First off, I must say that I am looking into this project, but it's not definite.

Being I still live in a dorm, there's not a whole lot of opportunity to use LOR.  (Outside decorations would disappear in a heartbeat.)  So, I dreamed up this great project to try to cram a whole LOR show into one window...or maybe two or three if I have cool neighbors.  Time will tell.

Anyways, here is what I am thinking.  My goal was to have something that can chase both vertical and horizontal.  In addition, I wanted at least 3 colors to work with, and hopefully more than one window. 

The diagram below is really confusing.  Basically, I have red and green on the horizontal grid lines, and white and blue on the vertical grid lines.  The diagram shows which lines are on what channels.  This is my first stab at a design and channel layout, so it's likely to change. 

CHANNEL LIST:

1. Red horizontal top
2. Red horizontal middle
3. Red horizontal bottom
4. Green horizontal (all green lights)
5. Blue vertical left
6. Blue vertical right
7. White vertical (all white lights)
8. Candle
9. Candle
10. Candle
11. Candle
12. Candle
13. Candle
14. Candle
15. Candle

This is my window:

This is my channel grid.  It shows all the grid lines, the colors of the lights, and the channel layout.  You will notice I have 8 electric candles that will sit on the window sill.  Obviously, I will clean up the grid and make it uniform when I get the actual window dimensions.

Here is the same diagram, just dumbed down.  All the colored lines represent the various circuits.  As you can see, there are 7 channels for the lights.  3 red, 2 blue, 1 white, 1 green.  (The pink line is the white lights.)

Ok, now that I have the dimensions for the window, it's time to get down and dirty on the project.  I had to make some major adjustments to the orginal plan.  The orginal plan (see below) had 6 vertical gridlines and 6 horizontal gridlines.  This was great in theory, but the problem was it would leave 6-8 inches between gridlines.  That's a lot of wasted space on the window.  So, I changed the scheme to have 18 horizontal gridlines and 14 vertical gridlines. 

Sounds excessive to you?  Well, it probably is.  But, I figured 18 and 14 gridlines with 2-3 inch spacing was better than 6 gridlines with 6-8 spacing.  So, check out my latest drawing which is to scale.  Inches are listed down the left side and across the top.

Note that I made a color change.  The white lights will be yellow or amber instead.  They are yellow in this updated diagram. 

I also added the final channel.  The 16th channel is currently a white, window outline (ropelight?).  So this entire grid can run off of one controller!  I may get two controllers to get better control over the rows.  If I learn enough at the Chicago Mini, I may try to build a wireframe reindeer head to sing the songs.  Just an idea, but I'd need more channels for that too.

Today is my birthday! 

I decided that with a window, it is best to go with 2.5 inch spaced lights.  Yes, these strands are more expensive, but lights spaced 4" apart or 6" waste a lot of window space.  So, a 2.5" spaced line of 50 lights is 10.7 feet long, or 126 inches.  My window is 44" x 35". 

As with all LOR projects, it is necessary to calculate power.  First, we need to calculate the number of 50 light strings I will be using.  I have 9 gridlines of Red, 9 gridlines of green, 8 gridlines of blue, and 6 gridlines of yellow.  These numbers came from the to scale drawing of my window in a previous post.  So, here you go:

• Red = (3 gridlines per channel)(44inches/gridline)+8inch overhead (4 inches between each row times 2 rows = 8) = 140".  Each string is 126 inches, so 2 strings.  Times 3 for 3 red channels = 6 strings of red.
• Green = (9 gridlines per channel)(44inches/gridline)+32inch overhead (4 inches between each row times 8 rows=32) = 428".  Each string is 126",  so 4 strings.
• Blue = (4 gridlines per channel)(35 inches/gridline)+ 18 overhead (6 inches between each row times 3 rows = 18) = 158".  Each string is 126", so 2 strings.  Times 2 for 2 blue channels = 4 strings of blue lights.
• Yellow = (6 gridlines)(35 inches/gridline) + 39" overhead (6 inches between each row times 6 rows PLUS 3 inch pane overhead = 39") = 249".  Each string is 126", so 2 strings. 

