DiyLightAnimation
Hardware => Lynx Smart String => Topic started by: thestig on September 15, 2013,
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Is anyone else having issues with Ray returning emails? I have been super busy and have been trying to order some flex strips and Extra connectors as well as other miscellaneous stuff from Ray and have sent 4 emails. I have also tried to contact him through his stores contact form and have not received a reply. I am starting to get frustrated and would love to use another seller if I could just guarantee that the flex strips would be the same.
Grant
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Is anyone else having issues with Ray returning emails? I have been super busy and have been trying to order some flex strips and Extra connectors as well as other miscellaneous stuff from Ray and have sent 4 emails. I have also tried to contact him through his stores contact form and have not received a reply. I am starting to get frustrated and would love to use another seller if I could just guarantee that the flex strips would be the same.
Grant
I placed a small order with Ray 10 days ago and just received it Friday. He did not respond to my request for a status update a few days ago.
Josh
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I had a special (not through ali express) order placed (about $700USD worth of flex strings and some some rgb power cable) and took a day to get email back with a formal quote...then I paid through paypal....a few days passed I asked for an update on shipping and he replied again next day...then put the parts in the mail...so it's not same day response, but he's been pretty decent from start to finish on my latest order. All-in-all, i'm still satisfied with him. Looks like my order cleared customs this morning....so start to finish about 2 weeks I guess.
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It was 3-4 days, before I got a quote back from Ray. But when i ordered it, I got it in about 10 - 12 days.
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I've generally had super fast response. For example, last night, I emailed him at ray@rita-light.com and asked for a quote over $1400 worth of items, got the response this morning and then placed the order this morning. You could try Skype at "alpha_lighting"
Paul.
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Thanks for the replys. I am just going to order directly from his page instead. he obviously dosn't want to give me a quote with everything combined. My order will only total about 250 dollars and I am wondering if he is quicker to reply to the big money orders. Either way I can not wait any longer. Halloween is too close.
Grant
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Update: Ray has contacted me and did so about 5 days ago. His email went into my GMAIL spam folder. I apologize to Ray and everything is now taken care of.
Grant
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I usually contact him through the Instant Messaging program. that way, you both can explain what you want, and be on the same page as far as questions about the product.
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I've been having problems getting Ray to respond... he will respond once a week, but its been frustrating. My order is approaching 8 weeks since I paid him the same day of the quote.
Yesterday I learned the reason for the hold-up... we ordered a lot of customized items (TM180x technicolor strings, different lead lengths, different spacing, and DMX-controlled UV floods)
At one point there was no "penalty" for custom orders... that is no longer the case based on my experience.
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I wouldn't call it a penalty, I would say that it's a bad time for that. This is the time of the year that people are realizing that they are short on strings or are deciding to jump in so the order count is high. Custom strings cost more and and take more time if he is not charging more for them, then he would probably put them on the back burnner until the higher profit orders are completed and he has more time and I would do the same thing. After the holiday and during the summer, any work means money and he can afford to do some custom work for no additinal charge but during the rush ......
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I placed a 1200.00 order Sept 2nd. and have not heard a thing the charge posted but its not shipped....the escrow date is approaching and I have gotten on answer from ray. I may not update anything this year.........
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I am on my second order through Ray this year with everything other than initial contact done through direct e-mail. I usually wait 7 days after sending payment to ask for an acknowledgment and each time I have had the response within 36 hours. I had a problem with being shorted 2 flex strips and he corrected it in 48 hours.
My general experience with Ray is always positive (as long as I filter out the memories of countless hours spent slicing and dicing on the first years nodes after that died flaming deaths due to water <fp. )
I think it is just a matter of the sheer volume he is dealing with at this time of year. I can think of about 14 different Christmas lighting forums that throw his name around left and right. Combine that with the fact that Christmas lights is not his primary reason for operating and all of the commercial people he sells to, in higher volumes, and you have to think he is a little swamped right now.
While this might be frustrating for us it is actually VERY good for us as the level of business will economy of scale and competition. Potentially leading to better and better pricing.
Or at least that's my $.04 (adjusted for inflation)
Frnak
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This is also the time of the year for the Moon festival and National Day holiday, both of which shut down most of China for about a week each. I got mail from both of the PCB fab shops I use about the shutdowns.
/mike
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That helps to know, as I haven't heard back from Ray recently either. I figure he'll contact me when they are back at work.
