Christmas On Sunset http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/ Everyday workings of Christmas On Sunset en-us Copyright 2011 timmacrina@christmasonsunset.com (Tim Macrina) Sat, 24 Nov 2012 08:42:50 -0700 Tim Macrina http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/ timmacrina@christmasonsunset.com http://christmasonsunset.com/content/images/cos_logo.jpg Christmas On Sunset http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/ tag:ChristmasOnSunset.com,2011-09-21:/20110921151354652 http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/post/the-2012-season-has-begun http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/post/the-2012-season-has-begun The 2012 season has begun The lights are now on for the 2012 season. Here is a video of the display.

https://christmasonsunset.com/videos/videos/2012-preview

]]> 2012-11-24T15:42:50-07:00 http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/post/live-stream http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/post/live-stream Live stream The live stream is now available.
https://christmasonsunset.com/livestream

]]> 2012-11-20T03:08:35-07:00 http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/post/custom-net-lights-installed http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/post/custom-net-lights-installed Custom net lights installed Here are a few pics of the custom net lights on the columns. Normally the columns take a few hours to wrap but this year it only took about 10 minutes for each columns.


]]> 2012-11-03T22:01:29-07:00 http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/post/testing-lights-again http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/post/testing-lights-again Testing lights....again. Today I spent a good part of the day testing lights with my two favorite helpers. I would say we are about halfway done with the testing.

Fixing lights

]]> 2012-10-29T02:00:17-07:00 http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/post/testing-lights http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/post/testing-lights Testing Lights Tonight I was tasked with testing some of the lights. I do this for a two reasons. 1 It makes everything look better when all the bulbs are working and 2, by replacing dead or broken bulbs you can actually keep the other bulbs from going out. Every time a bulb on a string goes out the power that it was consuming is then distributed to the other lit bulbs which causes them to burn a little brighter and therefore burn a little hotter. If too many bulbs go out then the working bulbs get too hot and they start to burn out which causes a domino effect. Eventually you will loose the enitre string. The testing is very tedious but in the end it pays off.

Testing lights

]]> 2012-10-27T03:50:02-07:00 http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/post/custom-net-lights http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/post/custom-net-lights Custom net lights Every year I wrap the two columns on my front porch with lights and every year I dred doing it. The reason I dislike it so much is that one of the columns has a downspout directly in front of it and it makes it very difficult to wrap the lights around the column. After wrapping the columns for the last 5 years I finally came up with an idea to make wrapping them a snap. I took a 24x24 sheet of plywood and drilled half inch holes every 4.5 inches in one direction and every 3 inches in another. I then put 1/2 inch dowels that where 3 inches long in each hole. Then I took the mini lights and wrapped them in a criss cross pattern. Last I zip tied the lights where the wires intersected and I was done. The plywood and dowels cost about $14 and it took me about 10 minutes to wrap the lights and attach all the zip ties. Once I complete all of the net sections my plan is to attach them all together and then wrap the entire sheet of lights around the column. I will post more pictures once I finish.

Custom Net Lights

Custom Net Lights

Custom Net Lights

]]> 2012-10-25T03:19:25-07:00 http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/post/2012-schedule http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/post/2012-schedule 2012 schedule The 2012 Christmas season is right around the corner. We estimate we will have 34,000 lights dancing to music this year. 

We have updated the showtimes page on our website for the 2012 season. Opening night will be Friday November 23. Be sure to stop by this free family friendly holiday display.

Showtimes

]]> 2012-10-23T03:26:27-07:00 http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/post/the-lights-are-on http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/post/the-lights-are-on The lights are on I’m a little late posting but our lights have been on since Friday. This years mega tree has been rebuilt from the ground up. The mega tree features 7,200 multi color Christmas  lights, 7,300 white Christmas  lights and 2,400 green Christmas lights. Our total for 2011 is 37,210. 

Showtimes

Directions

]]> 2011-11-30T22:54:00-07:00 http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/post/social-media http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/post/social-media Social Media Don’t forget to check us out using your favorite social media outlet

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]]> 2011-11-08T00:44:00-07:00 http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/post/superstrings http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/post/superstrings Superstrings After a few nights of work I am finally finished repairing all of the super strings for the mega tree. There are 24 super strings in all and each one consists of 3 - 100 count white Christmas lights and 3 - 100 count multi color Christmas lights for a total of 14,400 Christmas lights on the mega tree. Add in the 200 Christmas lights on the toper and this years addition of green lights to the mega tree (estimated at 2400 – 3600) and we are well over 15,000 lights total. My guess is that this is probably one of the largest mega trees in Berks County, PA……and I’m Ok with that!  ;)

]]> 2011-11-06T12:13:00-07:00 http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/post/putting-up-the-lights http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/post/putting-up-the-lights Putting up the lights Today we starting putting up the lights for the 2011 season. The weather was perfect and we accomplished quite a bit. Check out this years install photos.