TOTALS: 

• 6 Red
• 4Green
• 4 Blue
• 2 Yellow/amber

WASTE:

• 112" of red lights from top channel   (9.3 feet)
• 112" of red lights from middle channel (9.3 feet)
• 112" of red lights from bottom channel  (9.3 feet)
• 76" of green lights (6.3 feet)
• 94" of blue lights on left side (7.8 feet)
• 94" of blue lights on right side (7.8 feet)
• 3" of yellow lights (.25 feet)
• = Total waste of 50.25 feet, or 4.76 strings of light!

So, 16 strings of lights at 0.17 amps each = 2.72 amps.  Even though I share my circuit with other people, 3 amps is only 20% capacity on the circuit, so I should be OK.

This is how the initial diagram and calculations came out.   I may try to reorganize the grid to waste less.  Saving 4 strings of lights will help reduce cost. 

I am still thinking about grid redesign, but it appears there is no GOOD way to do it without wasting lights.  The window space is just too small.  I have also been thinking about other things I could do to "spice up" the display with such limited space, so here is my first idea:  floodlights. 

Given my location and being near the lounge window, I could place and use about 4 flood lights (2 red 2 green) and use them without disturbing my neighbors.  I have one wall face nearby that has no windows, and if I place the floodlights at the base of building and aim up, I believe I can light the building without hitting the windows (recessed windows and we have A/C units built into the building below our windows, so the vents for that protrude about 1.5 inches, which should help block light nearing windows.) 

The placement will be tricky, but i have no doubt I can find suitable places, but this could be something the administration will frown upon.  Also, placement here could be wasteful depending on where the floodlights can actually go, so it may take more than four.  Typically, you place floodlights away from the building so you can light the whole building, but that's not an option for me because it will light up other dorm windows.

I have two toy soldier blowmolds I picked up at a garage sale.  I am thinking about putting them outside.  However, I'm sure these will disappear or be damaged if I put them out.  But for $1 at a garage sale, it may be worth the risk.  Besides, do they do any good hiding in my closet?

Idea #2 - Strobes!  Who doesn't love displays with strobes?   I think it would be neat to get some strobes in the window.  I could also put them outside, but I think they will disappear too fast if I do that.  Plus, it takes considerably less strobes to fill a window.  I'm questioning if the regular curtain strobes are too big for a window...?

I have two toy soldier blowmolds I picked up at a garage sale.  I am thinking about putting them outside.  However, I'm sure these will disappear or be damaged if I put them out.  But for $1 at a garage sale, it may be worth the risk.  Besides, do they do any good hiding in my closet?

Idea #2 - Strobes!  Who doesn't love displays with strobes?   I think it would be neat to get some strobes in the window.  I could also put them outside, but I think they will disappear too fast if I do that.  Plus, it takes considerably less strobes to fill a window.  The usual curtain strobes may be too big for a window...?

What about building a talking wireframe?  I thought it might be neat to create some sort of character to place in a different window than the grid that could "sing" some of the songs.

And there always is the possibility of griding more windows if I have nice neighbors.  At this point, I don't think I'll be dong more grids in other windows, but it's certainly a possibility.  If I did them the same, I could put them all on the orginal 16 channels, but I think doing multiple windows will get me into power woes pretty fast.  The LOR board can handle it fine, because I'm no where near 50% capacity on the LOR board.  The problem is, my room is on a shared circuit with other dorm rooms, so ... I don't have a dedicated line, and I certainly can't max out my line as others use it as well.  Hmmmmm.  Time to call maintenance and find out exactly what is on my circuit. 

Well, I thought I'd post a quick demo so you see what it will look like.  This is a rough start to Crazy Train.  You can see in a couple of places where I only have a beat track laid out or just a skeleton copy of the melody, etc.  Anyway, this is a partial copy of the song showing some beginning work and the guitar solo.  It's far from complete, but I hope it's a good start.  Some of the timing still needs correcting.  Ok, enough disclaimers, and on to the video!  Or low resolution or high resolution.  This is a blown up animation of my window.

Well, the mini-PLUS has given me a TON of new ideas and ways to think about all this.  Orginally, the plan was to use adhesive window clips on the window to hold the whole grid into place. Well, that has fallen by the wayside as I have found coroplast!  It seems this will be more promising for getting everything "right."  The downside is this hard plastic will shut out my window completely, so I can't look out of it during the Holidays.  However, the organization benefits will be worth it. 

So I have to completely redo all my drawings.  Not only will the spacing be different, but the number of light strings will change.  This will also allow me to add other items into the design such as an image of santa or words like "Merry Christmas." 

