Check back often as I'm continually updating this page.
Table of Contents
- How do the lights flash along with the music?
- How long did it take you to set this up (and take it down)?
- Why doesn't every song look as good as "Wizards in Winter"?
- Where can I get one of these "Light-O-Rama" thingies?
- What do you have in store for next year?
- How do you play the music on the radio?
- What do your neighbors think about this?
- How much is your electric bill?
- How many lights did you have?
Disclaimer:
I am in no way affiliated with Light-O-Rama (LOR) and have not received any compensation of any kind from LOR for any comments or claims made anywhere on this web site.
Mind you, I think they SHOULD compensate me! ;)
How do the lights flash along with the music?
They are controlled by a regular PC using Light-O-Rama (LOR) lighting controllers. A standard PC sends signals to the LOR units and tells them which lights to turn on and to what intensity.
Essentially, EVERY SINGLE string of lights is individually controlled and requires its own dedicated extension cord from the LOR unit to wherever the string is located. As you can imagine, the lights aren't the most expensive part of this,
Each song has its own "program" written for it that specifies the lighting sequence. It's very tedious and takes a long time to do this.
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How long did it take you to set this up (and take down)?
It took a long time this year (about 4 weekends) but that is because I bought a bunch of new LED lights and a billion extension cords. It takes a while to cut all of the "Warning" labels off that many things. Also, the little "bowling pin" trees took about 10 minutes each to make. They are just tomato rings with a string of lights wrapped around them.
Next year, it should go faster since all of my wiring is now tie-wrapped together and labeled as to where it goes.
As for the actual programming of the songs to the music: that takes about a week per song and by "a week" I mean "40-50 hours for a 3-4 minute song."
It took me over 8 hours to take it down and I still have a few more hours of work left to get the last few things stored away for next year.
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Why doesn't every song look as good as "Wizards in Winter"?
Because I am lazy. I had a jump-start on that sequence because I used one I got from Carson Williams. I just modified it a bit to fit my display. (I also fixed a few "issues" with his original.) The other songs I had to do from scratch and it takes a while.
I have a lot more sequences "in the works" and will display them as soon as they are "ready for prime time."
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Where can I get one of these "Light-O-Rama" thingies?
The same place I did:
(Click on the image above to go directly to the Light-O-Rama website.)
In case you're considering buying them on eBay, I'd recommend against it for two reasons:
1. If you are new to this (which I'll assume is true since you're reading this) it will be difficult for you to determine what you are actually getting. You need more than just the controller board.
2. In every auction I've watched on eBay the buyer has ended up paying almost as much (if not more) as you'd pay for a brand new unit directly from LOR.
In any event, you're better off buying from LOR directly until you get some experience with the units. Also, LOR usually has an off-season sale in March or thereabouts. You can save a few bucks if you wait until then to buy them. Don't wait too long, though - they usually have a back-log of orders by Halloween and this isn't a project you can whip up after Thanksgiving. I started planning mine 9 months ago and it's still not really done yet.
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What do you have in store for next year?
This year I only have 5 LOR units (80 channels) running. Next year I plan on having at least triple this. (I need to have my electrician install some more outlets first.)
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How do you play the music on the radio?
Instead of speakers I have a small FM transmitter hooked up to the computer that runs the light controllers. I use a Ramsey FM-25B that you can get on eBay in kit form (if you're handy with a soldering iron) or already assembled.
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What do your neighbors think about this?
I've only had positive comments. Of course, I've tried to be a good neighbor as well by only running the lights until 10:00 p.m. during the week. (The lights flash directly into my bedroom and it's not really that annoying with the blinds closed.)
I tried to keep the noise down by using the radio instead of outdoor speakers. That works for the most part but every now and then someone will turn up their car radio or beep their horn. Other than that it's pretty quiet.
I also didn't call up the media to tell them about it. In fact, I only told a few friends and family about it. This helped to keep traffic down (I don't think there were ever more than 3-4 cars at a time out front.) Of course, now that the word is out, next year might be a problem.
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How much is your electric bill?
My electricity consumption will actually be LESS than last year for two reasons:
1. With the Light-O-Rama system, only a fraction of all of the lights are on at a given time. Also, since the lights go on and off automatically, I can't inadvertently leave them running all night.
2. Some of you have commented on the cool "blue lights" - these (and all of the red and green and a few of the white) are the new LED type. Not only do they look more intense in color, they use 80% less electricity than the conventional incandescent ones. (A string of 25 LED's uses something like 0.2 Watts. Yes, that is a decimal in there.) Next year I hope to be close to 100% LED.
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How many lights did you have?
I'm estimating around 11,000 - 30% of which are LED. I'll try to get an exact count next year.
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You're not the only one. This many other people were confused by the lights:
Copyright © 2006 Chuck's Corner. All rights reserved.
Revised: 04/13/07.