects of this challenging addiction.
Bill from QH
After procrastinating for at least 4 years and lurking this site "for inspiration" I have finally managed to join the group.
Having missed the "boat " most years to start I have spent considerable time contemplating the hows and whys of this as a future ongoing and growing hobby. I look forward to achieving some goals and over past years the twinkly bulbs have broken and some have been replaced by led "fairy" and "icicle" store bought ones. This has enabled a display that looks ok but not what I really wanted and it means a number of isolated 8 or so function controllers scattered around, some not easily accessible to change and all the numerous power packs. Of course the leads are either to short or too long for convenience as I would like to keep it all neat and tidy.
My aims are to supplement and or replace any existing LED strings with smart stuff.
To centralise and rationalise power supply and control functions.
Have a system that is easy to put up and take down and store.
I am restricted by gutter design to under eaves lighting and have found 20mm conduit with lights zip tied on and the matching conduit clips attached on a regular basis a breeze to use with no bowing.
The roof line and edges is still a bit of a challenge. I believe I should be able to silicone the clips to the ridge capping tiles but wire under the tiles has worked to date.
The next step is the magic of computer control and deciding what system to go with .. to allow growth and versatility as the budget permits.
I want to thank all those that have contributed to the forums as your experiences and ideas inspire us dreamers to become doers. The 101 manual is great. Now I have to sort out the options and determine the best for my situation.
I do have an IT background and have done a bit of soldering in the past as I have gone through various radio and electrical hobby phases. Hopefully that will help in some way but at this stage I am trying more to work out the physical and logistic aspects of this challenging addiction.
Bill from QH
