The Blog! of Regency Christmas!
Welcome to my Blog!
3rd November 2011
We open in 28 days, 12hrs, 9mins, and 30sec and I haven't even pulled so much as a light out of the shed... Only now am I starting to get enthused by my Christmas Display.. so far behind schedule!
9th December 2010
Display went well last night with no major problems, our internet transmission appears to have worked and audio was available on the net as well. Now we just need the weather
to keep it's end of the bargain and all will be good.
8th December 2010
The display is well and truly waterlogged.. (none of the electronics!).. but all the inflatables, which are more like floatables at the moment.
Adelaide just had it's wettest day in 50 years (70mm fell in 24hrs), and the wettest December Day since 1913! It maybe as late as Friday before we see the display up and running again.
I got rid of a lot of the excess water this morning, and no more rain is forcast
until the middle to end of next week, so I am hoping for a good run. I also purchased the new power supplies that should remove the noise problem from
our audio transmission when the lights are broadcast on the net. Now we will concentrate over the next couple of days drying everything out to get the show back on the road!
Update:
We are back on air!.. Everything has dried (or been dried!).. new power supplies are in... lights have been tested.. Audio broadcast has been tested.. (no sqeal.. yay!) All looks good to run the show tonight!
7th December 2010
No show tonight as they have forcasted 30-60mm of rain for Adelaide.. Playing safe than sorry!
6th December 2010
Well the lights are up and running, I am still missing the Wine Glasses I was hoping to have up last night, but we did start our internet broadcasting abeit with some small technical hitches.
I found that when the music was plugged into the PC, I am getting a feedback / noise through the speakers and FM transmitter with the lights, so last nights broadcast was without music. I suspect
it is the sound card in the PC that I am using so I will change it tonight and see if there is any difference.
Tonights lights are looking doubtful with heavy rain and thunderstorms forcast for tonight and tomorrow but as usual, we'll see how it goes.
Either way, I should get the Wine Glasses finished tonight (5 of the 10 are complete).. so the display should look even better after the rain has cleared!..
Update:
Well we just had the skies open up on so we may or may not get a display tonight, either way.. the web broadcast will not have audio
due to a problem I have traced to my old 24V supplies. They are putting a noise down the line, that reacts when it is plugged in to a PC (for broadcast).
The new 24v power supply used in the mega-tree doesn't have the same problem.. so it looks like I will need 2 replacements before we can broadcast the
music with the lights.. at least you can still enjoy the show!
The Wine Glasses are done and installed now!
Unfortunatly there is no show tonight, after the severe storm today, some of the electronics is water logged (specifically the Mega-tree controller), and blows the circuit breaker
when plugged in, it should be ok when it dries out.. if not I will change the power supply tomorrow.
3rd December 2010
Last night went well, none of the small technical hitches like we had on the 1st night.. (blew a 15A circuit breaker).. distributed the power better for last nights display and it ran
seamlessly all night. We caught up with a few friends through the evening who stopped by. I even managed to start the next part of the display which should be ready over the weekend.
Lastly, I re-programmed one of the songs from last night as it was very plain.. so we will run that one in with tonights show and see how it goes. If I get the chance I will also reprogram
another song tonight, then start to look at adding new songs.. Programming takes so loooong!.
From Sunday night, we should be able to start broadcasting the lights 'Live' again on the internet.. like we did last year.
2nd December 2010
Well that was exciting!.. This hasn't been updated in the last 2 days because we have been working 14hrs a day to get it all finished.
Let me give you a brief rundown of last nights events.. I finished wiring the tree and the columns at about 7.30pm.. I then setup the audio to the transmitter
and tested it.. 8:04pm (remember that "light up" is scheduled for 8.30pm). I then received a phonecall from Len about some files he had sent for the show.
8:19pm.. downloading the files.. and making changes to the channel file (that makes the lights flash!).. 8:24pm creating the show by copying the individual files to the show card.
8:28pm Copying complete.. race to the Show Director module and insert card.. card is read by director.. takes about 20-30 seconds.. then 20second pause..
and spot on 8:30pm on the 1st December 2010... It started in all it's glory! - I can't beleive we actually made it.. A bit close for my liking, but the show is on.
