Your First Year of Animated Lighting
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Before you jump into the lake wearing lead overshoes, it's a good idea to know how deep the water is, first. Through the goodness of our members, we conducted a poll to find out what kinds of problems they encountered in 2016 for the expressed purpose of adding this information to the Wiki for beginners. This is the summary of that poll and you can read the comments they posted by going to the thread itself: http://www.diychristmas.org/vb1/showthread.php?7221-Taking-Stock-of-2016
Here are the overall results of 100 poll participants:
- 17% of the respondents said they had ZERO problems. That's roughly 1 in 6. It's not the greatest odds, but it's an encouraging figure! But a beginner should understand that this is not the norm, even for experienced DIYers. Therefore, you should always expect that you will likely be tinkering with your display to either get it to run or keep it running. This is not a plug-n-play, set-it-and-forget-it hobby.
- The kind of lights you decide to use makes a difference as to the scope of problems you're likely to have. Incandescent/mini-lights are still popular and generally are the least problematic, followed by strings or strips of LEDs and lastly, the smart pixels. One could say that pixels are 400% more problematic than incandescents, and twice as problematic as strings/strips of LEDs. This is why most experienced DIYers would encourage beginners to start simple and grow into the more complicated lighting products after you've acquired some experience instead of starting out with pixels. You've been forewarned.
- An issue that affects every user new and old can be electrical power and weather, and 2016 was a tough year: about 1/3 of respondents cited weather as an issue for them. Some struggled to keep their shows running at all because water caused GFCI breakers to trip. And while you can't prevent weather, you can prepare for it. This means doing everything in your power to keep connectors dry and elevated so they can't leak current and cause a GFCI to trip. We've included controller malfunctions here, too, because electrical power issues almost always cause controllers to go wacky. You may want to read the comments in the thread to find out more about any controller issues users encountered.
- Computers, sequencing software and the connectivity between the computer(s) and controllers was an issue to some degree. Nearly 1 in 6 had connectivity problems, and with the increasing use of pixels (which normally requires high-speed networking connectivity), beginners should understand the importance of having decent skills in keeping things connected. Making good cables, keeping them from getting wet, good cabling organization in the yard, and using quality wire are highly encouraged. You'll need to have a good cable tester and a CAT5 crimper to fix cables that get stepped on or stretched too much, and certainly, you'll need to know your way around your computer and the sequencing software you use, too!
- It's encouraging to see that outside influences such as vandalism and traffic were not significant issues. That said, understand that it CAN happen to you. As a deterrent, some DIYers employ the use of one or more video surveillance cameras and post signage in their yards to that effect. Traffic is an unpredictable issue but remember that the more promotion you do of your show, the more potential issues you'll encounter! There were no problems with neighbors, which is a good thing. Nevertheless, being mindful of potential noise and neighborhood disruption caused by your display is a good thing to do. Keeping your neighbors informed and sometimes even involved in the overall display is a pretty good idea. Maybe host a summer barbecue and show them what you're working on and what your plans are. Having allies is always better than developing enemies!
