Buying LED Lights

Bottom line: make sure the LEDs you buy are dimmable FWR bulbs.

What follows is uninformed hearsay because I still have not found an authoritative source that explains these issues sufficiently. I have the usual collection of two or three strands per year picked up randomly. I got a few LEDs a while back, some were good some weren’t.

LEDs have the obvious advantage of low power (4W per strand vs 24W) and longer life, but at about seven times the cost (in 2013). The criteria that I’ve found I should look for in LEDs are the following:

• “Retail” vs “Pro Grade”
• Dimmable
• Full Wave Rectifying (FWR) (non flickering)
• Dome vs Conical (5mm) vs “Classic” (M5/C7) bulbs

One thing I’m sure of, don’t get domed, they act like little blinding flashlights. It’s cool for disco balls, but not so much for Christmas. Conical (chopped off cylinders) work well. They are bright, even, tiny points of light. I prefer the “classic” (M5) look for most uses, but the conical work well for outside tree branches.

Retail vs “Pro”: This seems to come down largely to marketing, but “Pro” is more often FWR (less flickering), maybe slightly thicker wire insulation, and smoother dimming.

Dimmability: LEDs are generally bad at dimming. Unlike the smooth fade of incandescents, LEDs must be programmed to have discrete steps of brightness, and then they just turn off. Some do not dim at all. Make sure you buy dimmable FWR LEDs.

Bulb sizes: M3, M5, C7, C9 , etc. "M" is skinny and long, "C" is old fashioned candle-like bulbs. Here’s a good video from ledholidaylighting.com that explains the different bulb shapes youtube.com/watch?v=9_gXbv6W5lc

As for poorly dimming “retail” lights I’ve read about people trying to add shunts and terminators to their strands to help with spastic dimming characteristics. I have yet to see a real electrical engineer comment on this so caveat emptor, it all seems trial and error. The theory behind shunts is that an LED strand is so sensitive to power fluctuation that adding something that draws more current will smooth out the power and make the whole strand take on the dimming characteristics of the extra bulb. I have not experimented with this, and people who seem to know more are calling BS on this. You can't force a non-dimming LED to dim since it's electronic, but I guess you can prevent a "dimmable" LED from flashing on and off randomly as you try to dim it. I may experiment after this season. I can definitely see the difference in dimming between my newer and old strands though.

Glossary:

LED: Light Emitting Diode. A small electronic light source that can produce any color directly without colored glass. Being electronic they require more precise current to behave well.

FWR: Full Wave Rectifying LED lights. These don’t have the “corner of the eye” flickering that cheaper LED’s have. Is the rectifier the bulge in newer light strands? Not to be confused with “full spectrum” lights.

Rectifier: A rectifier converts AC current to DC so power is applied only on half of the 60Hz AC wave so the diode lights up 60 times a second. This is what caused flicker on older LEDs. Full wave rectifiers provide power all the time (both waves).

Shunt: An extra thing on the light strand drawing more power, hopefully helping the lights dim better. Fiction? I have read about people adding extra C6 incandescent bulbs and even air fresheners.

Terminator: a resistor at the end of your strand. This can help with lower quality “retail” strands.  Apparently LOR has upgraded their hardware to make this unnecessary. More here: crazylightlady.us/TerminatorsHow-To.html

Sequencing Lights

This is where the rubber meets the road. Sequencing simply means telling a program what lights you want to turn on when. 

You don’t need a song yet, but it’s more fun if you have one. Make sure it is an MP3 (not an mp4 or aac or other audio format). For example, I am using iTunes and I had to click File->Create New Version->Create MP3 Version to get my song to work.

Start up the LOR Sequencer and give it your MP3. There are a couple wizards you can use here to get the basic beat. The Beat Wizard (which most seem to have a love/hate relationship with) is not a bad place to start, results vary greatly depending on the song. I assume this is why a lot of people use techno songs with hard constant beats, they make sequencing a lot easier. Eventually, though, you will probably want to switch to the Tap Wizard. Each wizard generates a Timing Grid, basically a click track that you can attach light events to. For my first song I just did the Tap Wizard and clicked my mouse whenever I felt like something should happen. That gave fairly pleasing results for a first pass.

