Author Archives: RussD

With everything done drag the Mega Tree into the front yard and plug it in. And commence with the light show. From the street everything looked great! She Who Must Be Obeyed had immediate feedback; “Looks good. Needs a back … Continue reading →

With the MegaTree fully functional the last stage of the build is to move the controller and power supply from the breadboard to its final location (hopefully not its final resting place) in a waterproof outdoor box. For this I … Continue reading →

Individual LEDs don’t need much power. Hundreds of LEDs need quite a bit of power. The MegaTree now has 8 strips with 50 LEDs each for a total of 400. Each of these LEDs will consume about 1/3 of a … Continue reading →

The LED strings need to be attached at the top and the bottom of the tree. The MegaTree companies make what they call Toppers – round plates with holes around the edges. These are available for $40-$50. As you may … Continue reading →

The tree itself is pretty simple – a set of vertical strings of LEDs tapering in at the top to look like a Christmas tree. LED strings and strips come in 15 meter (15-1/2 ft) lengths. The standard for strings … Continue reading →

While the K1000-X controller was fully functional the software development environment didn’t come with the packaged effects I wanted. It provided the tools to develop them, but didn’t include the ones I wanted. There was an effects package available, but … Continue reading →

With the (first order) of parts on hand it was time to blow something up! The actual intention was to see if I could connect the power supply, controller, and an LED string and blink the lights, but I have … Continue reading →

In yet another cycle of how I learn something new, start with something really simple and try to make my early mistakes as cheaply as possible. Since all of the parts are readily available, head down to the local hardware … Continue reading →

Watching TV is a bad idea for many reasons. Over the past few years I’ve caught random episodes of various TV shows featuring Christmas decoration and outdoor lighting. The people featured on these shows have gone totally over the top … Continue reading →