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He seems to be swamped. I just heard back he needs 10 more days on my order ... and I placed it September 25th.
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Oh that's not good, I was hoping for a shipping of this week from a last week order, it's not huge by any means, but another couple of weeks will not be good either..
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Ray is back up and running. He shipped my order Monday. (replacement Dumb nodes)
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Thank you.
Just requested a quote for my last order of the season minutes ago. Will report back.
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Got a spam bounce with Ray's email I normally use. Tried another.
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My lights were shipped on Monday - Hong Kong time and are now in the US. Hopefully will arrive no later than Friday. Once I paid for the order I was told one week to ship. But I did spend almost 14 days getting the first quote with some questions until I finalized my order and sent the money. Chinese holidays did impact the time and he did apologize for the delays in getting back to me.
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And this is a big order, the biggest I've ever placed for sure ... over 50 strings and other stuff.
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My order came in yesterday :)
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Based on what I've read over the years, the bigger the order or the more customization that has been requested the longer it takes. I have always ordered fairly small compared to you, usually less than 10 strings and some misc other stuff with no customization, and I have gotten everything relatively quick (except for all the Chinese time off). Or maybe I have managed to order when inventory was high and everything was available. Who knows?
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I got my PI from Ray on 10/6 and all arrived today 10/16.. 10 days from order to California.
Tom :)
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did he ever send you a shipping notice, or did it all just show up?
My order went in on the 7th, but he said he would not ship until this week and no notice. From reading I hear that is pretty typical of Ray to not email when it ships out.
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I asked him (twice because he didn't respond the first time) to let me know when he shipped my items - about 35 strings plus a bunch of other items. And, he did give me the DHL waybill number that I tracked from Hong Kong to my place - less than 5 days.
Paul.
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I got an email with the DHL tracking number.
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I have had my order in since the beginning of September. Yes it is a larger order
and has custom technicolor lights. First he said he was short on TM1809. Now he
has not responded to my last two e-mails.
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Just sent off an email myself wondering about tracking since others ordering around me have their items or have imminent delivery. Mine's a small order of 6 or 7 different items with some small quanties of a few of them.
Will advise if I get a response. You could pick up an international calling card and give ray a telephone call as his number was on my emails back to me from the proforma invoice.
Alan
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Mine just showed up. He told me it would ship within 1 week.
Tom
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Mine just showed up. He told me it would ship within 1 week.
Tom
+ 1 Time to start playing.
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Got my quote from Ray. 24 strings of 3 types of nodes. Not in stock. :'( Ray says 2 week delay. I have plenty to do before I need my lights but it would be nice to have them sooner. ;D
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Nodes that were shipped monday I received today. Yea!
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Got my quote from Ray. 24 strings of 3 types of nodes. Not in stock. :'( Ray says 2 week delay. I have plenty to do before I need my lights but it would be nice to have them sooner. ;D
He told me 1 week for my order. I hope that he does not delay any longer! BTW placed my order on Wednesday.
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My DHL shipment from Ray arrived yday.....some spare nodes and connectors. Start to finish less than one week. Sadly I wasn't here when the truck arrived so DHL will be back Monday. Once again I'm really content with Ray and his delivery. My order this time around wasn't 20+ strings (oh boy 24 strings must be an impressive display!!!) but still quick quick quick!!
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Got my shipping tracking number a couple of days ago and the tracking is up and running, so a bit longer than some, but on the way.
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I placed an order sunday night and he said 8 days for shipping. would have been 2 weeks if I went with custom lengths. had no issues with reaching him threw his chat, discussed what I wanted, he had my quote within 10 minutes emailed to me. hope the shipping is as fast as he was with placing my order.
duane
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Does everyone normally pay for and get dhl express shipping from China? My order was $75 for shipping and it comes tomorrow from a Monday notice they had it. I think i would have been fine with 7-10 days if it was cheaper, but maybe that is not an option?
I get this lovely box tomorrow and no way to control anything and check it out >:(
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It is almost always DHL. I did get one very small order by FedEx, but the shipping did not change much. Shipping international is just expensive and you can't get around that. I least I have not found a way to do and I used to work for a company that did a lot of shipping to China and Europe. Because of the companies volume discounts it was cheaper to ship international priority that it was to ship "slow boat" and slow boat did not just add a few days, but a few weeks. We are spoiled by our shipping options in the US.
