Getting Ready for Christmas 2006

Posted in July 21st, 2006

http://www.vixenlights.com/

Vixen got their own domain, this is cool, and it appears to be one very impressive program. I am looking forward to running it this year. Last year I ran Comet, and while it was a decent program, having to tap out light sequences ala LOR was rather time consumimg. Supposedly, with Vixen, you get a waveform display. It also appears that Daryl is choosing to focus on hardware, in that the Comet link now points to Vixen.

Early this year, I designed some DMX-512 controllers using an AVR microprocessor. Each micro could run 16 channels, but considering I want to be able to run at full brightness, 16 channels would pull too much current to run off a single wall outlet. The end result, is I am going to redo my 16 channel box to 8.

Unlike a lot of computer Christmas lighting guys, I want my control boxes outside, at the lights. It keeps me from having to buy more cords, and minimizes an electricians nightmare inside. In addition, troubleshooting is a lot simpler, as I can pull the power to each display item, rather than having to trace an extension cord, which is routed with a kazillian other ones. I learned this the hard way last year.

The disadvantage looks like I will need to make a conversion box from the Olsen 595 to DMX-512. While it might appear simpler to try and create a module on the PC, that means desktop software, and I am no guru at that. Otoh, I don’t think the conversion box will prove to be that difficult, and it gets rid of the headaches of the pc’s timing function.

The only other thing to consider is Phils Picdimmer, as it does appear that Vixen will drive it directly. It might be an option to capture the PC’s data stream and convert it. However, the Picdimmer is in Alpha status, and there is a lot that has to happen in the next 2-3 months. The cool part is Phil has a picdimmer message board up and running for updates and design changes.

I do hope to put my lights up during late October, when the weather is still decent. The NEC allow seasonal lighting to be up for 90 days, and as such that give me until late January to pull it back down.