Hi from Brisbane!

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Lindsayr

New elf
Joined
Sep 30, 2023
Messages
37
Hi there,

I have just joined this site as am hoping to start on my programmable Christmas lighting display. I have a 10 year old son who is very interested in it and very tech savvy. I did some small static displays, pre-kids and am looking forward to doing something small with him this year.

I will wade through this site but if you have any suggestions, particularly in relation to places to get gear and potentially second hand gear, would love to hear from you also.

Thanks!

Lindsay
 
Hello and welcome! As most would suggest, go over the 101 manual, it really helped me when I started out - https://auschristmaslighting.com/wiki/AusChristmasLighting-101

I started out with a NodeMcu and a couple of 5m stips for my first year to test the hobby out. After that, I was hooked.

The next year I got myself a Raspberry Pi and a Pi hat which is the rPi-28d+ (https://www.hansonelectronics.com.au/product/rpi-28dplus/).

I bought myself some bullet pixels (you need to choose if you want a 5v or 12v system) and a power supply from (https://www.lightitupleds-xmas.com.au/s/shop).

Some coro props from (https://www.extremelightingdisplays.com.au/) or (https://christmaspropsaustralia.com.au/), and possibly other vendors, or you can also make props yourself if you're keen.

Then you program sequences using xLights which is a free software - https://xlights.org/ or you can trawl through sites like https://xlightsseq.com/ to get some free or buy some sequences.

If you want to start this year, I would suggest to get your gear in ASAP and get it locally instead of ordering from China as that will take a long time. People tend to start putting up displays (for Christmas) after Halloween (now if you're doing a Halloween show as well).

Hope this helps you kick-start things. The hobby is addictive (and expensive) but totally worth it especially when you see your kids jumping up and down with joy when a song starts playing and the lights start blinking with the music. They will carry these happy memories for the rest of their lives.
 
That’s great feedback thanks Jordo. I’ll do lots of reading and see how I go. Thanks!
 
Welcome to ACL @Lindsayr :)
The 101 is the best starting point. Plenty of fourms to search for questions that may have already been asked.
This below video is a good overview of covering all the moving parts required for an animiated display.

View: https://youtu.be/jf7uLhUObAk?si=CPHHu2qhFmBZegIt

Suggest to just reasearch, ask questions in forums/chat and set a goal of getting maybe 1-2 props running and if time/budget allows building from there.
 
Thanks Graham and Phil,

I’m going to go with something fairly simple for this year but looking to use falcon controller and xlights. I am in Clontarf on the Northside of Brisbane, I’d be interested in joining the Facebook chat.

Thanks!

Lindsay
 
Lindsayr said:
Hi there,

I have just joined this site as am hoping to start on my programmable Christmas lighting display. I have a 10 year old son who is very interested in it and very tech savvy. I did some small static displays, pre-kids and am looking forward to doing something small with him this year.

I will wade through this site but if you have any suggestions, particularly in relation to places to get gear and potentially second hand gear, would love to hear from you also.

Thanks!

Lindsay
Click to expand...
Where in Brisbane are you?we are Christmas Lights on Topham and id be more than happy to show your young genius some things to get started. Bald hills
 
Lindsayr said:
Thanks Graham and Phil,

I’m going to go with something fairly simple for this year but looking to use falcon controller and xlights. I am in Clontarf on the Northside of Brisbane, I’d be interested in joining the Facebook chat.

Thanks!

Lindsay
Click to expand...
We also have a group chat for Brisbane Lights if you'd like to join.
 
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