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I wish that the person who started this thread would change the title to something else like "Slow response" instead of no response. The title seems to imply that Ray is not a good vendor and we know that is not the case. We also know that they seem to have a fair number of "holidays" in China where no works which slows communications down.
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I sure wish Canada had the same number of Holidays!!
LOL!!!
And I agree, Ray is top notch and has proven to me to be VERY reliable. (un)related, I ordered a battery for my MacBook and ordered from laptopbattery dot ca or something like that that appears to be a Canadian site. It ended up pointing back to a place in China that does all laptop batteries and is a knock off type place...after using paypal to buy and go through a dispute process I found out the product was indeed shipped by a boat and after a month is finally landed in San Fran...and will hopefully in another week land up here in Canada. From that vendor I got no response and product will take about 2 months to deliver. That was BAD communications and not reliable...although not a fraud like I was starting to think.....
So the point I'm trying to make outside of I need a vacation.....maybe in November i'll spend a week on a beach in Miami is that Ray's 3-4 day turn around time for DHL shipping to Canada/US is absolutely worth the $30.
....sorry, I know I made a promise to not post before my coffee, but I just had to here !!
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Still patiently waiting on my big order ...
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Thanks for the posts, it reminded me I didn't paypal Ray... :o Done!
Shipping cost for my order was $96.00 via DHL. I use Fedex regularly at work and I think Ray's shipping costs are not inflated.
I think Ray is a sharp guy and has anticipated the big seasonal push and it is aware of the deadlines. That said, I procrastinated placing my order since my show is evolving at warp speed. So many options to choose and ideas AND I have been building and testing all year long.
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fyi, I asked Ray last night via IM about availability of some products.
he told me that he is out of the Technicolor strings, but he is fully stocked with the other items.
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That sounds good. I have no worries about Ray whatsoever ... I just worry about my own time in loading 4000 nodes into over 120 10' pieces of conduit ... lol !!
I've had nothing but good experiences in the past and whenever I had a problem, he more than made up for it on the next order.
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That sounds good. I have no worries about Ray whatsoever ... I just worry about my own time in loading 4000 nodes into over 120 10' pieces of conduit ... lol !!
Oh do tell, what's ya doing with them and you mean pex or conduit or clear something else? Where you putting it, how are you mounting it? I'm toying with the same concepts so looking for someone smarter than me <;d
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That sounds good. I have no worries about Ray whatsoever ... I just worry about my own time in loading 4000 nodes into over 120 10' pieces of conduit ... lol !!
Feeling much better about how far behind I am now, thanks! ;D
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My shipment arrived yesterday just as ordered, working on figuring out how to test it now.
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The hub and ssc pcbs are in stock in the store.
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Still awaiting shipment, 31 days later. <fp.
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Still awaiting shipment, 31 days later. <fp.
I am in the same boat as you... at 28 days... He has communicated with me and stated he needs more time.... I just hope they ship soon!
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Was it just 50 strings that are backordered,or otherstuff?
Still awaiting shipment, 31 days later. <fp.
I'm debating about putting together a small 360 degree megatree but between the Zeus coop and this note and it being the last week of October things aren't looking good to start adding to the show right now.
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Just the nodes and some quick connectors.
He messaged me he needs 3-4 more days and an escrow extension but will ship this week.
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I placed my order for some black wire nodes on Oct. 1. Just received an email this morning that he would "try" to ship this week. Of course he told me when I ordered that he would need about three weeks, so I new how long it was going to take.
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I haven't ventured into the smart string stuff yet. But I was curious about the cost of shipping if you order multiple strings. If I were to order say 20 100 node smart strings what would be an approximate cost of the shipping. Just looking for ballpark so i can get finances in order.
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my order of 16 strings 85 nodes and 9 strings 50 nodes and a roll of wire was 155
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I had to read that note three times....then realized that's just the shipping costs. I was going to say i'll go talk to Ray and get 3x that order at that price!!! :)
3x100 nodes and 10xflex strip rolls and two big spools of 4 core and 3core wire and I was $82 to ship to Canada. I also had to pay $40 for taxes/duty as well...
my order of 16 strings 85 nodes and 9 strings 50 nodes and a roll of wire was 155
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It will definitely be over $100, but be sure to order via email and get a consolidated proforma invoice from Ray and pay using paypal. All of the above helps. You can also ask for a better shipping charge, but I think he is charging just about what it costs him, so not much wiggle room unless he takes a small hit on the products.
