MarcD
Full time elf
I've been doing lots of reading since I joined last week. Very little of it made sense. This really is a whole new world. I downloaded and scanned through the Lighting 101 manual which sort of helped me understand some of the principles involved. But if I'm going to get anything happening this year, I going to need some very clear direction. I hope you guys are up for a challenge. My house is located in Heathwood on Brisbane's southside (right near Forest Lake). I have attached an outline of the front of the house. So, here goes:
Our current lighting includes mainly multi-colour LED strings purchased from Big W. There are also quite a number of frame rope light items (reindeer, stars etc.) and some inflatable items. Most of these were purchased from Deals Direct. My intention at this point in time is to just control the LED light strings which will be placed around the edges of various parts of the house (guttering, pillars, windows etc.). I'm not even concerned about syncing them to music this year. I really just want to be able to control them from one place instead of running around changing the patterns each night from the individual control boxes. Setting up a sequence to allow lights to go on and off in an order of my choosing.
My plan is to buy lots more light strings from Big W once they come back into stock, assuming they are the same as last years'. I had a look at the plug packs on the weekend and they all say AC - AC Adaptor Output 22V (but you probably knew that already). My understanding is that each string is made up of groups and I can cut and terminate these to suit my needs.
So to the bottom line, can someone give me a definitive list of everything I need to achieve my goal. By definitive, I mean a list of every item from controllers to dongles to lead wire to software and so on. Also where to buy it including links etc. I've no doubt this will cause some debate about the best options and so on. What I really need is a mentor who can say, based on what you have and what you want to achieve, go here and buy this, go there and buy that and so on.
I won't say that money is no object, but I don't want to buy a Rolls Royce and I'd rather not buy an old clunker either. In terms of skill level, I have three adult sons who have reasonable skills in soldering and being able to work things out.
With your assistance, I can make a start this year and improve year on year. Who knows, perhaps one day I'll even be able to offer advice to other newbies. I look forward to any and all advice.
Our current lighting includes mainly multi-colour LED strings purchased from Big W. There are also quite a number of frame rope light items (reindeer, stars etc.) and some inflatable items. Most of these were purchased from Deals Direct. My intention at this point in time is to just control the LED light strings which will be placed around the edges of various parts of the house (guttering, pillars, windows etc.). I'm not even concerned about syncing them to music this year. I really just want to be able to control them from one place instead of running around changing the patterns each night from the individual control boxes. Setting up a sequence to allow lights to go on and off in an order of my choosing.
My plan is to buy lots more light strings from Big W once they come back into stock, assuming they are the same as last years'. I had a look at the plug packs on the weekend and they all say AC - AC Adaptor Output 22V (but you probably knew that already). My understanding is that each string is made up of groups and I can cut and terminate these to suit my needs.
So to the bottom line, can someone give me a definitive list of everything I need to achieve my goal. By definitive, I mean a list of every item from controllers to dongles to lead wire to software and so on. Also where to buy it including links etc. I've no doubt this will cause some debate about the best options and so on. What I really need is a mentor who can say, based on what you have and what you want to achieve, go here and buy this, go there and buy that and so on.
I won't say that money is no object, but I don't want to buy a Rolls Royce and I'd rather not buy an old clunker either. In terms of skill level, I have three adult sons who have reasonable skills in soldering and being able to work things out.
With your assistance, I can make a start this year and improve year on year. Who knows, perhaps one day I'll even be able to offer advice to other newbies. I look forward to any and all advice.
