Dismantling Begins

Well, the weather hasn't cooperated. It has been cold so I cannot get on the roof to remove lights. I took most of the big items out of the yard. Some decorations are frozen to the ground so I have to wait. Last year the HOA did not complain when I could not take down everything until mid-March. I hope they leave me alone again this year!

Lights Out...

Well, the time has come. I am watching the last cycle of the Lights in Motion 2007 show. The holiday season has gone by so fast. This was probably the best show yet. The music synchronization is what made it so. I am extremely happy!

Now I am thinking about how to make the 2008 show even better. First, the decorations must come down and stored away in anticipation of coming to life again. This won't be easy, however. This is the second year in a row that we received quite a bit of snow and cold air at Christmas. In past years, all of the lights would be stored by the end of January which is what the Home Owners Association likes too. If we don't get some warm days soon (like we usually do), I may not get everything out of sight in time. I hope the HOA will understand.

Lots of Snow Again

Snow has fallen and more keeps falling. Some of the decorations are buried in snow drifts. It kind of looks like last year; although, only half as much snow (42 inches last year). At least people were able to enjoy the show up until Christmas. Last year, the snow fell a week before Christmas so viewer turnout was minimal.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve 2007

Merry Christmas...Eve! The night is warm and calm, a great evening to watch a holiday light show. I have seen up to ten cars at one time parked in front of the house. With such a pleasant evening some people are getting out of their cars and watching from the sidewalk. I put a radio outside so they could hear the music.

I am glad so many people are enjoying the show. That's one of the things that makes all the hard work worth while.

Happy Holidays!

Music Sounds Great

Well, I solved the distortion problem. I wasn't able to make any adjustments on the MP3 controller or the FM transmitter; however, I fixed the problem by remixing the music with lower gain. The show is awesome now!

Music Synchronized Show Is On Display

The new show is working now! Music is playing and lights are dancing. The problem was the sync cable. I searched a forum on Animated Lighting's website and found a thread that mentioned which pins the two wires should connect to on the Monster Brain. Sure enough, Animated Lighting configured the wire incorrectly so that when plugged in one wire was on the wrong pin. I reconfigured the wires and now everything works. I'm so glad the information was in the forum because it wasn't anywhere in Animated Lighting's documentation.

One problem left: The music is distorted especially on louder parts of the songs. I guess this is the next challenge to figure out.

Sync Complete, But Won't Play

The synchronization is complete except for Carol of the Bells. I connected the MP3 controller, downloaded the show, but only the first song plays and the lights do not turn on. I hope the MP3 controller isn't bad. I've tried various things, but no luck. I suspect a problem with the sync cable between the Monster Brain and the MP3 controller. It's the only thing that I'm not sure is connected correctly. It has two wires, but three pins to connect to. I can't work on this any more tonight so I'll continue tomorrow. I have to figure this out to meet the contest deadline. I'm also having coworkers stop by Friday to see the show.

Music Sync Continues

Well, it's Sunday night. I mixed the music, but still have some synchronization to do. This sure takes quite a while to do! It will be worth it when it is finished. I want to finish as soon as possible because some radio stations are having a contest for the best Christmas light display. I want to enter before it is too late.

Q11 Installed

I installed one of the new controllers, Q11 in the network today. I also finished running extension cords from the bells and the music tree to Q11. Now I need to finish the music synchronization now that this controller is online. I hope that won't take too long.

I also installed a few lights in the backyard where needed. The show is just shy of 60,000 lights.

Controllers are Here!!!

Finally, the controllers are here. To my surprise, they supplied power cords for all of the circuits. This is nice except that I have already built light controller boxes with household outlets just like past controller boxes. See the technical information section on my website. Oh well, I'll use what they sent since the power cords are already attached to the circuits.

More Disappointment From Animated Lighting

Well, Animated Lighting did not ship the controllers yet. They promised to ship them today for next day delivery at their cost. I guess we'll find out tomorrow.

Installation Almost Done

I installed another 3,270 lights all in the backyard on the deck and the landscape. I just have the four Austrian pines left to decorate. I may get to that tomorrow depending on if the controllers arrive tomorrow. Yes, they were not delivered yesterday. I will call Animated Lighting tomorrow morning to see what's wrong this time. Maybe I should travel to Kansas City and pick them up. I may get them faster!

I updated the website today with more information and full versions of the scene songs. Check it out.