I'll try to find some pictures online so you see what I'm talking about.

Coroplast is simple:  you drill out holes where you want the lights, and you insert them inside the holes. Here are a few pictures from http://www.kindlachristmas.com/ which show you what coroplast is.

You can view more pictures of their project at http://kindlachristmas.com/Christmas2005.asp

So, I'll be working on a new design, and I'll get that up when I can.  My grid will mostly stay the same, but the dimensions and spacings may change.  I'll also see what extras I can add.  With this new idea I plan to go to 32 channels, so I should have plenty of channels to work with. 

I spent a lot of time this weekend researching LOR, cost, choices, etc.  I'm planning on ordering this week, and I'm trying the find the best way to build my own enclosure.  I am having trouble finding a cost effective, weatherproof box.  I was hoping to get a NEMA 3R or 4X enclosure, but for the prices those are, I might as well buy a showtime unit!

The only thing stopping me from showtime is I don't like the case.  I want a case with a lock that doesn't require a screwdriver to open.  LOR boxes don't have a lock and require a screwdriver.  When it's December and I'm knee-deep in the snow, the last thing I want is to mess with a screwdriver outside, let alone losing the screws in the snow.   I know I probably won't have to open the case during the season, but it's not a risk I'm willing to take.   

So I have been focusing my attention on lockable enclosures with knock-outs in the bottom, preferably a built in lock.  I'll let you know what I find.  The next few weeks should be exciting as I will be receiving boards, lights, and other materials!

My new design is underway!  I'm still planning my 32 channels, and I'm changing the grid spacing.  I also included a few surprises.  I'll be posting the new design when I get it completed.  The sad thing is the new design actually exceeded 32 channels, so I'll have to combine something or cut out a few ideas.

Basically, I have a talking character planned (to sing the songs), a dancing santa, and more specific grid controls.  I also wanted to add 2 more characters to the design, but those and the necessary changes to grid control would amount to 38 channels.  Time to rethink and redesign more!

I'm still working on it, but here's a new picture for you to look at.  This is only half the window.  You can envision where the second pane will be if you use your imagination.  So, it's just a sketch to keep you updated.  I'll post more info and specifications when it's completed.

Finally!   I broke down and bought 40 channels of LOR yesteray.   I got two 16 channel boards and one 8 channel board.  The window grid takes 22 channels, and the santa, reindeer, and "guitar man" will take channels 23-39. I also bought  6 pieces of 24"x18"x6mm coro for $1.78 each.  What a deal!

I'll get the grid posted when I finish it.

Here is a quick draft to give you an idea.  It eats up quite a few channels, so I'm working on getting the arms down to 3-4 channels each.  You can see the various positions and the colors are confusing, but they are meant to help me figure out the channels.  The green and white are shared between channels (used for more than one arm position.)

I was very excited to receive a package today!  It looked suspiciously like it came from LOR. 

So, I opened it up and sure enough...it is.  I ruffled through the peanuts and found

The first box is the USB boster, and the second box is an eight channel LOR controller.  I removed the boxes and shuffled through more peanuts.  However, all I found were dumb manuals.  Bah!   ;-)   The manuals were the last thing on my mind,  but they will come in handy later. 

Time to dig deeper into the box. 

AHA!  I knew my 16 channel controllers were hiding in there somewhere.  I pulled out those boxes and the cords started to appear.

After pulling out all the cords, I surveyed my inventory.

Cool!  So everything arrived OK.  Time to check out the boards.

And I hooked up the 8 channel board. 

 

You may notice the power cords are missing...I added those later.  And the grounds are tied up so they don't flip around to the back of the board and cause a short.  This will be fixed when my enclosure gets in. 

I am very excited to own my first LOR controllers!   Needless to say, I hooked it up and played my sequences over and over and over again.  Such fun! 

New post on the window project.  One of my enclosures came in, so it's time to install!

I received the box for my 8 channel LOR card.  It's the multimedia enclosure from allelectronics.com that has been floating around the PC forums.  Here are a few pictures of the enclosure.  I'll get some more pictures once the board is mounted.

I got another box today with 1200 lights for my window!  These are Bethleham lights, so they should be excellent in brightness, quality, and color. 

Stay tuned!  I'll work on getting up video of the lights.

Not terribly exciting, but it is finally here!  Time to sketch out the design on my coro.  I haven't posted any new sketches yet, but the sketch is basically the same.