Waterproofing is a chore!

I spent the evening in the garage getting the LED par cans going around the video wreath into the 2.5 quart paint pails for waterproofing. Should get the wreath up and start mounting them on tomorrow afternoon.

2009 Setup is underway

I have gotten started setting up for this year's show. The big tree is on site and assembled. We used a man lift this season, which made the job soooo much easier.
The truss is also installed above the garage doors. So, just have to get the video wreath mounted and it will be on to wiring... shooting for Thanksgiving night lights on as usual.

New addition this year

There they are. 16 LED Par Cans all set with the correct dmx addresses and ready to mount around the perimeter of the video wreath. The paint pails will be used to weatherproof them. Should make for some really neat effects.

Striking the Show

Tearing down seymour lights isn't quite as much work as setting up, but it's still a chore.

This mess has all been sorted out, wound up and packed away now. It was not a lot of fun, however.


Yech...

It's also a bit of a challenge to tear down the big tree. We have a simple crane type apparatus that goes into the hitch receiver on a truck. We used it to take down the star and top two sections of the tree.

Thanks for a fantastic season!!

Teardown begins today. Thanks so very much to all those who came by to see the 2008 display. We have big plans for 2009 and we will be back with some major changes to the display.

I have posted some videos from this season's show on the video page and will post a couple more in the next week or so.

Thanks again for making 2008 a great year for Seymour Lights. Happy New Year!

Planning for 2009

Well, we are in the final week of the 2008 display and it's time to think about next season. I am thinking of adding a couple of elements to the show next season.

The first element will be LPG flame projectors. I may be making these myself or ordering them a source in China.

Here's an example of what I am talking about:

Now that the big tree is reliable (rebuilt it for this season from steel tubing) it's time to think of ways to take it to the next level. One thing I am considering is a layer of individually controllable LED modules so I can 'project' simple video elements on the surface of the tree. Here's a video from someone who is experimenting with this this year..

The other things I am planning to do are focused on improving existing elements of the show or generally making it easier to set up the display.

1. Create 'wiring harnesses' as I take the display down this year. This should cut a little time from setup next season.

2. Definitely will need more foggers next season and better weather/temperature control for the lasers...

3. Need to put MUCH more time into my sequencing next season to give the show much more of cohesive feel and much more professional and polished.

Keeping the Lasers Warm

Well, the lasers haven't debuted in this season's display yet due to a complication I should have foreseen. One of the things about Laser Diodes is that they lose a lot of power when the operating temperature falls below design specs. That means about 50 degrees fahrenheit...

So... I built some insulated cases for them. The larger one is my RGB laser and the two smaller ones are the green lasers.

The boxes are not the prettiest thing, but in 17 degree temperature last night, they stayed a toasty 60 degrees inside. They are made from 1x3 stock and luan, with foam insulation. The window is special anti-reflective glass so as not to lose laser power.

Inside are small enclosure heaters I picked up on eBay.. they have a built in thermistor and will not exceed 65 degrees.