Holiday displays anyone?

I look forward to seeing more @Ejwind!

This all looks great (and inspiring). A curiosity question - did you have need to boost your data signal in some spots? If yes - please describe - this is an area that I am very much a novice.
I also love what Ejwind has created - unfortunately, I think Xlights is beyond my wheelhouse. I also live in a condominiumized area of older people so would probably get booted out if I got things flashing very vigorously.
Thanks.

@TOG99, I thought for sure that I would need to use a null pixel or data signal booster of some kind (at least for the mega tree (since it’s the longest run from the source). But it turns out that I didn’t have this issue. I guess the Cat6 cabling was surprisingly good at carrying data the longer distances that I needed. I did run into a very frustrating data-related problem with the icicles though. I kept getting lots of flickering when the brightness was up more than 40% or so. I had a lengthy back-and-forth discussion with a lot of helpful people on the forum here about it:

Help diagnosing flickering

Ultimately it turned out that a small resistor on the data line made the flickering go away.

Other than that, I was fortunate enough not to run into the low data signal issues that many people seem to have.

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WLED is amazing, and the fact that it can be used to power a light show is icing on the cake! Unfortunately I spent so much time building our display that I didn’t have much time left for sequencing. Very thankful for all those sharing xlights sequences. I managed to pull in a few shared sequences and map it to my elements. I hope to get more into this next season to level up a bit, but here’s a sample running on our lights…

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Hi, I also did 2 separate null pixels 1,5m from the controllers. (Digquad), from that it could easiliy carry the next 3,5meters.

I am a bit dissapointed in the dig quad for the signal, it should easily carry 5 meters according to specs. Without data boosting. I also used some injection points. I have all 5V strips and pixels. The pixels are a bit stronger for data signal, I think. The strips should only be uses in a ridged setup.

I used 3core 1mm2 cables for data and signal in 1. 30A 5V generic power supply. With 2500mA software current limiter, lights are even then pretty bright.

With the objective of getting this thread back on the path that @docmattman intended and to encourage others to put their pictures out here, I am sharing pictures of two of the three installs that I was involved with this summer/fall.
I live in “The North” (Alberta, Canada) and have reached an age where climbing ladders with snow on my boots ins sub freezing temperatures to put up Christmas lights each year is no longer safe nor fun. My son-in-law and his brother felt it was my job to come up with a permanent solution and prototype it and in turn help them with theirs. Compared with the two posted here so far, these are modest installs, however, we are all happy - it is meeting our objective.
The two houses below each have just under 300 pixels. Being a permanent install and want to focus on aesthetics, I used led strips (WS2815 with 30 l/m) mounted in aluminum channel with white diffusers. Where necessary, I got a local tin shop to provide small channels to cover the small amount of exposed wiring. At the moment, the two houses you see are running 108e controllers (no WLED). On my home, I installed about 390 pixels (220 on front eave and 170 in back). On these I am using a 107e in the back and am just attempting to implement WLED on a DigUno in the front. My DigUno has quit talking to me, however, it is still happy to run our favorite Christmas preset each evening. I have a unit with an external antenna coming, so once I get it all tested and boxed, I will try to find a warm day to switch it out.
Sure hope my first attempt to load pictures works


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Well done @TOG99, the installs look very clean and professional! Be careful though, once you see your house illuminated (even a little bit), it can only lead to more and more next season!

As previously mentioned, here are some photos of my DIY megatree and pixel stakes…

Using a real tree to hold up the megatree so I don’t need to worry about poles and stabilizing cables, etc

Coroplast cut into 1" strips and drilled every 2" inches to hold the pixels

Strands staked into the ground with some extra pvc (pay no attention to the messy wires again)

Full view of the megatree and star mounted to the real tree

Pixel stakes using extra closet shelving brackets

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Whoops - a little error in my math today - each of these houses has just under 600 pixels.