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Just out of curiosity, but what are y'all using that much 3core and 4core wiring for?
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4 core wiring....has 2 purposes for me!
1: at my active hub, I make a tiny rj45 - 4 core pigtail...then make a 4core pigtail long wire to the end of the SSC. The problem I was running into was corrosion in my 45rj pigtails so took this approach to avoid problems in the future
2: I have a few dumb string controllers for singing sings and a star on top of my mega tree...for that I use 4 core
3 core wiring....in anticipation of the Zeus - I think it will use three core vs rj45....other than that, I really don't think i'll ever use any 3core
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3 core connector from the lights to the controller. By not soldering the lights directly to the controller you can swap the lights, swap the controllers, repurpose the controllers if you need to, attach a controller with test firmware without having to reflash the chip, remove the controller for repair or upgrades without having to take your lights down or even have them on your workbench. Is that enough reasons. LOL Buy extra because you will be surprised where and how you decide to use them. I have only used 4 core for my dumbstrings. Any SSC with the rj5 jack are tucked under my eaves or my porch roof. Any that are exposed, I just put a long piece of coax on them and run it straight into my battery box to the hub so no rj45 connections are out in the open. But if I needed to I would use the 4 core waterproff connectors.
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3 core connector from the lights to the controller. By not soldering the lights directly to the controller you can swap the lights, swap the controllers, repurpose the controllers if you need to, attach a controller with test firmware without having to reflash the chip, remove the controller for repair or upgrades without having to take your lights down or even have them on your workbench. Is that enough reasons. LOL
I understand not soldering the lights straight to the SSC, but most lights will have a 3pin male connector to plug to your 3pin female pigtail from the SSC. It's my understanding that you want the SSC as close to the lights as possible as opposed to close to the hub. If this is truly the case, it seems like more cat5 would be used as opposed to lots of 3core wire.
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Three core wire is also used to increase the distance between nodes as well. The default spacing is between 3 and 4 inches but people have increased it. You can also get away with a few feet between nodes under good conditions and some people will incease the gap between groups of nodes to avoid using multiple controllers in some situations.
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With the V3 and the V4 SScs it is not so critical to have the SSC within 18" or so. You can actually go a couple of feet. My SSCs are all about 2' or less from the first node, but those distances work for me relative to where my lights and SSC are mounted, ie. I do not have any need to be farther apart.
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I know that some folks have had long waits for big or custom orders, but I paid for 4 flexstrips on 10/27 and they were just delivered today 10/31. For me standard older products seem to come quick, but newer designed stuff I have ordered seems to take longer. I am only posting this to let folks know that it is possible to still get some additional product in a timely manor and that you might still be ok for this season if you need "stuff", at least the older well debugged product that has been around and more likely to be in stock. Just my 2 cents.
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I emailed Ray this morning and haven't heard back yet. The clock is ticking Ray! I want to make some coroflakes and need some square nodes. Hurry!!!
:)
I'm confident i'll hear back from him in the next 48hrs and will get my order next week while i'm on vacation...in the meantime I have to pull down the skulls and get out the arches!!
I survived 5 days in a row with my Halloween show. I can confidently say ALOT of kids really liked it (we only get 50 or so a year) and I really enjoyed the challenge. I have ALOT more confidence going into November and the colder temps knowning I wont be on the roof fighting bad nodes (knock wood!).
http://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/-worst-fall-wind-storm-in-years-to-hit-southern-ontario-quebec-friday/15475/
I just have to pray tonight I survive the 60mph winds...we don't usually get this strong wind.
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Remember morning in U.S. is evening there more or less
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In my working with manufacturers in China, I have learned one of the best times to email China is in the evenings (US time) which is their morning (next day). You can exchange several emails during that time before going to bed.
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In the eastern time zone, Ray is exactly 12 hours different. 9pm my time is 9am his time.
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Exchanged emails with Ray twice yesterday... Maybe it's because I am such a good customer ;D
Hoping to see my stuff ship 11/6 (2 weeks).
In some strange way I am happy that I don't have them, I think they would distract me. It has helped me prioritize and stay focused.
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Heard from him....once again he is very responsive... < 24hrs. Amazing. Paid for another 8x100 nodes and some squares....time to start building a coro flake!
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My stuff finally has shipped. He met his 3 day promise right on time. 35 days for a big order.
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Thanks for the update.