Now some thankyous..
To Len, Nathan, Tristan & Dad who all helped out with the setting up of the lights..
To Len & Jessica for letting me borrow some show files to get it all underway
To Starlight Warehouse for actively supporting this hobby
To Ned & Josh at AZtronics (Enfield), whose support in our hobby has been nothing short of incredible
But it's not all over yet.. Over the next few days I will finish some other items I was hoping to get out for this years show.. So expect the lights
to become even better over the next few days.
30th November 2010
Well I can't believe it is already the 30th November!..
Work on the lights has been feverish over the last few days. 8am - 11.30pm yesterday, but at least we got the roof lights up.
Which was my aim. Most of the lights have been plugged into the controller boxes now, with only minor changes needed to the Mega Tree.
I haven't quite finished the new display (2010 additions) yet. In fact one of them hasn't even been started! But it should be done
by the end of the weekend.. Time permitting. All the inflatables are now out and tested, and it is starting to look very Christmasy.
Also the inside Christmas room is now finished, all that is left now is the Christmas Tree that can go up on Thursday, after some work has been completed
in the room.
I am reasonably sure we will have lights tomorrow night.. Just not sure how many..
I would like to thank my Dad, Nathan & Tristan who all helped out with the lights yesterday.
27th November 2010
Well nothing actually got done last night on the lights.. Len (from 'Our friends' page) is lighting up tonight and needed help to get his display finished.
So I was over there working on power supplies. I did pick some lids though for one of my displays.
26th November 2010
Big night last night, completed the last of the controllers although I didn't get to set the IDs yet. I finished the Mega-Tree (6.5m high, 11,500 lights, 80 channels), pegged down all the
garden motifs, got the lights on the roses, put out the candy canes and tested ALL the lights for this years display (except some of the new display items to be built over the weekend).
I even discovered more lights than I knew I had. I planned on the house columns be able to switch between red & green only to discover that I had wired them for blue, white & yellow as well and
instead of 5 colours on the wall lights.. I found 6!.. purple!.. now I have to change the channel count on the software to allow for these exciting discoveries!
Tonight I will now set the IDs on the controllers, test all the controller channels and start distributing the cable runs to make it all work. Still waiting for the roof lights to go up though!
25th November 2010
Well it rained and it rained and it rained...
So I continued work inside and finshed the last of the 240V controllers for the roof lights. We don't get the 2nd chance to put up the roof lights now until Monday Night, which
is cutting it really fine for switch on night. So I just hope it all works, because we won't have time to fix it. Tonight I should be able to finish the last of the controllers
and test and set all the controller IDs. The next few days are supposed to be cool with no rain so I am hoping to get the majority of the display sorted. Start up night of next Wednesday is
starting to look really scary now!
24th November 2010
Got the rest of the roof lights finished last night, all the bars, stars and GIANT! Merry Christmas sign already to go. Tonight is our 1st attempt at getting it all up onto the roof,
which should be a challenge in itself.
Update:
Roof lights won't be going up tonight due to the fact that Mother Nature has decided to dump a rain cloud on our head!.. not that we are not
appreciative of the rain.. we need it!.. just not today.. we will try again tomorrow.
On a good note.. my new Blue LEDs came in.. so I can finish my other new suprise for this year!
23rd November 2010
This might seem like a strange time to start a blog, but I thought I would keep you all informed about the progress of the display.
Many Late nights have been spent lately trying to get the display up for the 2010 season.
Most of the garden motifs are out and the tree is up, even if it is not shaped yet. Last night I completed the 4 main roof bars with 16 channels (red, green, blue, white)
which may be expanded next year to include yellow. Tonight I will be working on the stand for the GIANT! Merry Christmas sign for the roof and extending the cables on the
6 stars for the roof as well. the reason for this is we are trying to get the roof lights mounted tomorrow night if possible.
It is very hot here at the moment (35deg C) which is slowing the progress a little, but we are looking at a cool weekend, so
hopefully we will be able to get a lot done.