Operating Hours

‘Mini’ Show Likely To Run Tonight

Operating Hours, Pictures and Videos

It seems progress is finally being made in drying out the wet electronics. Clearing out water from a power board is not that easy when you are unable to open up the casing for inspection.

Providing it does not rain this evening, I should be able to have the windows, roof and mega tree operating. Much of the garden will probably still be turned off for another day or two, though.

Amongst all this, a video of the display dancing to Wizards In Winter is now online (this was filmed before the weather event)

Lights Remain Off

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With less than two hours remaining before the intended switch on, and with about 10 powerboards still wet, there will yet again be no light show.

I am running a test to see whether I can operate the mega tree and roof only, as they run fully on low voltage DC, hence there are no powerboards with 240v electricity to get wet. Whilst no power mixes with water, there are much less issues with low voltage DC power if water does come into contact.

Torrential Rain, Hail & Gale Force Winds Halt Show Indefinitely

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Due to the very heavy rains, hail and flash flooding, there will be no chance of a show tonight. There looks to be little chance of a show in the next few days either due to the result of near horizontal rains which have gotten many powerboards wet. 240v power and water do not mix, obviously.

Until they are dry and it is safe to power them, there will be no light display. Having never experienced weather like this during December, I have no idea how many days it may take to get everything in a safe condition.

Check out this photo to see the water damage for yourself. Time to get the hair dryers out!

Torrential Rain Damage

Two More Videos, Rain May Mean No Show Tonight

Operating Hours, Pictures and Videos

The rain has been very heavy today, so it is looking unlikely that there will be any lights running tonight. The weather forecast shows that the heavy rains are likely to continue into tomorrow night as well, potentially meaning two consecutive nights without a display. Please keep this in mind if you are traveling from afar these next few nights – I wouldn’t want to disappoint!

On the brighter side, two more videos of this year’s light show are now live on the video page – enjoy!

Launch Night Delayed Due to Thunderstorms

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This may be a little late coming, but with heavy rain and thunderstorms persisting, I have made the decision to cancel the launch event of the 2010 display.

Forecasts suggested rains would clear by 6 pm which they have not. It is not until Friday that the updated weather prediction suggests that the rains shall clear.

The new ‘official’ launch event will be on Friday the 3rd of December. As always, lights will be on at 8:30 pm sharp.

Recent Test Yields Pleasing Results

Computer Control, Operating Hours, Set Up News

Last night, the lights which were up so far were turned on just before dusk to do the first full on computer control test.

Results were better than expected, although not perfect. With two different types of controllers being used this year, (Light-O-Rama CTB16PC’s and DIY Olsen 595 Switches) there appears to be a very slight delay with the former, of only a fraction of a second. This is fixable by adjusting the light patterns in the sequencer (Vixen 2.5.0.0) so that all the channels of light that use the LOR controllers send out the message a fraction before messages are sent to the Olsen 595 controllers. This, I hope, will correct the problem. Testing will continue leading up to opening night, which this year is Tuesday December 1st from 8:00 pm (lights on from 8:30 pm).

Set up over the past week has been slow due to record breaking heatwave conditions, but while there’s a break in the very hot temperatures I shall get to work setting more decorations up.

Videos Online & Recent Rain

Operating Hours, Pictures and Videos 1 Comment

Two videos have now been uploaded of this year’s Christmas display. They can be found in the 2008 videos section of the website. A third video will follow later in the month.

Also, over the last two days the display has not been running to its full potential due to bad weather. The same bad weather is expected to hang around again tonight.

Tomorrow is forecast to have a clearing shower, so let us hope the display can run to its full potential from tomorrow night.