This year, we had... 19,540 pixels (individual lights able to display millions of colors) consisting of: 11,860 LED pixel module "bulbs". 7680 LED pixels in 15 "P10" sign matrix panels. A projected matrix of 57,600 virtual pixels. Oak Hills Lights - Controllers 2022 We used 12 controllers (Tune-To sign controller is not shown above) and 12 differential receivers (remote controllers), running..
xLights Around the World
This is our third year participating, and this year's video is out now! In previous years the displays have been random, but this year they sorted them by country, state, and city. We are at 2:48, along with a pretty good turnout from MO!
Arctic “Bomb Cyclone”
Most of North America has struggled late this week, just before Christmas, with record cold temperatures. Like much of the country, we saw rapid temperature drops, snow, and high winds as the storm line passed us. On Dec. 22nd, 2022 we went from 43℉ into the single digits in a matter of hours, and had..
Oak Hills Lights 2022 Walkthrough
Instead of a long video with me droning on-and-on, I though I would do a walkthrough in pictures this year... Unfortunately things don't look quite as nice in daylight... We do have some more-conventional decorations on the porch and in front of the house. Our light show starts with the Show Runner computer, which is..
Oak Hills Lights 2022 Controllers
I thought I would share the controller diagram for our show this year. Hopefully it will give you a bit of an idea of what goes into something like this hardware-wise. This is a large PDF that you can download if you would like, otherwise it scrolls in the box below... Oak-Hills-LIghts-2022-ControllersDownload This just shows..
Small Battles
First, sorry about the lack of build info this year. We've been very-very busy with life and just trying to get our show set up. I know at this point I owe everyone the completion of the Mega-Starburst. We expanded the Megatree and added a Mid/Maxitree as-well this year, otherwise not a lot of new..
2022 Progress Update – September
(Seems like we are off to a really late start this year.) First, the layout changed again. I'm hopeful and saying this is the "final", but it depends on whether or not we run out of pixels for everything. Layout as of September 2022 This year is all about saving money. Kim ended up unemployed..
Technical Difficulties
Well, my Web server decided to croak again... It's funny how you need to keep everything updated for security, and then one of the updates breaks everything. Updates often break things in xLights and FPP as-well, so it's par for the course, really for any software. My only regret is I lost my DIY Differential..
Best laid plans…
Well, I did say our layout this year is subject to change. Unfortunately prices have gone up over 70% on pixels and pretty much everything else it takes to do a show like ours. Availability of hardware like controllers and other electronics has also been limited due to ongoing chip shortages. Don't even get me..
2021 Behind the Scenes Video
Here is a behind-the-scenes walk-thru of our 2021 show/layout. Obviously completely unscripted with me babbling semi-coherently. 😁 https://youtu.be/m_rzh7nM-fw I'm hoping to get time to post more details about the mega-tree and some of the other builds. It's just been a busy few months. Here is a pic of the K16 controller box that is under..
2022 Layout and Test
Update: We did have to scale this back. Hopefully we will be able to upgrade things more in 2023. While it's subject to change, I thought I would share our current layout plans for 2022... Highlights: Mega Tree moved to right side of the yard. Our real oak tree was blocking the view of it..
New xLights API, Package Script
Late last year, the xLights developers started adding API functionality to xLights so you can script repeating tasks. For example- you can roll your own batch-render or batch controller upload scripts now. The API is still being developed, but I asked the devs to include an option to package a sequence as part of it,..
Time to start ordering pixels!
It's time to start ordering pixels for this year's show! I order all of our pixel strings starting now through about April. I add at least 1000 to what I feel we will need this year, and then split it up over a few months worth of orders. This gives us all the pixels we..