Control

Well the main way I control my lights is through x10, that way all the lights turn on at the same time. In the past years I have used a mini timer to contol the modules, but starting for 2002's display I will be using Activehome to turn the light on and off. For 2002 I will also have some computer animated lights. I will have a waving santa (electronically, using lights not motors) that will, when a car drives by, start throwing snowballs at the road and once they get to the fence, light up a sign saying Merry Christmas, and go back to waving until the next unssuspecting victim(so to say) goes by.

This pic shows how I power the icicle lights. I have one 20 amp circuit for the outlets under the eave by the garage, front and back, and by the dining room. The outlet by the master bathroom has its own circuit since I plug displays into it as well. I use a big relay to turn those circuits on and off. The relay is turned on and off using an appliance module.

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The relay and wiring is inside a gutted out electrical panel. The panel was put in when the house was built. It has one circuit coming to it as well as 3 "circuits," for the outlets leaving. The other circuit, used for the one outlet by the bathroom, plugs into a heavy duty extension cord that plugs into a dedicated-circuit outlet in the garage. It was not planned to use 2 circuits for this project so I have to run the cord. By the way, this is all in the garage.

This basically shows the box in the wall, and the outlet where the x10 outlet that controls the relay plugs into. This is also where the computer running Dasher, and who knows what else, is going to sit.

This is one of the controllers I built. It allows me to have things chasing. I basically took the controller off of a set of chasing lights, and attached it to 4 home made solid state relays. This allows me to connect more than 35 lights per circuit, which is what the chaser was initially designed for. With my modification I can control up to 6 amps per channel. For 2002 this controller will probably be used as part of the Santa's Toy Shop display. The left box has no cover to allow easy speed adjustment, I have the cover laying around, but I have to find it.