DiyLightAnimation

Hardware => Lynx Smart String => Topic started by: DanHouston on January 02, 2013,

Title: Smart String MegaTree (not strips) and Scrolling text....
Post by: DanHouston on January 02, 2013,
Anyone have any video of a pixel based mega tree with some scrolling text?
Title: Re: Smart String MegaTree (not strips) and Scrolling text....
Post by: lonewolf41 on January 03, 2013,
If you look at my video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1p0SYQUsHHY

I have some starting about the 2:17 mark.

Hope that helps,
-Keith
Title: Re: Smart String MegaTree (not strips) and Scrolling text....
Post by: scharbon on January 03, 2013,
That was really nice.  Is that a half-mega tree with 16 strands?  How many nodes per strand?  You just made me reconsider my plans for next year.  Thank you for sharing.

And Sean (if you are reading this) thanks for Nutcracker.  It really makes a difference.

Steve 
Title: Re: Smart String MegaTree (not strips) and Scrolling text....
Post by: galgon on January 03, 2013,
I second that question.  How tall is the tree and how many nodes?  I may have to copy this for next year.
Title: Re: Smart String MegaTree (not strips) and Scrolling text....
Post by: lonewolf41 on January 03, 2013,
There is quite a bit of info about my tree in this post:

http://diylightanimation.com/index.php?topic=10792.msg143806#msg143806

and ones further down in that thread.  Let me know if you have further questions beyond what is given there.

Thanks,
-Keith
Title: Re: Smart String MegaTree (not strips) and Scrolling text....
Post by: scharbon on January 03, 2013,
Thanks for the information on your tree. 

I was reading your post that you linked to and you said you were thinking of replacing the polyester straps with metal banding.  I was wondering if that would cause some GFCI tripping?  Do you think using metal bands will cause grounding issues?  The reason I ask is that I have some metal trees that I put in the yard and when it rained, the GFCI would trip.  So I drove some pvc piping into the ground and inserted the tree trunk into the pvc pipe (insulation against the ground) and my GFCI's stopped tripping.  I understand I may be introducing some risk (as in getting shocked if I touch the tree, but the I generally don't run my show in the rain, and I realize the GFCI's are pretty sensitive to mA current drain, so I am okay with the risk. 

Regardless, your show looks great and your tree is very impressive.

Steve
Title: Re: Smart String MegaTree (not strips) and Scrolling text....
Post by: DanHouston on January 03, 2013,
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If you look at my video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1p0SYQUsHHY

I have some starting about the 2:17 mark.

Hope that helps,
-Keith

Very, very sharp, but looks like a lot of work the way you got the nodes to all point one direction....How are you storing that (I assume you are not taking it off the straps each year)?
Title: Re: Smart String MegaTree (not strips) and Scrolling text....
Post by: lonewolf41 on January 03, 2013,
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Thanks for the information on your tree. 

I was reading your post that you linked to and you said you were thinking of replacing the polyester straps with metal banding.  I was wondering if that would cause some GFCI tripping?  Do you think using metal bands will cause grounding issues?  The reason I ask is that I have some metal trees that I put in the yard and when it rained, the GFCI would trip.  So I drove some pvc piping into the ground and inserted the tree trunk into the pvc pipe (insulation against the ground) and my GFCI's stopped tripping.  I understand I may be introducing some risk (as in getting shocked if I touch the tree, but the I generally don't run my show in the rain, and I realize the GFCI's are pretty sensitive to mA current drain, so I am okay with the risk. 

Regardless, your show looks great and your tree is very impressive.

Steve

The strapping that I am going to replace was on just the horizontal bands, not all of them.  The ones that the lights are mounted to will still be the polyester.  Since these are running on 12VDC, there would not be a GFCI involved anyway.

-Keith
Title: Re: Smart String MegaTree (not strips) and Scrolling text....
Post by: smeighan on January 03, 2013,
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That was really nice.  Is that a half-mega tree with 16 strands?  How many nodes per strand?  You just made me reconsider my plans for next year.  Thank you for sharing.

And Sean (if you are reading this) thanks for Nutcracker.  It really makes a difference.

Steve

Very nice sequencing Steve. I will be greatly expanding the text effect for 2013.

Title: Re: Smart String MegaTree (not strips) and Scrolling text....
Post by: lonewolf41 on January 03, 2013,
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If you look at my video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1p0SYQUsHHY

I have some starting about the 2:17 mark.

Hope that helps,
-Keith


Very, very sharp, but looks like a lot of work the way you got the nodes to all point one direction....How are you storing that (I assume you are not taking it off the straps each year)?

It was not that difficult.  The tape holds them out pretty straight.  If they are not perfect, they can still be moved around as well.  It is not a 100% perfect setup, but works pretty well.  For storage, I will coil them up and hang them.  They will not take up much space.  See picture.

Thanks,
-Keith
Title: Re: Smart String MegaTree (not strips) and Scrolling text....
Post by: DanHouston on January 04, 2013,
So you are taking it loose from the horizontal straps and just wrapping each string/strap and hanging them up for the year?
Title: Re: Smart String MegaTree (not strips) and Scrolling text....
Post by: lonewolf41 on January 04, 2013,
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So you are taking it loose from the horizontal straps and just wrapping each string/strap and hanging them up for the year?

Yup.