Hi from Cranbourne, VIC

djgra79

djgra79

My name is Graham & I love flashing lights!
Global moderator
Joined
Dec 27, 2011
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2,199
Location
Cranbourne West
Hi All, I'm Graham from Cranbourne in the SE Suburbs of Victoria.

After seeing many videos on You Tube and the ever increasing number of home with Christmas light automation I feel its time to seriously look into it, as none of my family/friends are willing to go "all out" like I am! Whilst I'm technologically minded, reading some of these posts about how it all comes together is a little daunting - resistance, channels etc etc...

I like the look of the 16ch LOR PC controlled system, but I'm still sketchy on a couple of starting questions, if I may here:
A) Can I use any of my existing lights I have collected over the years (mixture of LED & traditional bulbs) mostly purchased from Kmart (I mention this because I noticed Big W is mentioned a bit in this forum)
B) Can the LOR system be used here in AUS "out of the box" or are modifications required?
C) Programing/sequencing a show aside, is it as simple as plugging in the lights I buy straight into the LOR unit or are there mods to be done to the lights themselves?

Sorry for all the questions, I have had a little look around the site but couldn't quite get the straight answers to the above I was looking for.
I'm also a DJ and very handy with audio editing software, so in return for some help/advise on the above, I'm more than happy to provide assistance with audio editing or create pieces for you to use as your soundtracks for your lighting shows :)

Cheers, Graham
 
Hi Graham, from Tyabb :) welcome aboard and in answering your questions
A) Can I use any of my existing lights I have collected over the years (mixture of LED & traditional bulbs) mostly purchased from Kmart (I mention this because I noticed Big W is mentioned a bit in this forum)
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yes you can they will plug straight into an LOR AC board or you can slightly modify them to work on a DC Board
B) Can the LOR system be used here in AUS "out of the box" or are modifications required?
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because LOR ships from the USA it is best to just buy the board and then add your cordsets to it at this end by buying some cheap 2 meter leads and chopping the male ends off other than that as long as you put the jumpers in correctly to work with 240V as opposed to 110V then it is as straight out of the box no other modifications
C) Programing/sequencing a show aside, is it as simple as plugging in the lights I buy straight into the LOR unit or are there mods to be done to the lights themselves?
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if running an AC board just plug them straight in, with DC (low voltage) you can chop the transformers off and connect the wires straight to the board which will be powered by another power sourcejump on chat if you have any further enquiries ;-)
 
Welcome Graham, I'm just up the road in Beaconsfield (hence the name) before you go ordering or setting your sights on what you want to have a read of this
http://auschristmaslighting.com/forums/index.php/topic,1672.0.html


As far as using your existing lights there shouldn't be a problem as I use Kmart, Big W, Bunning as well as stuff bought direct from China. As far as LOR plug & play if you use 240V AC you will need to mod the multifuntion controllers on them. If you go DC you just cut them off and connect them straight to the board.


I am totally DC & not LOR (too expensive)


There are plenty here to help you over the next 12 months get things up and running
 
Hi Graham,
I'm in the same boat as you, just looking at starting a computerised display for next year. So far as lights, yes you can use the ones you already have accumulated. It seems the preference is for ones that are 24V - that is the ones that have a transformer in the set. Basically you have to cut off the plug and transformer and hardwire them to the system. Not too sure about the lightorama system as I'm looking at the AVD system seeing as the company is in Australia and one of the owners is part of this forum so in my opinion after sales service would be much better than with LOR from the states. I will eventually get one of the LOR systems though to power a 240V portion of my display. I've been told that the LOR software is good to use with the AVD system though, so I'll probably look at that. I don't think there's mods to the lights persay to be done except hardwiring them into the system. I know, I'm not much help, but others on here have a much wider scope of knowledge than I, as I said, I'm still learning about it all myself too. Keep in mind though that when sequencing the lights it's a case of each channel is one lot of lights that you want to flash independently - say that you have a multi coloured set with 4 colours and you want to be able to control al 4 individually that will take up 4 channels - therefore a 16 channel system does not give you much room to move initially. The AVD sytem you can get is either 24 or 48 channels so gives you a bit more option for when you start. All the systems can be extended by getting additional boxes, but that's extra cost too. Personally I'm going to be starting with a mega tree and getting the 48 channel system from AVD to control it - that way I can have up to 48 individual strings just on the tree (looking at 3 colours, 10 or 12 strings of each colour to start with) to give me the widest range of control for it.
All up to start me off including lights, the LOR software, the 48 channel AVD box and the PC control hardware plus an FM transmitter I have calculated cost to be around $1000. Each further addition of a 24 or 48 channel box shouldn't set me back more than $100-$200 plus lights.
Link to AVD's products here: https://www.audiovisualdevices.com.au/products.php?catid=16&grpid=1695
Hope this all helps in some way, as I said, others will be able to shed more light and I will be following this thread for their advice too :) .
Jade.
 
I started with LOR about 3 years ago, but only had my lights up the last 2 years on the system, running 3 16 channel AC boards I put cordsets on them once I got them, I am only using 2 of the boards and next year looking at DC boards from AVD to run the low voltage stuff so may end up only using one of my 3 boards.


The software from LOR is easy to use once you get the hang of it, some modifications I have had to made to some strings was that I had to bypass the 8 function controllers on them so I could control them with software, this modification was only needed as I was still running them on AC and still needed the transformer, next year I will convert to DC and be cutting the controller off all together and hardwiring to a DC Board
 
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to ACL Graham
As to your electrical questions I will leave that to the others down there that use 240v systems.

As to LOR, there are lower priced options available especially if you are interested in DYI. That said, I have used LOR for 2 years and like it a lot. No hassles, no problems. Although I have not used other programing software, LOR's S3 & SuperStar seem easy to use. Like anything new there is a slight learning curve.

I'm more than happy to provide assistance with audio editing or create pieces for you to use as your soundtracks for your lighting shows :)
Click to expand...
This could make you a popular person on the forums. LOL
 
And I'm over in Langwarrin.

I have some LOR, moving across to DMX. Might even have another board for sale by Christmas next year if my expansion into DMX plans get $$$$

Welcome, look forward to more great displays in the SE suburbs..... Let's hope it doesn't rain as much next November so we can get all our displays up and not get wet...
 
Welcome graham,
Also keep an eye out for the mini's, held towards the middle of the year. A great chance to meet up, face to face, with many experienced people. All who have contracted C.L.A.P. Have a fun time :)
 
Hi Graham, welcome to the forum.


Watch out.. that first step is a big one.


One thing I would seriously suggest after talking personally and extensively to two people starting out in Canberra this year is see if you can visit someone that is already doing this and check out how they do it and ask questions and look at things.
It was obvious in talking to people in person that only once it was physically seen did it start to really come together.


Cheers
Phil
 
Thanks for the new replies guys!
Phil, I actually already have (dove straight in within a week!) and have already purchased a 16ch LOR box from another member & have purchased LSP Basic while it was on sale!! Just need to save the $$$ for the USB485RJ-ISO and make a couple of mods to my existing light sets and I should be set for 2012!
Mind you all this talk of DC & DIY is making me anxious... :)
 
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