2013 Display & Build

Total Raised in 2013 for Redkite: $4,200.

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2013 Display
2013 Display
2013 Display
2013 Display
2013 Display
2013 Display

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January

After the close and packup of the 2012 show I decided that I really needed to work on a better minitree design. My existing trees have 100 RGB LED’s over a black mesh and do look quite good and neat for what they are, and considering they are 6 seasons old, they have done quite well over the years.

While looking for snow machines on eBay, I found 8 120cm white Christmas Trees for $132, delivered, so a week later they arrived. 150 5V RGB LED’s cable tied to the tree, with power injection each 50 LED’s and we have the following comparison video….

March

Last year I wanted to do singing faces, but the design I found looked horrible. Thanks to the internet someone put up a picture of a singing Christmas tree and I was hooked.

The 2 test boxes for this year also arrived. These $25 boxes are 240mm x 190mm x 160mm, and around 2mm thick walls, which makes them pretty tough. I’ll be replacing all of the “Masters” boxes sourced last year with these as they are a lot more waterproof and stronger.

I decided to do a comparison of the old “Masters” box and the new box to be used this year to test their waterproofing. A piece of blue cloth was placed inside each box, and the box was “rained on” with a sprinkler for 10 minutes. I’ll let the pictures tell the story…

The above image is the smaller size frame. The outer edge is 6mm round bar, and the inner sections are 3mm. The larger one (1/3 larger than this) will be 6mm outer and 4mm inner to make it a little stronger
The above image is the smaller size frame. The outer edge is 6mm round bar, and the inner sections are 3mm. The larger one (1/3 larger than this) will be 6mm outer and 4mm inner to make it a little stronger
Here is an early test using 12MM RGB LED's in the mough positions. I have yet to finish the LED install, but should manage this in the next few weeks. I have actually been really busy cleaning and repairing my sons new (Old!) first car, but what can you expect for a $1500 16 year old car lol
Here is an early test using 12MM RGB LED's in the mough positions. I have yet to finish the LED install, but should manage this in the next few weeks. I have actually been really busy cleaning and repairing my sons new (Old!) first car, but what can you expect for a $1500 16 year old car lol
The above image shows the box closed. The top is a bit deeper than the base, but this should not be an issue for mounting of the controllers at all
The above image shows the box closed. The top is a bit deeper than the base, but this should not be an issue for mounting of the controllers at all
Here you can see the ribbed base. This ribbing really does stiffen up the base, which is made with plastic about 2mm thick. The screws to mount the top and bottom are plastic, and there is a nice rubber o-ring supplied for sealing between the 2 halves
Here you can see the ribbed base. This ribbing really does stiffen up the base, which is made with plastic about 2mm thick. The screws to mount the top and bottom are plastic, and there is a nice rubber o-ring supplied for sealing between the 2 halves
Here we see a standard PSU in place in the box. It takes up about 1/3 the width of the box, and this means you could easily fit 2 of these PSU's on their side like this, and maybe even a small controller like P2 or two, as well as fuses if you design the layout carefully
Here we see a standard PSU in place in the box. It takes up about 1/3 the width of the box, and this means you could easily fit 2 of these PSU's on their side like this, and maybe even a small controller like P2 or two, as well as fuses if you design the layout carefully
Some people will only want to mount a PSU in this box, so this is shows the PSU laying flat on the base. There is a similar box the same width and height, but the case lid is only about 1/3 as high, making it more suited to just mount controllers or PSU's but probably not both
Some people will only want to mount a PSU in this box, so this is shows the PSU laying flat on the base. There is a similar box the same width and height, but the case lid is only about 1/3 as high, making it more suited to just mount controllers or PSU's but probably not both
This shows the height of the box and lid compared with a PSU on its side
This shows the height of the box and lid compared with a PSU on its side
A sprinkler was hung from the clothes line above to rain what would be a moderate rainfall down on the box for 10 minutes. The box was sitting up to allow any water to drain away from below it, so no water got in through the cable entry below.
A sprinkler was hung from the clothes line above to rain what would be a moderate rainfall down on the box for 10 minutes. The box was sitting up to allow any water to drain away from below it, so no water got in through the cable entry below.
The above image is the "Masters" box with the blue paper inside it. The rubber seal around the front was checked and was in place and intact, and this was a brand new box - no mounting holes for anything
The above image is the "Masters" box with the blue paper inside it. The rubber seal around the front was checked and was in place and intact, and this was a brand new box - no mounting holes for anything
Here is the blue cloth after the 10 minute test - I was shocked at the volume of water actually in the box - probably 5millilitres were drained from the base which was not absorbed with the blue cloth, and at least that much or more (I suspect a lot more) was absorbed
Here is the blue cloth after the 10 minute test - I was shocked at the volume of water actually in the box - probably 5millilitres were drained from the base which was not absorbed with the blue cloth, and at least that much or more (I suspect a lot more) was absorbed
Here is the new box, filled with the same type of cloth undergoing the same treatment, In reality I actually let this test run about 15 minutes as I had visitors arrive at the time
Here is the new box, filled with the same type of cloth undergoing the same treatment, In reality I actually let this test run about 15 minutes as I had visitors arrive at the time
This is the result - no water! I'll be ordering another 5 or 6 of these boxes soon! After seeing the result of this test, as well as having issues with 3 of the masters boxes having water ingress, I decided to start to upgrade the boxes from the old to the new
This is the result - no water! I'll be ordering another 5 or 6 of these boxes soon! After seeing the result of this test, as well as having issues with 3 of the masters boxes having water ingress, I decided to start to upgrade the boxes from the old to the new
The old Pixicles box in a masters box. The original box was located under the eves, but still had issues with water ingress during windy rain which barely wet the control box!
The old Pixicles box in a masters box. The original box was located under the eves, but still had issues with water ingress during windy rain which barely wet the control box!
Here is the PSU, P12R and fuse board all packed into the new box. I still have a few wires left to connect up, but overall it went well
Here is the PSU, P12R and fuse board all packed into the new box. I still have a few wires left to connect up, but overall it went well
Here is the outside of the new box. I'll also need to buy a few more of the plactic weatherproof cable entries this week to allow the upgrading of a few other items soon
Here is the outside of the new box. I'll also need to buy a few more of the plactic weatherproof cable entries this week to allow the upgrading of a few other items soon

