arches - sleeve method

[fyb2000]

Those go above your your specifications (flex string and 15 channels), but they are (literally) very flexible.

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1) and was wondering if anyone came up with a newer design.
2) I am thinking of wrapping 3 different colors on the arch (incandescent or LED) but I wonder if it is going to fit.
3) Is there a recommended radius / shape that looks better?
4) Finally, how many channels would you recommend to get a nice smooth effect? 5, 6. 7, 8?

[winwin]

Thanks everyone for your recommendations, although it seems everyone is trying to steer me in a different direction!

Twooly, your arches look great (so is your blue tree by the way!).
fyb2000, I have actually been following your post and your design is quite simple and appealing.

I guess the deterrent for me is that I was not thinking of using RGB, smart or dumb strings for my show for at least another year. I have not researched yet how they work, what equipment is needed to use them and even attempted to do a cost comparison. However, the possibilities as shown in your videos are attractive. 

Luckily there is plenty of time to make a decision and start building!

[twooly]

Thank you, Ill try to get some better pics of the full setup of the arches

[winwin]

This is an old post
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login
1) and was wondering if anyone came up with a newer design.
2) I am thinking of wrapping 3 different colors on the arch (incandescent or LED) but I wonder if it is going to fit.
3) Is there a recommended radius / shape that looks better?
4) Finally, how many channels would you recommend to get a nice smooth effect? 5, 6. 7, 8?

Still hoping to get some good comments / recommendations using regular incandescent or led lights to make arches. Thanks!

[chrisatpsu]

This is an old post
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login
1) and was wondering if anyone came up with a newer design.
2) I am thinking of wrapping 3 different colors on the arch (incandescent or LED) but I wonder if it is going to fit.
3) Is there a recommended radius / shape that looks better?
4) Finally, how many channels would you recommend to get a nice smooth effect? 5, 6. 7, 8?

Still hoping to get some good comments / recommendations using regular incandescent or led lights to make arches. Thanks!

1.) as far as I know, I haven't seen a newer design using wrapped lights.
2.) go for it!
3.) this falls under personal preference/ desired effect/ how far away from the viewer.  depending on how you set them up, you have a lot of flexibility, as far as changing the shape of the arch, when you're setting them up
4.) i like 8, b/c a lot of songs are in musical timing of 4's. others like 7, or 9, so that you can have a "top" segment.

[zwiller]

The most common approach is building 4 using 10' sticks of 1" grey conduit and 8 channels of 100ct minis each on a 6 foot spread on rebar.  You can get more exotic but it adds to the complexity.  I am not entirely sure why (and we seem to be in agreement) building them was not enjoyable.  They are also semi tedious to hookup/move/store too.  Using smart gear for these is a good move.  Heck, nowadays with no post christmas steals on lights it's probably not even cheaper to go old school incan.  You need 2 LE's for em too... 

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login Some arch action with specs above. 

[winwin]

Good comments and input, thank you.

I am looking at it this way:

1) cost: I know what to expect with LE, lights...I have no idea when it comes to flex strips. It is something I need to look into
2) complexity of installation in the yard (not to fabricate the unit): Not sure how the flex strips are powered. are they 12V and require batteries or 110V? do I need to run cat5?
3) what kind of flex strips to get and where
4) ease of sequencing (I use vixen). do I need to look into nutcracker or latest xlights version for sequencing? I could be confused between RGB and flexstrip and what those programs can do for us
5) aspect / fullness: I have seen arches done with incandescent lights but only videos of arches made with flex strips. I like the "fullness" you get with regular lights. Can you achieve the same effect with flex strips?
6) mismatch between flex strip and incandescent: how will everything look like if I have incandescent everywhere and flex strip arches?

Still a lot of unknown at that stage! Help is appreciated!

[chrisatpsu]

1) cost: I know what to expect with LE, lights...I have no idea when it comes to flex strips. It is something I need to look into
2) complexity of installation in the yard (not to fabricate the unit): Not sure how the flex strips are powered. are they 12V and require batteries or 110V? do I need to run cat5?
3) what kind of flex strips to get and where
4) ease of sequencing (I use vixen). do I need to look into nutcracker or latest xlights version for sequencing? I could be confused between RGB and flexstrip and what those programs can do for us
5) aspect / fullness: I have seen arches done with incandescent lights but only videos of arches made with flex strips. I like the "fullness" you get with regular lights. Can you achieve the same effect with flex strips?
6) mismatch between flex strip and incandescent: how will everything look like if I have incandescent everywhere and flex strip arches?

1) Look in the finished coops section to get a ballpark price of the active hub, and smart string controllers. Look in the wiki for the link to the flexible strips. Keep in mind that the flex strips are 4m which is larger than the pvc you will use.
2)a smart string near the end of the arch hooks up to wherever your hub is via stranded cat5 cable (most patch cables use stranded cable) the signal and power are in this cable,
3) the most flexible (in terms of use, no pun intended) are the smart string flexible strips in the wiki.
4) I did color arches this year, and I used Vixen. Nutcracker will be useful with any sequencing software
5) you wont get the thickness of the arch with flex strips simple because when you wrapp 1/2 inch conduit with white incans, the lights stick out from the pipe and give you a 2-3 inch difference in thickness. when you use flexstrips on the outside, you get a thin line.
6) I think it will look fine. as soon as you change things over to rgb, that will be the focal point of that year though.