Anxiously Frustrated

Well, it is almost noon on Saturday and the controllers have not arrived. I thought shipments on Saturday arrived around 1000. I hope I'm wrong and the shipment will arrive soon. In the meantime, I will try to program as much of the music synchronization as I can. I had hoped to premiere the new show this evening.

I also have to finish the backyard installation. The weather is cold, but the sun is out. Tomorrow is suppose to be warmer. I hope to have all installation completed by tomorrow night. I also have some lights to fix in the front yard. I noticed some lights out and the wind on Wednesday knocked over a few things.

Customer Service Sucks!

I talked to Lee at Animated Lighting. They didn't ship my controllers because the power cords were on backorder. Why didn't they tell me that last week. She claims they have the power cords, but can't ship until Friday. She said she could ship the controllers for Saturday delivery. I said that would be a good thing. I've been very patient, but I feel like because of that, they keep screwing with me.

Why do I feel like I won't be surprised if the controllers don't arrive Saturday. They better arrive Saturday. I discovered that I need them before I can finish the music synchronization. The lighting software won't allow me to add the new circuits until they are connected to the Monster Brain.

Backyard Install Continues

The night was warm, but I only had time to install the deck column lights. At least that's another 1,650 lights. The weather is suppose to be cold the next few days so I plan to finish the backyard over the weekend. I prefer to install in daylight anyway. Next year, I want to install all of the backyard in early October so I'm not doing it in late November.

I called Animated Lighting several times today to check on the controllers, but I kept getting voicemail. I will try again before work tomorrow.

Backyard Install

After work, the evening was sort of warm so I installed the deck garland. Tomorrow is suppose to be warmer so I'll install the eleven sets of deck column lights (2x12 tree wrap) and possibly the lights in the Japanese garden.

The controllers didn't arrive today. This is getting quite frustrating!

"Classic" Show Is On

I finished the LED Message Display and installed it in the Ash tree. I also installed the luminaries and the wreaths as well as fixing characters in The Nativity and Santa Snoopy scenes.

After connecting the last of the CAT5 cable to the Monster Brain, I downloaded the "Classic" show (last year's show) and turned on the lights at 1730. It looks pretty cool! Some people stopped to watch the show throughout the evening.

I updated the website too so it is more current.

Indoor Projects

Today, I built a wooden case for the BETAbrite message display and covered it with two coats of polyurethane. Tomorrow, I can put Plexiglas on the front.

I also prepared two cases for the two LC-16 lighting controllers that were suppose to arrive today. Guess what? They didn't arrive. What a surprise. They better be here Monday! That means, I won't be able operate some lights when I turn on the Classic show Sunday night.

The weather is cold today so I'll work on the editing music and programming the new show.

BETAbrite Message Board

Well, I programmed the new message display and hung it in the garage window. After Thanksgiving with family, I discovered that the display is too far from the street to read. So, I am going to hang it in the Ash tree in the front yard; however, I'll have to build a case for it to protect from moisture. That'll be my project for tomorrow.

Troubling News

I received a call today from Animated Lighting asking what version of Monster Brain I have. Animated Lighting is the vendor I purchase the lighting controllers from. The troubling thing is that I discussed this with the account manager and a technical person two weeks ago. Therefore, they haven't shipped my order yet!

In past years, their service was great and shipment fast. Now that they are a larger company, the service is poor. The account manager (Lee) treats me like I'm bothering her. They billed me on October 27th so calling on the status after two weeks and again a week later is not unreasonable. They aren't suppose to bill me until the product is shipped. She even agreed with that, but didn't go any further. I called today because she left a message. She acted like I am nagging. I am always polite and very patient. So I talked with a technical person (Mark) again and he thinks he knows what I have and how to configure the MP3 controller for me. He hoped to ship the MP3 controller on Friday. In the meantime, Lee will ship the two lighting controllers for Friday delivery. At least I can install them while I wait for the MP3 controller.

On another note, I have a solution for the broken LED sign. Instead of spending $300 on the software, I decided to spend $200 on a small LED message board. I met my sister at Sam's club (she has the membership) and purchased a BETAbrite Prism color message display with 560 LED lights. The sign is pretty cool because it has various transition effects. I'm going to hang it in the garage window. It will inform viewers of the best viewing spot and the FM station when I can broadcast music. Initially, I will announce the "Classic" show that will start Sunday night. When the new music synchronized show is ready, I'll update the messages.