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Here it is, the day after St. Patrick’s day and I have been planning our 2007 Christmas Lights Display for about a month and a half. In fact, during our cruise to South America, I figured out the tentative display layout, how many channels, would be needed for the display, and what kind of amps it would draw per channel and per controller. So here are the “preliminary” changes taking place for 2007:

• Add three new 16-channel controllers – this will control 64 circuits in all
• Add the four missing red/green mini-trees that had to be removed because I was over the amperage limit on the controller
• Instead of allowing only one channel for the red minis and one channel for the green minis, designate four channels, one each to light up four green minis, and another four channels, one each to light up four red minis
• Change the configuration on the two large oak trees so the lights wrap the trees diagonally, instead of vertically
• Add more icicles to the eves
• Wrap the front porch post with clear lights
• Add more icicles to the tree in the courtyard
• Add twinkling snowflakes to the tree in the courtyard
• Sequence five new songs to have a second show, alternating the shows each night to keep it fresh. We are also trying to develop a theme to make the shows more cohesive, and not just a bunch of jumping lights.

And the biggest change will be to erect a 12 foot tri-mega tree. Now some say a mega tree has to be 20 feet tall before it is a mega tree, but a 20 foot tree in our yard would be out of proportion, So it will be about 12 feet tall. But there will be a tree within a tree within a tree. The first tree will be six feet tall and with green lights. The second will be 9 feet tall and red lights. And clear lights will be used for the 12 foot portion. The trees will be controlled by 36 channels, so that it can go round-and-round, as granddaughter Brooke likes to say. There will also be a star on the tri-mega tree. Can’t have a tree without a star.

I’ve calculated that will be going from 4,400 lights to 19,035 lights. Plus all the extension cords that will have to be added. Right after Christmas we started to buy up extension cords on sale, as well as the other lights, but I still have a ton of lights needed to get all of this up and running.

And speaking of up and running, for the last two days I’ve been reconfiguring my Light-O-Rama (LOR) sequencing software, by adding the 48 new channels and the animation that goes along with it. And today I’ve started to update the five songs from last year to synch with the new channels. Lot of fun, and so little time.

So stay tuned as we move toward the 2007 Christmas season.

282 days before the lights go on 

While Mary and I were cruising around Cape Horn, Light-O-Rama (LOR) announced the winners of their annual contest. It wasn’t until we reached a port where I had enough time to check out the winners, that I learned that we didn’t win in the Category 2 (8-32 channels) division. I was disappointed of course, and am still waiting to see the video that actually won. I’m sure it was excellent, and when I know that it is available on-line, I’ll post a link here. I still feel like our display was a winner with all the positive feedback we received at Christmas time. And plans are in the works for an even bigger display next year, but that will be for another post.