Mega tree coming together

scamper

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I have been working on this for some time now, I was slowed by a recent trip to North Queensland 8)
But am back and have realised there is not much time before I will need to start setting up.
I thought I would show off what I have done so others can maybe get some ideas for themselves. After all that is what I did, looked at everyone else's ideas and incorporated them into mine.
I used dumb strips, so I don't have any problems with lengths of wire at this stage. But also it meant I chose to run a 27ch ray Wu controller and double strings up. That meant I have 18 strands.
9 inputs at the bottom, and looped at the top.
I have concreted a pvc sleeve 800mm into the ground and have 2 sections of steel tube that slide into each other and have just finished the top disk with hooks.
I will start of the base in the next few days where I hook the turnbuckles to.
 

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AAH

I love blinky lights :)
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There can't be many pixels as he's only got 180 channels according to his signature pic.
 

scamper

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Like I said, I used dumb strips. But 900 leds should look Ok :D
and pointing up for weather protection.
 

scamper

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After spending yesterday making the base, I was worried that it was too big, so I did a quick install with only a few strings to get an idea of the size of it.
I must say I even impressed myself :D
It looks fine, and when the rest of the strings are on I think it will impress the neighbours.
I have even ordered the roll on turf to lay next week so it should clean the whole area up a bit.
That just means I will have to get outside and do some work on think=gs other than xmas for a little while :p
 

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mborg10

Michael Borg
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Don't get too carried away with the turf cause then you have to mow it. One of the things I hate about Christmas lights is mowing around cables.

The tree is looking the part though. I don't think you can be too big.
 

scamper

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I haven't got a picture yet but have just come down from the shed....
My wife says to me... " we need a star to go on top of the tree", "But I want it to be 3D"
Well.... when the boss says jump.... guess what the answer is!
hence a long afternoon in the shed.
I will post the pictures tomorrow :D
 

Superman

I Have C.L.A.P and its very infectious
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Oh Yes, It is Fun when the Wife decides it's her display as well. I remember when mine never wanted anything to do with it in the beginning.
Seems we all end up in the same boat.
 

scamper

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Hey superman... It is all about getting them involved, that way we don't have to try and explain the money we are spending, because we all know they are way better at it than we are :D
 

scamper

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Sorry, I kept forgetting to take pictures.
I have added some strip lights and some coro for diffusion as a test and finally took a photo, so here it is.
 

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scamper

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I have added all the strips to the star (no coro yet) and have wired up for a test run, but it seems I have a weird fault.
I think I may have damaged some LED's with the bends as 2 of the strips are showing the wrong colour and actually interfering with other strips. ie, when it is meant to be red it shows up cyan, but also lights up another strip. I have changed the wiring around and it is only this strip that does it.
I will get back to it in the next day or so to figure it out.
I also wired up my control box, complete with extra power outlets for adjacent supplies.
As this is going under the tree it is painted to look like a xmas present instead of trying to hide it (I will supply a photo later)
 

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scamper

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Just a picture of how the control box is painted.
Instead of trying to hide it, I decided to make it look like a present as it will be under the tree.
 

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