Unfortunately with thunderstorms and rain rolling in just before 9 pm this evening (Wednesday December 16), the display has been switched off earlier than usual. Sorry!
With any luck the weather will have cleared by Thursday December 17th.
Operating Hours
Rain Possible Tonight
Rain has been forecast from late evening until tomorrow morning, and clouds are developing.
For the moment the show will continue as planned but if it begins raining the lights will be turned off early.
Three more videos of this year have been posted. One more remains which will hopefully be completed by the end of week.
Recent Test Yields Pleasing Results
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
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.
Opening Night Just Days Away
The 1st of December is so close now.
Today the computerised lights in the garden and on the roof were finally able to be tested. The result was surprisingly successful. I was expecting there to be some problems taking some time to fix.
So now the base and pole of the mega tree have been put up ready to have lights strung from it tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday, leaving the Sunday following as the final testing day.
The streaming webcam should be in operation during the count down and light up ceremony on December 1st allowing you to view the display if you can’t make it in person (though I must say it is much better in person!). Music will begin playing at about 8:15 pm with the lights turning on right on 8:30 pm ACDT (UTC+10:30).
Season Finale: 2005
Ryan’s Christmas Lights 2005 is now finishing up. Special Effects (Bubbles, Fog) have been taken down, and Santa’s inflatable sleigh has been deflated and stored back in the box. Be prepared for new things in 2006 – check out the 2006 Photo Gallery page for a sneak preview of what will be out there!! Finally, a completely new soundtrack will be created for next year, along with a completely new light sequence for the computer controlled light sets. I hope you all had a very merry Christmas!