(hoping my order is the second largest so that Ray will fulfill mine next) ;D
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Well it shipped, but I don't have it yet ;)
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It's been 2 weeks and no shipping notice. :'( Sent an email to Ray...
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Told me 2 days ago that my order would ship in 2 days and that he would give me a shipping notice! <pop..
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I placed an order Friday night (11/1) and received the tracking number this morning (11/6).
I made sure in advance that the items I ordered were all available, and I did not customize anything.
My last orders took over 2 months -- the delay was caused by customizing string spacing, and requesting a DMX-controlled UV flood, something not already in his inventory.
So, Ray is definitely busy, but choosing your order to avoid delays can certainly help!
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What you get Steve? I just ordered some square 50/50 nodes and 8 strips of 100 standard smart strings. Hoping to get them next week, but we will see....my last order was about double this, but done 2 months ago and had no delays...fingers crossed!
I placed an order Friday night (11/1) and received the tracking number this morning (11/6).
I made sure in advance that the items I ordered were all available, and I did not customize anything.
My last orders took over 2 months -- the delay was caused by customizing string spacing, and requesting a DMX-controlled UV flood, something not already in his inventory.
So, Ray is definitely busy, but choosing your order to avoid delays can certainly help!
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Mine shows it in Colorado finally, the DHL tracking didn't show anything much till a day or two ago. My order was placed Sep 25. That would make the shipping under a week if it arrives today.
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My custom nodes ordered on October 1 where shipped Nov 1 and delivered yesterday! Now I just have to build my pixel tree in 3 weeks. No problem. Haha
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What you get Steve? I just ordered some square 50/50 nodes and 8 strips of 100 standard smart strings. Hoping to get them next week, but we will see....my last order was about double this, but done 2 months ago and had no delays...fingers crossed! I placed an order Friday night (11/1) and received the tracking number this morning (11/6).
I made sure in advance that the items I ordered were all available, and I did not customize anything.
My last orders took over 2 months -- the delay was caused by customizing string spacing, and requesting a DMX-controlled UV flood, something not already in his inventory.
So, Ray is definitely busy, but choosing your order to avoid delays can certainly help!
I ordered some "fun" stuff to play with once my show is up.
I wanted to experiment with other pixel controllers, other chips, light panels, and also added some larger water-proof power supplies that I might move into my 12v enclosures.
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Well just share your results along the way :) And post lots of pics !!
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When I placed my order (nothing custom) I asked Ray if the stuff was in stock and he told me no but told me a 2 weeks production. Today it has been 2 weeks. My fault for waiting to place the order but I have been struggling trying to work out the remaining details of my show. I've been designing/testing all year and probably revised the approach to my show 3 times...
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Well it arrived today, in two big copier paper sized boxes.
This packaging is by far the most professional ever from Ray.
How do they fit so much in a box!! I took things out and it looks
like enough to fill 4 boxes now!
Ordered Sep 25, Arrived Nov 6th.
Nothing custom, but did order some waterproof connector "caps" which can cover up the
quick connects.
I haven't checked the exact counts yet, but my quick inspection of everything looks great !
Well done Ray.
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When I placed my order (nothing custom) I asked Ray if the stuff was in stock and he told me no but told me a 2 weeks production. Today it has been 2 weeks. My fault for waiting to place the order but I have been struggling trying to work out the remaining details of my show. I've been designing/testing all year and probably revised the approach to my show 3 times...
in my case, I wouldn't say "revised"... instead, adding more, adding more, adding more...
I blame combustionmark for showing some great ideas at the academy... I can't imagine all of the good stuff he held back from us. :)
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Scott - Yes Ray does pack things well... ever try to put it all back in the box after taking it out and looking at it?
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Curious minds would like to know, does Ray OWN the store, or work for some other bigger company? I would think he ought to go out on his own if he's not already. He's developed a loyal following here for sure.
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he does A LOT more than just us christmas lights guys.
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I know a year or two ago ... dmoore (David of Holidaycoro) did a video of his visit with Ray while in Chinda. I'm guessing things have changed significantly since then!
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Ray says he needs another 7 days. There is still plenty to do without my lights... Time to make "The List"...
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Ray knocked me out pretty quick, 8 days from time of order to items in hand, got them yesterday. It was a small order though, 7 flex strips and 50 of the 3 core connectors. Just placed another one today for the forgotten 4 core connectors, DOH! <fp.
