128 Channels!?!

This is what 128 Channels of RENARD looks like. Thought I would post this. Had some questions on what I was working on.

Still Alive

hey there… I am still alive. I have been out of the loop for a little while but still planning on a big display for 2011. I have 128 new channels to work with and many other spending design ideas.

In the works…
- RGB Led Dimable Flood
- Twitter Feed for start, song titles, etc
- Graphics display

Anyway, I’m alive and more forth coming.

New construction underway

This I have begun construction of my 2010 display additions. Here is a 36″ tall candy cane that is built with 4″ PVC, a toilet mounting base, a shower draw cap and a glass globe lighting fixture. This was a prototype so I did take many pictures… here is a quick shot.

New Hardware coming

I just ordered some new hardware for the 2010 display. I have 2x Renard 64′s and 32x SSRez’s coming. With these two additions I will be adding 128 channels to my display.

Planning has begun

As of March 24th planning has begun on the 2010 display. I am so excited to start working on my second display. While I don’t know how many elements are going to added or even how many channels we’ll need, I know it will be a lot of work.

Some of the elements that might be added are: large candy canes, leaping arches and more colors on the house. I would love to add a mega tree but I don’t think one will fit in my yard.

Stay tuned… More to come. This year I am going to add more build photos and more blog posts. It’s going to be awesome.

Lights are down.. now, time to build

Well, I finally got all the lights down off the house. I hate that part. It takes so much time for them to go up but only a fraction of the time to remove them. Now that they’re all packed and put away it’s time to start thinking about next years display. Based on what I learned from last years display I know that I want more channels and more elements. I am also going to double the number of songs that I sequence. I will construct a mega tree, leaping arches and lighted candy canes.
Anyway, it’s still only February and I have plenty of time. However, time will fly by like it did last year. Let’s get a move on.

Videos added

I have added some videos of my display to the Big Show page. They aren’t the best but they get the point of across. Plans for a better camera next year!!!

WOW Time Flies

Man, I almost forgot that I was running this blog. The month of December is all but gone. Christmas day was amazing, rain stinks and I can’t wait until next year.

This month has gone by so fast. I can’t believe that we are almost done with it. It seems like yesterday I was freaking out, thinking I wasn’t able to finish. But look now, I have to plan how all this stuff is going to come down and be put away. I did do some after Christmas shopping looking for deals on lights, decorations and such but was surprised to see that no on had anything left. It seems that the stores where a little light on inventory this year and didn’t stock as much as last year. Meaning there wasn’t the amazing buys as in years past.

Even though this year was a lot of work I am excited for what next year will bring. Getting this first year under my belt has helped in planning for the years to come. I have decided to add a mega tree, leaping arches and lighted candy canes to the mix next year. I am also going to double (or triple) the number of channels on the house from this year. I will add either one or two solid colors in addition to the string of multi’s on there now.

This year was fun but a lot of work. Can’t wait till next year.

So far so good…

So far so good… well, except for one thing. As of this morning I learned one thing… lights and electricity do not mix. Last night a front blew through town bringing with it some rain. All night long I feared that the display was going to be ruined but I instead I woke up to lights not turning on and all the GFCI outlets being tripped.

After a little investigation I found that one of the extension cords that feeds the primary controller was laying in standing water. So, I changed out the cord and made some adjustments with how the cables lay on the ground and all is well.

Here is a image of the house with some of the lights on:

Some of the lights turned on.

Here is link to my Flickr Photo Stream about the construction of my lights.

Crazy, fabulous, nerve racking

After a very long day which started before the sun came up the display was a hit. My wife and I had several of our friends over to watch the first performance of the year. With the exception of a few little glitches everything went great. I diffidently feel like I was able to accomplish something very grand. Seeing the smiles and faces of astonishment on my friends and family was well worth the toils and trials along the way.

I will post some pictures in the morning to the flickr feed and tomorrow night I will shot a video and post it on youtube.

Thanks to all those who came out.. it was a blast.