]]> 2011-11-06T02:49:00-07:00 http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/post/follow-us-on-twitter http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/post/follow-us-on-twitter Follow us on Twitter Don’t forget to follow XmasOnSunset on Twitter
Once the lights go up we will be tweeting on a regular basis.

]]> 2011-10-18T03:02:00-07:00 http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/post/subpanel-updating http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/post/subpanel-updating Subpanel updating I've begun doing some major rework on the subpanel / main controller case. I am adding a few safety features and also making room for two additional controllers. This picture shows the rear of the case. The gray rectangular box to the left is where the main power connects (the green, white, red and black connectors) and the black circular connectors towards the top are where the cord bundles attach using multi pin connectors. The circuit boards are the light controllers and to the front of the box (not visible) is a 100A Square D circuit breaker panel.

]]> 2011-10-14T04:20:00-07:00 http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/post/mega-tree-pole-progress-and-cord-sorting http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/post/mega-tree-pole-progress-and-cord-sorting Mega Tree Pole Progress and cord sorting Today I almost finished the new mega tree pole. I mounted the pulleys on top and primed and painted the pole. All I have left to do is attach the winch that will lift the ring where all of the Christmas Lights attach. In between playing with my two favorite helpers who were off from school today I sorted/untangled most of my custom made extension cords.

Molly showing off the new mega tree pole.

 

Derek showing off the mega tree pole.

 

This is about 60% of the cords that we use for our display.

]]> 2011-10-11T04:49:00-07:00 http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/post/ctb16pc-board-assembly http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/post/ctb16pc-board-assembly CTB16PC board assembly Over this past weekend I assembled two of my three CTB16PC boards. While doing so I tried to document the overall assembly process on a high level. For times sake I did not document every step but this should be a good starting point.

]]> 2011-10-07T11:29:00-07:00 http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/post/bussman-power-module-tour http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/post/bussman-power-module-tour Bussman Power Module Tour So I've decided to document everything that I do for my Christmas Light display. My plan is to give people who are interested an inside look at the inner workings of our display. My first video is of my main disconnect switch a.k.a. "The Bussman Power Module".

]]> 2011-10-03T04:25:00-07:00 http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/post/mega-tree-pole-construction http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/post/mega-tree-pole-construction Mega Tree Pole Construction This weekend I started working on the new Mega Tree pole with the help of my friend Julius. The pole is an 11 foot long piece of 1.5 inch steel pipe welded to a .5 inch steel plate that will bolt to our new mega tree base.

The Christmas Lights will mount to a steel ring that can be winched up and down for assembly.

 

Me grinding the base

 

Me welding braces on the base.

 

Julius welding the base plate.

 

Derek operating the drill press. He is drilling holes into the ring that the Christmas Lights will attach to.

 

Molly takes a turn drilling holes.

 

Julius welds the mounting plate for the winch.

 

I double check his work ;)

]]> 2011-10-02T20:16:00-07:00 http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/post/mega-tree-repair http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/post/mega-tree-repair Mega tree repair Today we started repairing the mega tree. This involved getting the tree out of storage and then removing the strings and repairing the broken bulbs. The tree currently has 24 sections that are made up of 3 white strings and 3 multi colored strings that are then braded together. Totaling 14,400 bulbs.

]]> 2011-09-24T18:00:00-07:00 http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/post/new-controllers http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/post/new-controllers New controllers Our 3 new Light-O-Rama CTB16PC Kit’s are here. I will be putting them together in the next few weeks. Check back for photos of the assembly process.

]]> 2011-09-21T21:00:00-07:00 http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/post/mega-tree-base-construction http://christmasonsunset.com/blog/post/mega-tree-base-construction Mega Tree Base Construction In preparation for the return of the Mega Tree I decided to construct a new base for the tree. In previous years I mounted the tree using two 2x10’s that were lap jointed together to make large X. I then bolted a wall flange to the pieces of wood to which I attached a piece of black pipe. It all worked but I wasn’t happy with the way it looked and I wasn’t 100% sure about the stability.

For 2011 I decided to make a permanent base by digging a hole about 38 inches deep. I then poured 4 – 80 lbs bags of cement in the hole, threw in a couple of pieces of rebar and then inserted 4 – 10 inch lag bolts.  The top of the cement was poured about 4-5 inches from ground level so that I could put soil on top and replace the grass so that the base is not seen when it is not in use. When it comes time to setup the tree I will remove the top few inches of grass/soil over the cement/bolts and bolt the tree to the base(Pictures to follow when that happens).

 

The hole is about 38 inches deep and 16 inches in diameter.

 

4 – 1/2 inch X 10 inch lag bolts mounted to a piece of wood for stabilization while the cement cured.

 

The cement and lag bolts.

 

The day after I poured the cement I removed the nuts and the wood and then put tape over the bolt threads and filed in the rest of the hole with soil.

]]> 2011-09-17T15:26:00-07:00