May

The upgrade to the housing for the controllers for the pixel matrix was completed this week. 2 Masters boxes were replaced with a single smaller box, as well as a bit of work done to strengthen the screen housing as well

The above image is the two masters boxes. Each contained a P2, fuses and PSU
The above image is the two masters boxes. Each contained a P2, fuses and PSU
A view of the 2 masters boxes open. While the boxes are not packed, there was no room for anything else in each box. Add to that the boxes were bolted to a piece of bar screwed to the back board, this made for a fairly unweildly and ugly lump on the side of the screen
A view of the 2 masters boxes open. While the boxes are not packed, there was no room for anything else in each box. Add to that the boxes were bolted to a piece of bar screwed to the back board, this made for a fairly unweildly and ugly lump on the side of the screen
The above image shows the base for the new box bolted to the side of the screen. Holes in the base for the 2 lots of power and data cables, 240V Power in as well as cat5 network cables are already in the base
The above image shows the base for the new box bolted to the side of the screen. Holes in the base for the 2 lots of power and data cables, 240V Power in as well as cat5 network cables are already in the base
Here is the new box, filled with the 2 P2's, 2 fuse holders and 2 PSU's. It's a very tight fit, but it cools fairly well, and may get an additional 12V fan mounted on the velt if I think it will help (They are yet to arrive from eBay)
Here is the new box, filled with the 2 P2's, 2 fuse holders and 2 PSU's. It's a very tight fit, but it cools fairly well, and may get an additional 12V fan mounted on the velt if I think it will help (They are yet to arrive from eBay)
Painted, with vent installed. This was given a test run for 4 hours running a P2 output test and the case barely got warm
Painted, with vent installed. This was given a test run for 4 hours running a P2 output test and the case barely got warm
I noticed that hanging the screen up for an extended time (Off season) the top of the case bowed up. 2 additional metal braces were installed, as shown above, to hold the top and bottom equidistant apart. Clips were also added from the front MDF panel to stop it bowing out for any reason, and these clips were attached to the bracing
I noticed that hanging the screen up for an extended time (Off season) the top of the case bowed up. 2 additional metal braces were installed, as shown above, to hold the top and bottom equidistant apart. Clips were also added from the front MDF panel to stop it bowing out for any reason, and these clips were attached to the bracing

