My christmas lights

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11/19/2009, 04:26 PM
Marlin

My christmas lights

Well, I spent the last few weeks working on this. I had to draw it all out, measure out the lights and whatnot so it would be perfect. Then I had to run appropriate power cords to stage the lights from the appropriate outlets. It was so worth it. I can play my Ipod through it. If you jump to 40 seconds on the video, you can see the various layers of the lights. It is just under 800ft of lights covering about 350 ft house. They are all LED and draw about 1.5 amps when they are all on at the same time. It took me about 20 hours to actually hang the lights, and maybe another 20 in planning. I had to get it done now. My jaw surgery is the 24th, and I will be out for awhile. They are advancing my bottom jaw forward about 5mm, cutting the top jaw in 2 places to make it three pieces and spreading it out. I am going to be in agony for a about 2 weeks:( Well worth it to never need braces again.
Enjoy the light show. Sorry the audio is low, my digital camera does not shoot the best video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmNF1YM1ztc
11/19/2009, 08:47 PM
Riff Raff

MARLIN--- Holy Cow, you totally rock man (please excuse the pun)!!! That is frickin' beautiful. Leave it to a certified electrician to create a fantastic light show for X-Mas. You are truly gonna' be the envy of the neighborhood (or P.I.T.A.).

I wish I could see your neighbor's faces who live directly across the street from you. They'd probably say "Damn it, Martha-- you know that VX freak across the street who kept us up all Summer long with his hammering 'n drilling on his truck bumper??? Well, now the frickin' yahoo is gonna' keep us up all frickin' Winter with those super bright Christmas lights shining in our front bedroom window and that loud redneck music of his!!! That's it, we're movin'-- call the realtor."

"Hey you over there, turn that crap down!!!"

P.S.-- Best wishes on the jaw surgery and for a quick recovery. If they put you on a liquid diet, may I suggest Jack Daniel's or Jim Beam.
11/19/2009, 08:48 PM
Moncha

Very cool!

Good luck with your surgery, I know I and others will be thinking and praying for the best outcome!

Scott
11/19/2009, 08:55 PM
circmand

almost perfect

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marlin

Well, I spent the last few weeks working on this. I had to draw it all out, measure out the lights and whatnot so it would be perfect. Then I had to run appropriate power cords to stage the lights from the appropriate outlets. It was so worth it. I can play my Ipod through it. If you jump to 40 seconds on the video, you can see the various layers of the lights. It is just under 800ft of lights covering about 350 ft house. They are all LED and draw about 1.5 amps when they are all on at the same time. It took me about 20 hours to actually hang the lights, and maybe another 20 in planning. I had to get it done now. My jaw surgery is the 24th, and I will be out for awhile. They are advancing my bottom jaw forward about 5mm, cutting the top jaw in 2 places to make it three pieces and spreading it out. I am going to be in agony for a about 2 weeks:( Well worth it to never need braces again.
Enjoy the light show. Sorry the audio is low, my digital camera does not shoot the best video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmNF1YM1ztc

It needs just one more thing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Mie9hhQTUM
11/19/2009, 10:29 PM
pbkid

thats awesome chris! :thumbup:

dig the strange yellow car in the driveway ;)
11/20/2009, 03:49 AM
Marlin

Quote:

Originally Posted by circmand

It needs just one more thing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Mie9hhQTUM

LMFAO!!! I even bought a cowbell for my drum set because of that skit!!!

As for the neighbors, the house across the street has been empty for awhile, I drove them off in the summer:) (Renters) I am free and clear. The people next to me are airforce and the other side is retired navy, so I am GTG. Last night was the first night I had them on full scale. I had people stop and ask me if they could video tape it.:)
I suppose that is how I am, always has to be over the top. I know there are way bigger displays on youtube, but those guys use sequencers and computers and spend thousands. Mine is less than 600 bucks out the door from scratch. Well, off to work. I will post some before and after pics from the surgery so you can see how much of a difference it makes. Should be significant.