You can have multiple Timing Grids that you can switch between so there is no harm in trying lots of different things. If you use the Beat Wizard, I would add 4x or 8x on the timings. This gives you quarter or eighth notes to time your lights to.

Now you have a grid that you can click lights on and off, fade in, and fade out. Click "Play" to see what happens.

Nothing.

Sneakily you have to select the “Play” menu and tell it to control your lights. If you don’t have your lights connected you can also tell the “Play” menu to “Control Visualizer”. Oooh, what’s that?

Start up LOR Visualizer and draw in your strands of lights as you think they might look in your yard. Accuracy is not too important here. I drew in four vertical lines, my roof line, and a tree. Now right click on the things you drew and select “Properties”. Down at the bottom you will see “Assigned Channels”. Select “Light-O-Rama Controller” for the device and the channel number (“circuit”). Save all that, and click Play.

Again nothing.

That’s OK. Go back to the Sequencer and verify you’ve still got “Control Visualizer” selected in the Play menu. Now click "Play" again in the Sequencer and you should see your Visualizer window start dancing. Congratulations! You are a computer programmer.

There is a lot more to sequencing which entire magazines and classes have been devoted to so I wont go into great detail here. Hopefully this got you started. I’ll try to write about any clever tricks I’ve found, but the best way to learn is look at other people’s sequences and see what they did.  

Lightorama.com has a lot of videos, so does YouTube. Here's one from CrazyChristmasCrew's excellent 15 part Vlog chronicling the creation of his show. It's a great peek into the effort required to put on a great show.

Glossary:

Timing Grid: Often beats in the music, timings are anchors where you can turn lights on and off.

Sequencing: Creating a sequence of actions on a grid that turn your lights on and off.  Since you have to control so many lights and so many musical beats, this can consume months of time.  It is the reason people say “I started my show in June”.

Wizards: Tools to help make sequencing easier.  Beat, Tap, and VU are a few tools to create timings to your music. There are many more.

Light-O-Rama!

Yay, the controller came! It’s a phone book sized plastic box with 16 electric plugs sticking out. Here’s an unboxing video from someone in Texas (why are so many big shows in the south?)

When I made the order I was extremely nervous. What did I really need? Browsing the light-o-rama site it is easy to get overwhelmed by all the technology available. Controller boards, SD Cards, Show Directors, Wireless, RGB ribbons (CCR) bulbs (CCB) and pixels (CCP), Floods, etc.

It took a good long time to filter all the noise out and realize ALL I need is the Starter Package. It’s the 16 plug controller box, cables to hook up to your computer, and a program called Light-O-Rama S3. Once you have a few lights plugged in and the software working, you’ve got yourself a light show. The rest is light placement, sequencing, and extension cords, extension cords, extension cords.

Did I just gloss over the computer part? Yeah, well, more on that later. As a Mac user that was an adventure in itself.

Glossary:

Light Controller: a hardware box with 16 outlets that you plug light strands into. You can have any number of these connected to one computer.

Channels: The number of outlets your box has, or the number of things you can independently control from your computer. I am using only 6 right now, because that’s how many extension cords and lights I have.

RGB: since I mentioned it, very cool stuff that is whole different level of crazy. Instead of light strands that come on and off, imagine each bulb is controllable. And can change color (Red/Green/Blue). Basically you can turn your roof into a computer screen. Yet another topic unto itself.

Extension Cords, Extension Cords, Extension Cords

With the Light-o-rama order placed I knew I needed lots more extension cords. Even with the mere six channels I had planned to start with, that meant I needed at least 5 more extension cords than I presently owned.

Some deft googling and presto: christmasdesigners.com had $4 8 ft green cords. At last! No more orange cord stretched across my grass! I bought a dozen and they served quite well. Nicely insulated and weather resistant, but I used them all up immediately. Eight feet is not very long. If I was to get up to my 16 channel max that meant hundreds of dollars for extension cords alone. Ridiculous.