Thanks - I am sure you are right. I am already looking at things that I can do without a ladder and with minimal summer storage issues. As of the last couple weeks, I am now the owner of a DigUno (with two more with remote antenna on order) attempting to get it an WLED to do what I believe they can do. As a retired engineer, with incentives to have an inside hobby - I am happy to try this. The owner of the tall house has always been keen to do his upper eaves as well. The $8,000 quote for a total commercial install scared him off. We have done over half the job for around $500. Once he comes up with a plan on how to get at his eaves safely, I am sure there will be lights there by next winter. The other has an eave that is being considered and a hot tub area. The eave has little exposure, but, I am sure the hot tub will get done. For starters they are happy to just use the 108e’s but I know they are going to keep an eye on where I can get with WLED.
Also - thank you for the close up pics. I am going to look at a tree that I could put up against a column under my eave. If you know (or have a minute), I would be interested to know how wide the base of your tree is. Again - I am glad to have someone sharing these kind of details.

Just checked, the diameter of my megatree is about 68".

Always glad to help out. I had plenty of help along the way too.

Fantastic - thanks! One (hopefully) last request. Could you provide a little info on the dimensions of your hanging star in your image 20211220_152920. I have a mental image that a - say - 6 ft. tall by 48" diameter tree with this as its star, “may” work very well against the column at my front entrance. I like the proportions you have on your tree and this star so just giving it a thought.
Thanks.

The height of my star is roughly 20". It’s about 21" from the top point to the lower left point. It has 90 5v pixels.

It’s never too late to start a few extra pixel stakes (trying to get about 10 more done). Had more leftover 1" PVC pipes laying around. Ripped them in half long ways, then half again. Then drilled holes every inch and a half. Each stake is about 18" long, using seven pixels per stake. Still have to wire them all together. I’ll get to that later on.

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Here are some closeups of my setup





2 controlers, 30A 5V power supply, 2 12V adapters for camera and snowflake light. And some garland and christmas decoration to cover up the connections of the windows. (I live right on the street, the sidewalk is right up against my house, so it has to look sort of nice during daytime…):slight_smile:

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Strips, pixels and fairylights mixed together. On the flat roof everyting is held down with bags of stones or with clamps.

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Well - I hope you and @Ejwind are OK with it - I just told the wife it was your fault that I ordered 500 pixels, etc. today. :wink: I love what you have each shared. I need something to keep me out of the cold and the Covid for the next couple months, so my hobby (in my heated garage) will be to do some soldering, temporary hanging of pixels and dreaming of a “groundlevel and seasonal” creation. At the moment, I am considering a “mini” Mega Tree, which with a different sequence could double for Halloween (dripping blood, bright green eyes in purple outline - who knows??). I very much appreciate what you are sharing (non-tech info such as tree dimensions, using a toolbox as box for temp install along with technical info) is very helpful to me.
Again - thanks for the sharing - with a warning - this may generate more questions.

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To TOG99 & docmattman , can you stop posting pictures, you are making us jealous , Thx

Seriously, TOG99 house entrance looks amazing, the first picture looks like my favorite restaurant .
I am not sure all of this is just leds because it takes a lot to have the lighting match the house interior /exterior aesthetics . Which I think you guys did an amazing job

One time I added around 40 meters of leds to a room , now they call it the disco !

Just a question , I am facing resistance from other house occupants to implement my leds . Was it not
the case with you ? please give tips and take more pics so I can do the same in my tiny apartment

I’ll gladly take the blame for you @TOG99. I’m happy to continue giving any useful info I can. I think you’ll be surprised at how quickly 500 pixels will go. I just now realized that I posted my outdoor lights last year as well:

Those icicles were old AC (non-led) lights handed down from my in-laws. I believe I had around 400 pixels used last year. This year I’m close to 2,500.

I know what you mean about trying to reuse props for various occasions. I was tempted to repurpose my Halloween spider web as some sort of megatree for Christmas:

In the end though, I wanted more strands and also wanted to make sure that the pixels were more directly pointed at the main viewing area (instead of the rope style I used for the spider web). So I didn’t end up reusing it this time.

My secret has been building props little by little throughout the year. If I tried to pitch the idea to my wife about going all out with the 2,500 LED display we had this year, she likely would’ve tried to convince me that it’s too excessive. It also helps that she hears compliments from the neighbors once in a while.

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