Merry xmas all!!!!
11/20/2009, 07:30 AM
ZEUS

Ugh, Christmas comes so early... Looks good tho, Chris! However, this is soooo NOT VX related, how dare you tell us about your other doings! ;)
OMG with the face reconstruction - seriously, if you wanted to go thru all that I am sure you could find someone to take a bat to your face... I'm just sayin, it might be cheaper! :P Good luck with all that, man, and keep us posted...
11/20/2009, 07:50 AM
Marlin

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZEUS

Ugh, Christmas comes so early... Looks good tho, Chris! However, this is soooo NOT VX related, how dare you tell us about your other doings! ;)
OMG with the face reconstruction - seriously, if you wanted to go thru all that I am sure you could find someone to take a bat to your face... I'm just sayin, it might be cheaper! :P Good luck with all that, man, and keep us posted...

That is why I put it under Chit-chat, not related to VX, although you can just see the VX in the video, so that makes it vx related.

Can't be cheaper, the military is paying for all of it, and I get a month off of work and get paid the whole time. Still doesn't make up for the 2.5 yrs at sea with no overtime:(
11/20/2009, 07:53 AM
don moore

positive karma and and prayers for a speedy recovery.....looks good
11/20/2009, 08:17 AM
Scott Harness

Nice work!! Get Well Quick!!
11/20/2009, 10:50 AM
handeeman

That is a job well done.....I'm like a little kid when I see christmas lights...that's gotta make a lot of people smile Marlin (Grisswold). Oh, good thoughts and prayers your way Nuke.
11/20/2009, 11:22 AM
Marlin

Thanks to all for your good thoughts. the surgeon doing the work is top notch, I have talked to some of the other folks he performed similar surgeries on and they look great. They hated him for the first week, no food and bleeding from your sinuses is no fun, but after that, they were happy with the results. I am sure that the percocet(SP) helped.
11/22/2009, 03:08 PM
alterastro

Wow I just love those lights. Any chance you can detail how you did it? I've been wanting to do something similar in the UK for years, but as you say, it normally costs thousands!

Good luck with the surgery - try not to smile for a while!

Nick :grino:
11/22/2009, 04:29 PM
tomdietrying

Wow! Now that's cool!
O.K. You're in my appointment book. I'll send you some positive vibes this Tuesday.
Peace.
Tom
11/22/2009, 05:02 PM
Marlin

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomdietrying

Wow! Now that's cool!
O.K. You're in my appointment book. I'll send you some positive vibes this Tuesday.
Peace.
Tom

Thanks Tom.

As for the details. The multiplexer is made by a company called Gemmy. I am sure yo ucan get one on ebay. I got mine on clearance at JC Penny last year for a steal. There are other versions of the multiplexer, GE makes a wirelss set, not sure how well it works. The important part is to lay out the lights on a drawing and figure out the most efficient way to run the extension cords to plug into the appropriate outlet on the multiplexer. It has six different outlets, each one tied to a certain frequency range. The device does not come with what outlets are what. I put masking tape on the front, hooked up six strands of lights (one to each outlet) played "Here come the bells", or whatever the song is called, you can hear it in my video at the 40sec mark. I wrote down the order the lights went from 1 to 6, 1 being the top, 6 being the bottom,or first to last or however you would like to set up your lights. Once you are labeled, lay out your lights, use masking tape and label each plug as to which outlet it goes in, which helps when hooking it all up and you get totally confused. :smack:
The multiplexer should be around 100 bucks I would think. The MOST IMPORTANT part is using LED lights, not incandescent. This will save you time and money. I did this last year with a mix of incandescent and LED and broke my first multiplexer. It can only handle about 7.5 amps which in incandescent lights is not a whole lot at all. If you switch to LED, like I said before, I have 750 feet or so of lights, only draws 1.25 amps, so I am not even close to overloading anything, not to mention that makes the effect on my electricity bill nill. When you lay out your lights, think layers, overlap strands that would be from outlet #1 with lights on #3, and #6. This gives the illusion of motion, and ties everything together without looking generic and unoriginal. Your imagination and vision is the only that will limit you.
If you have any more specific questions, let me know.