When is it time?

[Zuseleets]

I was basically asking because I remember starting in October a few years ago and getting behind.
But after the last 2 days where I was sweating my ar%$ off I too thought it's gunna be a hot one, and I really don't want to be outside when it hits 40deg trying to fault find etc

We usually set up in the heat of late October early November and tend to put out a few models but then dive in the pool to cool off and continue the set up again until it's time to jump in the pool again.
But this year we just don't have the time as we did in previous years so we're trying to get up a few things now

 

[ryanschristmaslights]

I normally start once October comes around, although this year I've been doing some prep during September due to upgrading my mega tree's star. I do tend to begin with the less obvious elements and leave the most obvious Christmassy stuff (e.g. Santa, etc) until November. But that is just me.

 

[Notenoughlights]

I try start putting lights up 1st September onwards, have been severely delayed this year with other ongoing projects that are taking up my days however.

 

[djgra79]

I usually start late Nov as it usually only takes a few days (weather permitting.) However despite knowing where everything goes each year and having some small hardware in place like roof/wall mounts all year round, this bit me in the butt last year as work, weather & life got in the way and resulted in a scaled back display after the first 10 days of Dec.
Seeing as I am adding thousands of pixels this year, I plan to start setup early Nov once I pack away my Halloween prop display (no lights or sequences, just props/decorations)

 

[Skymaster]

Last year, my first year, I started getting props out "this weekend" -the October long weekend in Sydney. That's because I wanted to get props in place to measure out cable lengths I needed, and give myself time to do all the pigtail soldering and any other mounting I needed to do.

This year, I plan to start late October, only because I have a week or two in November that's burnt due to other commitments.

 

[Cranzy]

When I did Christmas only I would start 3 weeks before i plan to switch on, allowing myself 2 weeks for setup and 1 for testing.
Now that I do Halloween as well I usually start 2 week into October, however I have a few things to do so will start putting up the outline onto the roof this weekend seeing as Im up there anyways

 

[stevelee]

Excluding building new bits and new programming etc, in the last week in November I start testing everything and doing minor repairs, replace pixels, replace o-rings etc. Then 2 or 3 days to install and then lights on 1st December. I tried to make it a 1 day install but, and this may surprise people, my display keeps growing. Or it may be I got lazy and start at 10 and finish by 2, just so I am working in the heat of a NQ Summer. Might have to reconsider that plan.

I put all my winter display props out in 1 day, then cabled the next day and turned them on that night. I could have possibly done it all in oneday but i started late and finished early on the first day. My house has conduit clips all over the front that stay up all year round