Knock knock, it's September! What are you making and are you ready for Christmas 2026?

ryanschristmaslights

ryanschristmaslights

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⏰ Here's your three months to December warning! Have you started working on your 2026 display plans (building, sequencing)? What changes do you plan to make, or if you're brand new to lighting how are your grand plans going?

I should really get started on a new controller box now that I have the last of the required bits and pieces - power supply arrived last week and 60mm fan a few weeks before that. Already have controller, vents and pigtails. This controller box will cut down on some of the longer controller to first pixel cable runs.

As for last year's new gingerbread characters, I've decided to move them more forward instead next of to mega tree where they weren't that obvious from the street. And probably in two different pairs rather than all four in a line. Some more details about that here. I also have a incomplete coro reindeer that needs new pixels (pixels that I need to get onto ordering real soon).

For continuity here's the discussion I started last December:
auschristmaslighting.com

2025 check in: how is your show going, what are you planning for 2026?

With one more night until Christmas and just one week left for the year, it feels appropriate to check in and ask: How is your 2025 show going? Has anything in particular been a big hit with your audience this year? Is there a specific sequence that is most popular with your visitors - maybe...
auschristmaslighting.com auschristmaslighting.com
 
I put all my build effort in 2026 toward 4th of July stuff, and that's over now. Maybe a bit of it will make it in to the show, otherwise all that is new will be these if they are as easy to assemble as claimed:
1788258810633.png

Also still reworking controllers and putting the old ones into the test lab as test artifacts. Definitely still sitting on a good pile of parts for next year (2027)... denser matrix and tree, seed cube, etc.
 
I have a good pile of parts, but need to order a few things to make it complete. I might have time for a few of these, just need to set a working schedule.

Order 2 baldric8's and a spare falcon. (Maybe build one or two controller boxes)
Finish a new 32 port controller box
Push pixels into my mini messmerrizers
Finish the brackets on my two Diamond Kings
Push pixels into my icicles
Would be nice to build the second smaller megatree
Check all current controllers.
 
ITS SEPTEMBER ALREADY????

Lets see...
finish soldering xConnect onto the pixels that came with RST plugs
Push 3 more arches and a candy cane
Buy longer xConnect to finish my controller box
Get the new FPP up and running
Figure out if i bother buying a singing tree this year, or make it 12v next year
Get a new soldering iron cause mine has basically died, its only making dobs of solder on one side...
And finish sequencing all the songs.

This is going to be fun...
 
I have four or five props to finish power balance / injection points on then I'm ready for full scale test!
 
Pushed pixels for:
30 x 65 pixel megatree
250 pixel star
Talking grinch (272)
2 x flat trees (250)
2 x matrix poles(252)
3 x candy canes (100)

Built MT topper
Winch and pole in progress

Rebuilt 2 leaping arches

Rebuilt 2 controller boxes

Now I just need somewhere to put it all. It won't fit on our rental and we are expecting handover in new place in late November so could be a very busy time, or more likely a late start to this years display.
 
Added extra strands to the mega tree going from 20 to 30 but kept the same height and added 2 extra rows on the star. Got 2 GE Hattitude Quartets, one has had pixels added and cross braced. Power injection and balance done, tested and looking good. Now all I need to do is work out how to fix it to the wall. Decided to add verticals this year and have the conduit and pixels but not assembled yet. Adding spiral trees if I get time to assemble along with a tunnel archway. I have future plans to add roof, matrices, floodlights, wall wash, mini trees and projector so am reworking my sequences (about half done) to include these props as that will save effort when the props are included. I have over 70 songs and many are in serious need of resequencing now that I am starting to understand the nuances of the music and the capabilities of my props. That is going to be an ongoing iterative task that will give me something to do in the depths of future winters.
 
So first year for me,
5m projector
10 x 100 pixel arches
10x mini trees - 100 node each
1 x mega tree - 3 x 5 - 3800 nodes
5 small candy canes - 75 nodes each
4 medium - 155 nodes each
2 large - 217 nodes each
1 snow globe - 1300 nodes
1 mouse gingerbread - 250 nodes
2 bears - 400 nodes
2 spinners - 200 nodes each
3000 - seed pixels
10m - iclcles - 800 nodes
1 - snowflake - 350 nodes
3 - singing bulbs - 150 pixels each
1 singing tree - 270 nodes
2 gnomes - 250 nodes each
p10 display 4m by 5m
6000 pixel matrix for roof - 9 by 5 meters
4 moving heads
2 baldrick 8 v1.1
falcon f16 with expansion
smoke machine
2 lazer dmx controllers
4 water fountains
so far have pushed 4000 pixel hands are sore havent caved to buy pixel pliers on a tight budjet as a 16 year old. got 12 sequences of a varitey of vendors, have 3 rpi 5 and starting to set up networking, abundance of power supplies 12v-300x and 5v-300w. and alot alot more random stuff have about 200m in waterproof led pixel strip and 4 strobe lights and just so much...... im not gonna be ready in time
 
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