Wanted: Aether Kit ***<I'm good now!!>***

[CaptKirk]

I discovered DLA too late to make a difference this year for my display, however, I really want to get started for next year by starting on an Aether kit.  If you have one from the COOP buy that you are not going to use, I can give it a really good home!  ;-)  Let's talk!  Kirk

[CaptKirk]

I have a case now waiting for a kit!  BTW: I want to BUY it, not beg one!!

[CaptKirk]

I would even be interested in one you tried to build but did not get right...

[Gary]

These things are like gold. It seems that nobody wants to sell theirs.

I sure as hell wouldn't want to sell mine. They're awesome.

[RJ]

These things are like gold. It seems that nobody wants to sell theirs.

I sure as hell wouldn't want to sell mine. They're awesome.

Well,

 They are plated in real gold does that count!   

RJ

[paul58]

RJ Do you see them being offered again sometime in 2011? Thanks Paul

[jnealand]

Gee, I have 3 unbuilt kits.  Looks the price is appreciating.  LOL.

Reminds me of my other hobby - Model Railroading.  When a manufacturer brings out a product that you want you best get it right now, because they only build a set quantity and trying to find it later could be impossible.  Now if I could just get the wife to understand that principle.

[RJ]

RJ Do you see them being offered again sometime in 2011? Thanks Paul

Thats not in my control. Coops require two things. A manager to do them and enough users wanting enough of them.

RJ

[CaptKirk]

Based on the LE coop success, I'd bet we have the "wanting" part covered.    Who do we need to harass endlessly to become the manager??     

I cant wait for this!!

[tbone321]

You may have to wait for a while for it.  IIRC, RJ intends to make some changes to the Ather board to make it a little easier to assemble.  With all the work that he an his father will have with the huge Express coop and the even bigger upcomming Smartstring coop, that may take  while for him to get the time to do it.  RJ also likes to make sure that his designs work properly so if he feels that the changes are are significant enough, he will run them thru a beta test to make sure the changes do what he intended and that takes some time also.  After that, then comes the looking for a coop manager to run it.  Another thing to keep in mind is that the Ather is an expensive item so it doesn't make much sense to run it to close to the SmartString coop which can also turn into a large expense depending on how much you order.  People need time to recover and rebuild funds and running to expensive coops to close together can limit the success of boh of them. 

[Gary]

Another thing to keep in mind is that the Ather is an expensive item so it doesn't make much sense to run it to close to the SmartString coop which can also turn into a large expense depending on how much you order.  People need time to recover and rebuild funds and running to expensive coops to close together can limit the success of boh of them.  

I've found that the Aether isn't that expensive when you consider the impressive bang for buck when you see how nicely it lights up the whole house and adds to the "atmosphere" of the show. Doing the math, I calculated that each one of my Aethers cost me about $130 to build, versus my Expresses for about $75 for everything assembled. To get just one Smart String with 128 lights, along with boards, controllers, power supply, cabling, etc. would at least run $130. Plus, programming for the Aether doesn't involve adding a mind-blowing number of channels. I did my first year's show quite easily this year with my 5 Aethers with just Vixen.

But I do plan to get Smart Strings for 2012 or 2013. As much as I've spent on this new 2010 hobby, I am a bit of a practical cheapass, and I can't justify having spent all this money on lights that would have been used for only one year.

[RJ]

Another thing to keep in mind is that the Ather is an expensive item so it doesn't make much sense to run it to close to the SmartString coop which can also turn into a large expense depending on how much you order.  People need time to recover and rebuild funds and running to expensive coops to close together can limit the success of boh of them.  

I've found that the Aether isn't that expensive when you consider the impressive bang for buck when you see how nicely it lights up the whole house and adds to the "atmosphere" of the show. Doing the math, I calculated that each one of my Aethers cost me about $130 to build, versus my Expresses for about $75 for everything assembled. To get just one Smart String with 128 lights, along with boards, controllers, power supply, cabling, etc. would at least run $130. Plus, programming for the Aether doesn't involve adding a mind-blowing number of channels. I did my first year's show quite easily this year with my 5 Aethers with just Vixen.

But I do plan to get Smart Strings for 2012 or 2013. As much as I've spent on this new 2010 hobby, I am a bit of a practical cheapass, and I can't justify having spent all this money on lights that would have been used for only one year.

This is a good point. The Aether is more of a value than most know. If you light with the "Less expensive options" how many do you need? what's the power supply cost? now a controller for them?

The issue with a coop is not the expense it is a matter of two things.

1 - no one wants to coop it as it is a pain to sort.
2 - because it is SMD which is new to the users there is more help needed and ties up the users that can help a lot.

So I do not see one running for at least the next few months. and then only if we find a coop manager and it will need to be an experienced one since it is more complicated than the other items to coop.

RJ

[tbone321]

Wow, people in hear need to mellow out a little.  I never said that the Ather wasn't a great value or worth every penny that it costs because I believe that it is.  But it is still a $100 + device and any way you want to spin it, that cost can add up, especially if you want more than 1.  I oredered 3 and intend to get 3 more in the next coop because they are a great value but 300+ dollars is still 300+ dollars.  Gary made my point for me with his example.  The SmartString cost for a full string including controllers may be around $130 and so is a completed Ather.  If I were to order 10 of these SmartStrings the cost will be over $1300.  I can't speak for others but if an Ather coop were to come up at the same time or shortly after, I'm not sure that I could justify another $300+ that quickly for the Athers that I also want and would probably have to cut back or skip the Ather coop completely which would not make me very happy.  My point was based on the cost of the units and peoples bugets, not on the units worth or value.

[RJ]

Maybe you are misreading my post. I did not mean you said it was not I was agree with the other post standalone from any other post.

What I was saying to you is that any hold up in a coop is more releated to the 2 reasons posted than because of cost.

No ill intent in the post any of the posters.

RJ

[tbone321]

Fair enough, that can happen easy enough.  I just want to make sure that people understood where I was coming from on a dollar budget due to cost and not criticizing the value or worth of the unit.  The fact that nobody is willing to give one up more than says the true value of the device, regardless of the price.