June

A small update showing the update to the 27 channel controllers that are done here. This allows the controller to handle more than 15A in total, and when combined with a second power injection point, the boards have been tested in excess of 30A total.

I struck an issue this year with LSP and the Megascreen matrix, and the easy fix has been to multicast the data instead of Unicast it. The issue there is that the data is sent to each and every controller, rather than being routed to just the destination. In changing to Multicasting, the downside is that I will need to split the show PC off from the rest of the house network, but this is no great issue. The other disadvantage is that my E16, which drives the megatree, does not like masses of data multicasting on the network, so it fails regularly. To fix this issue I am replacing the E16 with a brand new J1Sys P12S controller.

This is the initial board, which has been cleaned and the 2 solder tracks where the wire are to be added have had additional solder added.
This is the initial board, which has been cleaned and the 2 solder tracks where the wire are to be added have had additional solder added.
The completed board. 2.5mm copper wire, twisted tighter using a battery drill before tinning, was used to bulk up the copper.
The completed board. 2.5mm copper wire, twisted tighter using a battery drill before tinning, was used to bulk up the copper.
In order to test the modified rose garden setup, a rough mockup was completed in the shed and run through its paces. This upgrade will increase the lights from 12 vertical strings up to 32 strings making it look much fuller this year. The lights were modified from damaged Stellascapes ones used in the trees in previous years
In order to test the modified rose garden setup, a rough mockup was completed in the shed and run through its paces. This upgrade will increase the lights from 12 vertical strings up to 32 strings making it look much fuller this year. The lights were modified from damaged Stellascapes ones used in the trees in previous years
The tests were run for a few hours to ensure no lights have failed, and the upgrade went OK
The tests were run for a few hours to ensure no lights have failed, and the upgrade went OK
Final build of the Stellascapes E16
Final build of the Stellascapes E16
This is an early part of the upgrade to the box. Just 8 outputs will be used to drive the 8 universes of lights (Requiring a modification to the light strings themselves), and a further 4 outputs will be added to the box for later use. I will also add 8 power injection points for the Megatree lights this year. I still have to add the fuse block for the injection and the injection output points. There are also 2 DMX Output points on the box, but they probably wont be used this year.
This is an early part of the upgrade to the box. Just 8 outputs will be used to drive the 8 universes of lights (Requiring a modification to the light strings themselves), and a further 4 outputs will be added to the box for later use. I will also add 8 power injection points for the Megatree lights this year. I still have to add the fuse block for the injection and the injection output points. There are also 2 DMX Output points on the box, but they probably wont be used this year.

July

Completed the updates for the megatree lighting strings, as well as the final P12S box upgrades. The lights have been put up in the shed to allow further testing, and this week I have spent a few days trying to work out the issues with LSP, e1.31 and various controller configurations without luck.

Basically the issue has been that I often will test a controllers output by turning it on during testing. LSP has already been started and is outputting, and switching on the controller sometimes works, and other times it causes the network traffic to grind to a halt, thus stopping the “Show”. At the moment this is not a critical thing, but is annoying during testing when controllers are turned on and off regularly.

At the moment I have worked out I have something like 13,500 channels in the shed, hung up ready for testing, and they are regularly being tested to ensure there will be no “Surprises” this year in the show, as well as to see what certain effects really look like on the items themselves.

A few controllers have been modified to run on 5V, rather than needing to run pDMX to those boxes, as this really makes cabling much simpler.