Some more googling and all roads led to SPT-1 and SPT-2 "zip cord". Otherwise known as lamp cord. That stuff dangling around behind your couch.

Really?

Enough "professionals" swore by it (though electrocuted people can't post on the internet). I will have to give it a try. SPT-1 and SPT-2 are the same thing: 18 gauge wire good enough to carry enough electricity to power a few lights without melting. That is, about 7 amps or <800 watts. Connect it to your hair dryer, and it'll probably melt. SPT-2 just has a thicker coating on it, meaning it'll survive the weather better over time. SPT-2 does not carry more electricity. Most people posting said they used SPT-1, but I'd like to use these cords for more than a few years. My orange extension cord has turned yellow/white in only few years of use in Seattle. I'll be trying SPT-2 and spending the extra $20 per 1000 feet.

It's now December so everyone is sold out of the stuff in quantities less than 1,000 feet. I don't know if I'm that dedicated yet, so I'll check back in March maybe. I suspect I'll be eating my words next year.  [2015 update: yep! Save time and buy the 1000' spool]

Either way, plug your cords into a GFCI outlet. You've seen them in your bathroom. It is the thing that trips the circuit breaker before you get electrocuted when you drop your hair dryer in the sink (hopefully). It is not a surge protector. It does not save your electronics, it saves your life. If your GFCI keeps tripping, don't blame the outlet, fix the short circuit in your lights before your dog gets fried lapping up the puddle of water your exposed wires are running through.

The last thing you'll need are vampire plugs. These are simple devices you clip on the ends of the wire. No tools required beyond wire cutters.

Here's a couple sites I've found that sell wire and plugs to give you an idea. Prices vary widely, there is always a better deal to be had somewhere on the internet.

christmaslightshow.com

christmasdesigners.com

amazon.com

noveltylights.com

Glossary:

SPT: Stranded Parallel Thermoplastic wire. i.e., good old fashioned lamp cord, but with slightly better insulation for outdoor use.

GFCI: Ground Fault Circuit Interrupt electrical outlet. Keeps you from getting electrocuted when a loose wire ends up in a puddle.

Vampire Plugs: Extension cord plugs (male and female) the snap onto the end of SPT wire. They have “fangs” to bite into the wire so you don’t need tools.

Day One: What just happened to my brain?

I am standing out in the cold watching christmas lights flash, fade, and chase all over my house. The music is timed perfectly with the lights, I obsess over which lights come on with which beats. What additional effects I can add? What if I…. stop. How did this happen?

Allow me to rewind a bit.

I'm the kind of guy who likes to decorate at Halloween and Christmas, but I don't usually put more than a couple hours effort into decorating. The tree gets two strands of lights, the living room maybe two or three more. Outside if I'm daring I'll put a few strands of white along the reachable gutters and maybe a couple more multicolored strands in a small tree.

I was happy with that.

Over the years I started seeing some pretty elaborate Halloween decorations that I thought were cool. Fog machines, light displays, animatronics, things that really created an emotional mood. At Christmas every neighborhood has houses with great lights on them. I always enjoy seeing them, but I never felt compelled to add to my modest display.

Then last year I saw this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XG4jY9MCYk

One guy, with a computer, time, and passion made something beautiful and memorable, and I decided I must do something. What he did looked completely over the top, but it was exciting and original and absolutely worth the effort (little did I know how much restraint he had shown in his production, more on that later).

But how did he do that? Is there an easy way to get started making computer light shows? A little googling and I ended up at www.lightorama.com. This company is pretty much the only game in town as near as I can tell. OK, but the most basic controller was $300(!). Whew, how serious am I about this? That's a steep entry fee for a dabbler like myself. I put it off.

Fast forward to two weeks ago when I took the plunge and just ordered the "Starter Kit" and hoped for the best. I am glad I did, but it is a tremendously slippery slope. I've spent most of my waking hours over the last two weeks reading, learning, sequencing, and planning how to do more. With the rest of this blog I hope to chronicle the journey, the uncertainty, the mistakes, the successes, and perhaps ease the way for those to come after.

Welcome to the ride.