Recent content by TimW

Me too.... this software shows flashes of breathtaking brilliance ... and then can't do simple things like consistently get to the end of a sequence without deciding to stop at random points. The final straw for me last night was trying to load the scheduler, getting a 'there is a problem with...

oh, just googled some of the board codes ... Yes Peter - you were on the right track with a nerdkit! Judging by the feedback you already have, so was I! :)

ooh, nice display I'm pretty sure you could breath some life into that rig! First thing to explore would be the serial interface - I assume that the white box in the video is a 56k modem, so it probably would have been connected to a phone line to receive instructions on what to display. Looking...

Thanks David - I had been wondering how that was going to work with an NC switch (which is all the ebay search ever brought me until now!)

Hi Charles I doubt they are 50 ohms to ground. More likely 50ohms in series with the signal. Think of the resistor as dissipating the reflected energy (it has to go somewhere!) (I expect the cumulative current effect of all those 50ohm resistors to ground might not be good as well!) There has...

.... I reckon the cleverest bit is they won't even have to sell a new tax..... all they have to do is change the wording of the 'flood levy' slightly and its covered!.... Nice work. :)

Looks a bit like THIS ONE from Ray. These are quite common (and often underrated?) stand alone controllers. They support multiple pixel types and play sequences stored on SD card. To build the sequences you need some software (called LEDEDIT from memory?) that allows you to specify what pixels...

How about (in our context...) "Pixel: An individual RGB light/section that receives both power and data to determine its colour and level". - 'Dumb" lights just get power. (A 'conventional controller' controls the lights by switching power to them) - Pixels get data and power. (A 'pixel...

Slite.. and the really good news is that if you need any help it looks like Steve can be in Sweden in about 1 second (according to his avatar!!!) ;D

as Beacy says .. you could run 48/8 = 6 arches with that setup and configuration. There are a couple of aesthetic things to think about (beyond whether conduit will hold the lights up) - An even number of arch elements does not make it easy to 'cross' movement of the arch (with lights moving...

Not so sure about the serial port! (ah the nostalgia, John!) - but you can get cheap usb-serial port convertors that make these DIY controllers accessible. The lower entry price of DIY gear is also because its DIY. There has been a trend in the last couple of years to bypass that and buy...

Great idea! I like it as a minitree alternative.

Hi All Happy New Year! Just messing around before I pulled the lights down for another year.... Happy New Year 2012 The totally best bit about this video is that my 11 year old daughter synced and edited it for me! (Such a proud dad!...) Hope everyone has a great 2012. Tim

OKLAHOMA OKLAHOMA OKLAHOMA OKLAHOMA!!! ;D Welcome aboard Rod. Don't cull all the reindeer.. just integrate them into the animated show!

Hey Jim, I just saw Elvis! Looks great. And thanks for your contribution to the DIY community this year. Much appreciated! Tim