Due to storage of sequences from the 6 years, plus this years sequences, I ended up buying a NAS Box which will live somewhere in the shed once I get some drives to put in it, probably in the new year.

LSP is looking great so far, and the new scheduler is simply brilliant, and should fix almost, if not all, the issues I had last year with pausing, stuttering and halting of the show.

A small upgrade to a Gigabit switch for the show will eliminate any possible bottlenecks from the switch end as well, so that should help a bit too

The LED faces, built a while ago are looking great, and 2 songs will use them this year. Testing has shown that the songs and face keep perfect timing, so I am happy. I tried LSP 2.5 and it struggled with the same sequence so 2.8 seems like a winner here.

August

My order of Ray Wu 5cm diameter balls for the trees has arrived, and I will start to set them up into 2 groups of 70 and 2 of 50 for the 4 trees in the yard.

1 song has been finished, 1 more half done, and 2 more planned soon,  plus I will most likely add many of the older songs, but just 1 per night, so I think I have 7 older songs than can easily be added to sequences… I hope 🙂

Balls are sealed, and have been running tests for the last 24hrs.

September

What idiot invented 2811 Pixels? I have had 2 weeks of hell with these pieces of trash. With 2801 pixels I ran the power down 2 wires of some alarm cable, Data and clock down 2 more of the same alarm cable. I often had runs of 8-10 meters and never had an issue with doing it this way. 2811’s do not work this way with runs longer than about 2 meters.

I ended up remaking all 4 cables with the data and a reference earth running down a pair of cat5 cores, and the power down the alarm cable. This was the only way I could get reliable data flow to any of the strings. I will never buy 2811’s unless I have no other choice in the future!

Moving the controller closer was not an option, and this controller runs a LOT of other items from a central point in the yard.

Spent a bit more time sequencing, and upgrading the P12R box that drives the Pixels from the corner of the yard. 6 12V outputs and 6 5V outputs, plus some power injection points for both voltages are now squeezed into the box, making things much easier for connections and future upgrades.

I had to have a break from the lights due to work and other commitments, and we  went to Dubbo for a few days with the family to go to a burnout comp where a work colleague is running his car in the Pro class.

October

Yet another burnout comp, Burnout Mania 2, photographed today at Eastern Creek… I really should get back to the lights, but this is so much fun. This time I shot with one camera, and my son shot with another, taking some great images on the day, including the one below.

November

Loads of last minute testing, fixing, swapping out, plus a failure of an order to arrive from China by the start of last month as promised (it’s been 7 weeks now – argh!), meant I had to use the old LED’s to outline the house once again this year. I was lucky to have just enough LED’s to redo the ropelights destroyed when the contractors installed our Solar Panels earlier this year. Yes Dr Green, your installers are assholes!

The majority of the lights are connected up and tested now, with the inside silhouettes, miditrees and a couple of ropelights left to do next week.

Once the lights are up and running I will add a map to the front page of the website showing our location.

The Show ran well on the 26th, with a few bugs and errors being sorted out and tested again later that night (ok more like 1AM today).

Ropelight added to the top of the roof a little while ago, leaving just a few small items left to put up for the show to be complete.

December

Well the show is live, with 3 new songs and 2 old classics from previous years.

I will be adding some more songs over the month, so watch out for announcements.

We are on Facebook!

I had resisted the urge to create a facebook page for way too long, so I finally created one this week. There will be images, videos and more added to the page over the coming weeks. Please share it and tell your friends. We will be adding some off-season information to it through the year as well, so keep and eye out there too.

2013 Spend

White Minitrees: $165
Alcohol: $25
Snow Machines: $175
Cable & Boxes: $160
Steel for faces: $60
Boxes: $100
Standoffs: $16
P12S: $225
Rope: $40
Cableties: $50
Ray Wu Order 1: $500
Ray Wu Order 2: $692
Cable: $110
Bunnings Various: $100
Gigabit Switch: $110
Lollies: $250
Lollies: $230

Total: $3,008