Finally, after years of wishing and wanting...

[Kasey911]

Yay, a shear cutter!  Thanks for the input.  I've got one of those on order now too

And who knew that you could get free stuff! 

[therealbigjim]

Look at as many videos as you can and make a plan for your lay out. Make a list and shop the after Christmas sales as stated above. Watch out and read light boxes, half wave lights may have a flicker when dimmed. Different brands maybe spaced differently. and colors may not match.  cool white and warm white....and if you need 20  boxes of a color, say green, and you find them, buy some extra boxes if you can. Light designs change from year to year and some times its hard to match older stuff if it is damaged (squirrel) or quits working.

[typoagain]

Get on the mailing list for suppliers that center their business around Christmas displays.

My major light supplier is You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

[deplanche]

Don't necessarily wait until after Christmas to buy lights.  Yes, the prices will be lower, but so will the inventory.  In the past, Lowes has marked down their lights and other decorations 50% off on Dec. 1 or around there somewhere.  A few years back I bought over 100 light sets that way.  A few weeks later, when it went to 75% off, all that was left were yellow and purple strings.

It varies year to year, based on their inventory, sales, and I think even partially the weather.  Keep an eye on the forums, because someone will usually post when the sales starts, and what is a good deal.

Also, if you are going the LED string route (not smart or dumb strings), do a bit a research on them.  Some do not dim well, if at all.  You also will pay more for LEDs, and in the long run that will save you money in power.  However, I have heard that some of them are not as waterproof as they should be, so after a few seasons, the leads connecting the bulbs to the power corrode and they no longer work.  So you might be better off paying a little more for quaility in the long run.  Incandesent lights are all pretty much the same from what I have noticed (though the colors can be drastically different between manufacturers)

[chrisatpsu]

in my area is a store called Ollie's .   each one is different, and they operate by selling the surplus stuff from nearby stores.   I picked up boxes of wireframe deer for $6.50 that are selling this year in the stores for $45.

[tbone321]

My suggestion is that you start some practice sequencing NOW!  The great thing is that you don't need a single piece of hardware other than the PC and some software to get going.  Many times people get in way over their heads the first year with massive channel counts and then realize just how much work that is and how much it's going to cost.  Now software such as Nutcracker can make a significant reduction in the amount of work in sequencing large RGB displays, but even then, there is a bit of a learning curve to get the full capabilities of it.  The great thing about most of the software is that most of them come with a visualiser.  This allows you to create your display on the PC and see just how much work it may be.  You can also go for the ultimate display that way and then scale it back to the components you can both afford and have time to work with while setting up a plan to advance the display as time and materials allow.

[shaunkad]

Make sure you are set up to get notification for coops and have a way of getting them and posting any where IE phone. The coops here only last a few hours especially in the spring and for new hardware every one wants.

[bcstuff]

I just remembered if you order a blackjack solder station at CSI, they offer package pricing on a fume extractor too.

Like for example the one you have listed in your list can be package bought with a fume extractor and save you a couple bucks.
The packages are in the "People who bought this item also bought:" section on the product page.
$94 vs $107
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[dmaccole]

Helping Hands

In general, I prefer the Panavise board holders to helping hands ...

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I don't think they had the vacuum base back when I bought mine ... I use vise grips to hold mine to the desk ...

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login - This looked like a great way to learn the ropes of programmable electronics as well as it provides a breadboard and all the parts for doing my own prototyping

I'm a big Arduino fan but that's a pretty expensive package. Personally, I'd just buy a board and some solderless breadboards and be done with it. You can get an Arduino Uno on eBay for $14 or you could buy one from Mouser for $25 or you could buy this fancy kit from Jameco for $70, all cheaper than the Sparkfun thing.

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You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login - Is it worth getting one of these or can most of my immediate needs be met with the ol' ATX power supply hacks?  Also, does anybody know if this particular model is any good?

I've always used hacked ATX power supplies as bench supplies ... again, you can spend a lot and get something fancy or for a few hours work and a donated ATX supply, you can have something that works just as fine and costs nada.

HTH.

\dmc

[Kasey911]

Thanks everyone for your great advice.  I'll be taking all of it to heart and putting many of the items mention into my planning and education