Ted
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Yeah, I think flex and quick conns are all just stock items -- those should be much faster than SS nodes.
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i wonder when his "slow time" is... lol
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Received shipping notice for my order yesterday.
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Thanks for the update. So he's just a wee bit behind?
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i paid for my order on oct 16th and he told me Friday night(Saturday morning in china) that he would be shipping on Monday. I had nothing custom, 25 strings 16 of which were 85 count and 9 strings 50 count. now hopefully the zues comes threw or i'll be scrambling to get ssc's.
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WOO HOO!! just talked to ray threw chat and he says my order has shipped, just waiting on dhl info now.
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My order from Oct 7th just shipped from Ray :( Its going to be cutting it really close as its almost all pixels.
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Received my order yesterday! I should be good to go now!!!
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finally received my dhl tracking info. ordered on oct 16th. guess your next Sam. now all I need is the zues to come threw and i'm good to go
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Checking hourly... ;D
Those of you that have received orders, how do you rate quality? Dead nodes after burn in, missing items from your shipment, etc?
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zwiller, I had a rather large order split in two. I had no missing items. I would say quality was high but I did have one string that would not light up. No dead nodes after burn in.
Just got my technicolor lights two days ago. Custom order from September 9th.
But I did order a week ago some other lights and got them in less than a week.
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Thanks!
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With that string that did not light up you might want to check carefully to see if the wiring colors got changed. Other people have reported that problem.
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I placed a small order for some lights and had them here in 4 days (11/11/13 - 11/15/13)! These were apparently in stock. I thought that was amazingly fast.
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Ray says he is shipping Friday... There is hope!
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I just received my order that I ordered on oct 16th. haven't opened it yet to check it but it is here. your next sam
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Looks like 4 days from tracking to delivery. Tight but doable.
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that's about what it was for me.
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No DHL email. <fp.
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I've been hitting Ray for updates every week. I'm hoping he still ships my latest order this week as he committed to. Waiting for dhl tracking info as confirmation. Hope by Monday I have a tracking number in hand and can then start the count down. Since the product goes from China through the US to Canada even if it ships Monday I bet I get stuck at customs over the holiday weekend.
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No DHL email. <fp.
that blows sam. try getting with him in chat tonight and see what's going on. good thing is once you get that info. it will only be 4-5 days. good luck
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No DHL email. <fp.
I've been periodically checking with him on the status of my October 11th order. After hearing several times that it would ship "tomorrow" or "tomorrow or the next day", I finally received a DHL tracking number in my email today. Maybe I'll have lights before Thanksgiving.
Most of my items should have been in stock but I never received a response to my questions asking if there was one particular item holding my order up. I assume it was the technicolor pixels, the only other out of the ordinary item I had was a few sets of 120mm 12-LED 24V pixels I want to use as 'snowballs'.
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Got my DHL tracking number tonight.....will be cutting it close, but I should be able to get my candy canes built for next weekend.
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Ray says 3 more days... <fp. Now the question is do I run half blinky? I will have no mini trees, arches, or live trees. Maybe do simple sequence and coming soon announcement...
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Ray says 3 more days... <fp. Now the question is do I run half blinky? I will have no mini trees, arches, or live trees. Maybe do simple sequence and coming soon announcement...
What you need to do is change your plans and re-wire part of your display, then somehow Ray will know this and ship your order right away. :)
I received my DHL tracking number a couple hours _after_ I decided to fall back to using some old rope light to wire up my wireframe/coroplast snowmen and had spent an hour or two out in 35 degree weather doing it because there was not enough room in the garage. I should have made that decision weeks ago and my mid-sized mega tree would have lights on it already. :)
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<la..
We think alike. Figured this would happen since I was all too prepared for Black Friday lights this year...
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<la..
We think alike. Figured this would happen since I was all too prepared for Black Friday lights this year...
Don't Say "black friday" on a blinky forum... >:D
one of two things will happen.
a.) the lights wont work "dark friday"
b.) people will rush to the stores to get sales on blinky
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touche
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Mine arrived yesterday. Only problem is I wasn't home to pay for duty and taxes on delivery. So today they reattempt to deliver. I've paid the waybill online last night. Hope the drop off today. We will see.
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My delivery came yesterday as well. DHL tracking says the boxes were picked up on Sunday and were delivered to Washington (state) on Tuesday right after lunch. Not bad, but next year I'll order earlier. :)
Only two confirmed issues (so far): 1) one bad 3-core pigtail, and 2) 6 nodes that won't blink on the end of one of the WS2811 50-node technicolor strings.
