Hello (New Member)

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BazzaV

New elf
Joined
Jan 3, 2021
Messages
39
Location
Yass, NSW.
Hi All,

Just joined to try and spice up our Christmas display. I have seen a few displays pop up over the last few years with one in Murrumbateman (Fairley Estate) that the wife and I were really impressed with. Lights sequenced to music over FM broadcast. (/wave if you're on here.)

So with the wife prodding me along, it seems I now have a new project to sort out this year (after building a Vpin machine last year, but that's another story). I'm going to start off with a small project (at this stage) of a Christmas Tree (about 2-3m) and see how it all pans out from there.
So I'll no doubt have a lot of questions once I have read the 101.

Baz.
 
Welcome to ACL

I am in Canberra which isn't too far away. Unfortunately, I started taking my display down yesterday. It looks like the display in Murrumbateman is not on the AusChristmasLighting Display Locations map.

Let us know once you've decided on the goal that you want to achieve. The community here will help you achieve it. Starting now is a good move; the first year of computer control is a big job but totally worth it.
 
Yes, I did notice no one had a display listed for there. I think the biggest hurdle right now is getting my head around all the hardware. So many choices (5v; 12v; bullet; square; strings; strips arghhhhh!!). I haven't even looked at controllers yet. I have been working the last few days but now I have 3 weeks off I can start reading the 101.

I think at this stage my main goal will be a small mega tree (about 3.5m) and some other lights to complement it. Was thinking some hoops and canes. I also liked the look of a fan/spiral to go on the house. Aiming for just lights this year, no music yet but will build on to it.
 
My thinking is that if music is your eventual goal then you may as well aim for it this year. It is possible to import others' sequences and map them onto your display in xLights. This saves you most of the time that it takes to sequence your lights. The other additional thing to implement is a way to get the audio to the viewers. This'll be a small task in the scheme of things.

There's never a perfect answer for which lights to choose. For 5V versus 12V, I like to use 5V when there is a large number of pixels in a small area (e.g. a matrix) and 12V when there is a small number of pixels spread over a large area (e.g. a roof outline). Strings versus strip is a matter of personal preference; I choose whichever looks best in the display item that I'm making. Note that strips look more diffused in the display videos than in real life. There's rarely a need to get a strip with more than 30 LEDs per metre because even that is significantly brighter than traditional LED strings.
 
BazzaV said:
Hi All,

Just joined to try and spice up our Christmas display. I have seen a few displays pop up over the last few years with one in Murrumbateman (Fairley Estate) that the wife and I were really impressed with. Lights sequenced to music over FM broadcast. (/wave if you're on here.)

So with the wife prodding me along, it seems I now have a new project to sort out this year (after building a Vpin machine last year, but that's another story). I'm going to start off with a small project (at this stage) of a Christmas Tree (about 2-3m) and see how it all pans out from there.
So I'll no doubt have a lot of questions once I have read the 101.

Baz.
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