LithgowLights.Com - Building 2010

Begun working on the new cases.

These are the new cases sourced from Fluidtek. Each one will be stripped down, have 5 24V transformers installed in it, as well as a maybe 1 or 2 24V DC power supplies for external items like floodlights & Ropelight.

Inside the case there is basically nothing left at all. This is the initial setup with a single 240V to 24V AC transformer installed. There will be 5 installed before completion. Eddie from Fluidtek complained about previous years images containing junk in the background, so a lovely Logitech banner was donated to be used as a background for future images. Considering I run a Logitech keyboard and mouse on the 3 main PC's here, and have a wireless logitech keyboard & mouse for the sons PC, and a bluetooth Logitech mouse on my PC, it seemed like a logical choice.

The front of the case needed modifying so that the USB ports are removed and the holes covered. The top of the case has a black piece of perspex stuck over the USB holes. I still have to mount the 240V switches and fuses on the front in the next week or so. The bottom blue stripe will indicate the power to the 24V transformers, and the red power light will indicate 240V power to the box (I think).

Headed down to Sydney today and called in at our sponsor, Fluidtek to pick up 3 new cases to house the controllers and SSR's for the 2010 display. Once again it was great to catch up with Eddie and his family, and have a good hour chat before heading back. People may complain about Fluidtek, but I have found it the cheapest and usually best stocked PC store in the Sydney, and I'll continue to use it for all my PC purchases. Considering we drive close to 2hrs each way to get there, and head down every month or so says a lot.

While I was at it I grabbed an external DVD drive for the kids MSI Wind Laptops (Purchased from Fluidtek), as well as a Bluetooth Logitech mouse for my own Laptop. Oh and Eddie, the Pink poster now graces the front of Juani's door - thanks!

The upgrade of some of the old 240V ropelight silhouettes to 24V DC LED Ropelight have started. Please excuse the poor images, as they were taken with my iPhone rather than heading inside to get the big camera (It was raining).

This is the original 240V Ropelight silhouette. Age, cheap price plus some idiot trying to pinch this silhouette a couple of years ago has left it looking extremely worse for wear. Just 2 small sections are now illuminated out of the whole silhouette, plus the once white rope is now a poor shade of yellow.

This is the new setup, complete with about 26 meters of LED Ropelight. It still needs a little more tidying up but it sure looks a LOT better than the old setup. I have yet to measure the current & thus power used, or count the led's, but that will get done in the next few days. I may also add a bit of color to a few items, such as blue wheels, a red hat on santa. I'll post a better image once its complete. Oh and the silhouettes will all now be hung up on that wall for storage to avoid damage by folding or stacking stuff on them.

The build has started. Sort of. Today I built the 2 DMX controllers (I'm still missing some parts that are in the Mouser order which will arrive next month), and partly built the first 2 (of 4) renard 64 XB's, as well as started building the last 2 LED lights and a few SSR's.

The 2 Ren 64 XB's are to replace the ancient stripboard 595's, as are the SSR's - I'll see if I can recover at least some of the parts so I dont waste too much.

The Floodlights are the last 2 of the 15 I ordered for last years display, and I have 2 spare cases so they will end up being completed in the next few days (Minus the DC SSR (or more rightly a DMX controlled DC SSR as all the floods will be DMX this year to save on cables).

I have ordered 80 meters of ropelight from Santas LED Lights today. 30 meters of Red, Green and 20 meters of White. This will give me enoughto string lights on the Olsen Star (Who's existing incandescent light strings & clips are beginning to crumble due to age), and restring lights on my "Merry Christmas" ropelight, as well as start with a few bits for the house.

I will still need another 350 to 380 meters throughout the year which I am NOT looking forward to buying.

The LED floodlights were a big hit last year, but I want a more even light, plus some uplighting on the 5 trees in the yard. More LED Floods are needed, so I ordered 20 more boards from the next coop. I'll still need to buy more LED's (a LOT more actually) soon, and cases as well. Oh well, theres another $300 or so later.

Also ordered some parts from Mouser, but they wont be here until mid february as there are a few parts on back order.

The LED ropelight test was a real success. The DC SSR's dim the ropelight perfectly when driven from the Renard 64 I had handy.

I have been toying with replacing the 240V ropelights on the house with 24V DC rope lights. While I'm at it will be replacing old damaged 240V ropelight silhouettes with the new ropelight, but it's going to get VERY expensive at around $5 a meter for most colors.

To test the ropelight, I bought 9 meters for a test. 3 meters of each of red, green & white. 50cm of each was placed on the roof of the shed & will stay there for a few months to test the real-world ability to handle UV light and the weather.