I'm itching to get the technicolors up on the tree, but want to let them burn in a few more hours before installing hundreds of C9 covers and starting to ziptie them onto the EMT.
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How do the C9 covers look?
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Are the technicolors more true to life, or a wider gamut of colors? Just curious on what the new and improved part of them is.
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I would bet that they are just brighter and possibly a little more heavy duty.
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How do the C9 covers look?
Here is the technicolor mounted on 1/2" pipe with the C9 clear faceted cover on it. Definetely seems a bit smaller than a normal C9 bulb.
(http://i.imgur.com/wPVJtcAl.jpg)
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Here is the technicolor mounted on 1/2" pipe with the C9 clear faceted cover on it. Definetely seems a bit smaller than a normal C9 bulb.
I would agree, although I don't have any real C9's to compare to my covers. :) I almost thought "Ray gave me the wrong covers" when I first opened the box.
Regarding color, brightness, etc., I'm not the best person to ask, this is my first year and first light order. :) I did get a few strands of other node types, but I haven't run those enough other than to make sure they turned on.
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He does have C7 covers as well. Just make sure that he didn't mix them up nd send you the wrong ones. How do they look lit up compared to the node without the cover?
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He does have C7 covers as well. Just make sure that he didn't mix them up nd send you the wrong ones. How do they look lit up compared to the node without the cover?
They're too big to be C7.
I've only got one on and my strings are still in a ball on the floor burning in. Tomorrow I'll stretch them out and attach to conduit like the picture posted earlier. I think it does block some of the light, but I can't compare to the other pixels. I like them because I wanted something on my mini-mega that was more than just a dot. I'm debating doing the house outline in the newer version next year.
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I HAVE A TRACKING NUMBER!!!
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You must be happier than a camel on Wednesday!!
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Its HUMP DAY!!!!
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I HAVE A TRACKING NUMBER!!!
that's great news Sam!!
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Man I was getting down... Wife is telling me people are driving by slow and walkers are pointing so I know folks are ready for a show. Starting to feel optimistic now.
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Sorry to revive this thread...I've tried to contact Ray a couple of times the last two weeks and haven't heard back from him. Anyone else having similar issues?? I had purchased 25 rolls of flex strips and having a few issues with them and hoping he can help....not sure if it's the way i'm zip tie the strips to pvc that's causing the strips to break some where and lose conductivity, but I have 32 rows of these strips and i'm starting to get really flustered.... every time I go out to do more testing of some sequences I run into more bad strips.
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Ray has been slow on email to respond and barely on trade manager chat. He should be at work now as it is morning there.
Flex strips are picky about being squezed by the zip ties, try moving them from where you have been going.
I just got my order yesterday about 2 weeks late and i have one issue that he has not dealt with from a chat message, I will email him and let you know if I hear from him.
Alan
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Got a response back in email already tonight, he's shipping out the correct wall outlet cords. I'm asking how much more i can put into the box >:D
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OK - if he is slow, then he's hopefully crazy busy and I'll just follow up a couple times a week and be a pest :)
If these strips (usually I mount them where there are no resistors or LEDs) are that picky, maybe I have to glue them moving forward. I am starting to think this matrix idea, while neat wasn't a good idea.
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Or maybe try some sort of bridge that will hold the silicon shell but put no pressure on it. Don't know if you could get a zip tie through those little silicon clips they sell for this purpose, but maybe a small screw could be used to hold it onto the pvc.
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My strips held up better than most of the other stuff. I would use some SSC with test mode to confirm the strips are bad, in case you haven't already.
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My strips have held up well, but I did put them in clear tubing to protect them from the zip ties and the weather (the a lesser extent). I have some in smaller tubing and some in 1" tubing. THe 1" was much easier to fish the flex strips through. I fished it through in two segments, so its not 100% waterproof, but is protected well. One strip was bad out of the box, but works fine during the show ... but has a couple LED(s) which stay on when the show is not running. I think a similar look could be achieved for less $$ using SS nodes.
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Hmmm. A small set screw may work - but will have to try a few different stops to make sure I don't kill the water proofing. All my recent testing has been pretty much ssc in test mode recently. I gave up on sequencing and back to some basics. I will also check for continuity - not sure if it's gnd, +12 or data that's my issue.