Need ideas on switching manual to show.

[chrisatpsu]

simply put...

illuminated the stairs on the deck with indirect lighting via dumb strips (12v)

I plan on putting 3 pots in a radio shack project enclosure to control the RGB levels.
This is powered from a 12v power supply.

I plan to use this year round. Now when Christmas time comes around, I want to be able to turn off manual control when the show comes on, and then be powered from Dumb string controllers.

What suggestions do you have for this?

I'd like to switch control between the pots and the strips.

[tbone321]

I don't think that you are going to have much luck with that.  Most pots are low current devices and will not deal with the current level of your dumb strips.  You would need to design and build a three channel LED driver circuit capable of dealing with the current draw of the strips and then use the pots to set the output level of the three channels.  If you are going to use DSC's during Christmas, I would use them all year long and just use a static repeating sequence to set them to the desired brightness and color during the off season lighting. 

[chrisatpsu]

question was not addressed...   does anyone else have a decent way to switch control of a 12v circuit from one source to another?
(besides using a mechanical toggle switch)

[tbone321]

My mistake, I didn't read the question correctly.  You could always use a 4 pole double throw 12V relay to switch between the two systems and have a DSC controlling it.  Wire your static side (pots) to the NC side of the relay and your DSC side to the NO open side.  Then under normal conditions (relay off) your strips will be controlled by the pots and when you want to use the DSC's, just turn on the channel of the DSC that the relay coil is hooked up too and control will be switched to the DSC's for the strips.  I would also put a diode in reverse polarity across the coil of the relay to prevent any kickback damage to the relay's DSC when the relay is switched off.