Need 2 songs..

Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version


   Spinning mega trees require a decent amount of channels, but it can be done with less.  My display uses 4 colors (red, white, green, and multi), and each color currently gets 4 channels (or 16 channels for the whole tree).  In my case, I actually only have half of a mega tree, so I split the tree into quarters and have three strands or so per quarter.  The strands are placed vertically from the base to the top.  Think of the strands as the hypotenuse of a triangle.  To spin, you turn on one channel, fade out while the next one fades in, and so on.  When you get to the end you repeat.  You can also start with all the lights on and turn one channel off at a time.  Obviously the more channels you dedicate for this, the better the effect.

Author	Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version
Jonathan Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List Beta Testers Joined: 07 Sep 2008 Location: SoCal Online Status: Offline Posts: 1237	Quote Reply Posted: 28 Oct 2011 at 1:28pm
	Spinning mega trees require a decent amount of channels, but it can be done with less. My display uses 4 colors (red, white, green, and multi), and each color currently gets 4 channels (or 16 channels for the whole tree). In my case, I actually only have half of a mega tree, so I split the tree into quarters and have three strands or so per quarter. The strands are placed vertically from the base to the top. Think of the strands as the hypotenuse of a triangle. To spin, you turn on one channel, fade out while the next one fades in, and so on. When you get to the end you repeat. You can also start with all the lights on and turn one channel off at a time. Obviously the more channels you dedicate for this, the better the effect.
	~Jonathan

BigDPS Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Beta Testers Joined: 13 Dec 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 471	Quote Reply Posted: 28 Oct 2011 at 3:07pm
	On my mega tree, I have 32 string of 70 lights. They are on 16 channels so 2 set share a channel. On 16 channels, I would dedicate maybe 6 channels and put 12 strings of lights. I know it won't be a big mega more like a mini mega but you can achieve good results. Like Jon said, to give the illusion of spinning, you program it so one channel at a time is lit up. You can do it 2 ways: light one channel at a time or turn on all you lights and then turn one channel at a time. If this is your first time sequencing, don't be afraid to experiment. With 6 channels in a mega tree (I did one with 9 sets of 100 mini-lights one year and people were impressed at the look. It's not the size that counts but how you use it.) and then 10 channels for other flashing lights, you can have a decent lightshow. If you use LED instead of normal lights, you can have just as many lights as you wish since they barely take any juice at all. 15000 lights all on, will be only 498watts. My Halloween display has 150 feet of rope light the normal incandescent type, 40 mini sets of 35 normal lights, 4- 50 watt floodlight and when all turned on, they take 1255watts!!!! Let me tell you we are NOT going that route next year. LED it will be for HAlloween as well. To recap, don't be afraid to try anything. It is by trial and error that you will learn. We all went through that phase, trust me. And one thing that I noticed, every hobbyist that shares our passion, will be more than happy to help you if you need help. It is a family like no others.