2009 Details

32 more channels were added to the 2009 display to bring the total to 192 channels. These control the quartet of singers and more yard chasers. Since this is my second year at mostly LED's, I did find some problems. Many of the cheaper strings rusted and corroded, prompting many bulbs to be replaced or entire strings swapped out and scrapped. The most problematic LED's were the yellow colored ones. Half of my strobes no longer work, and they are out of stock at my supplier, so the total number is reduced for this year.
2009 Technical Details
- over 18,000 lights (most LED)
- 13 AMPs power draw
- 192 channels (computer controlled outlets - LOR/D-Light)
- Ramsey FM30B FM Transmitter
- A singing Santa, Mrs. Claus, Elf and Rudolph
- Over 160 hours of just putting up lights and running extension cords. This does not include the hundreds of hours throughout the year creating the additional decorations, sequencing songs and planning.

2008 Details

The 2008 display is bigger than last year due to the shear number of channels involved. Most of the display has switched over to LED's (a good 95% are now LED, incandescent bulbs are used only in specialized locations ). But I must say, while I love the look of LED's and they draw less power, not to mention are FAST (which is a primary reason for the switch - I can now run .05 second timings and not have the warmup/down ghost effect), the LEDs available though the hardware stores are CHEAPLY made. I had countless strands suddenly go dark due to poor construction of the sockets. The most frustrating was that on the roof. After returning the lift used to reach the high places, sections went dark, provoking me to waste another day to get the lift again and replace it. I also went through two sets (brand new!) on the porch until I got one that stayed lit. But that is what you get for trying to get LED's on the cheap (it would cost a national debt to make the switch to commercial grade LED's). But in all, I really like the effect the LED's give. There is an eerie glow that emanates off the house siding that cannot be reproduced by incandescent bulbs.

2008 Technical Details
- over 16,500 lights (98% LED)
- Less power consumption than last year (due to the LED's) - 13 AMPS!!! (vs. 53 amps last year)
- 160 channels (computer controlled outlets - LOR/D-Light/DIO)
- Ramsey FM30B FM Transmitter
- A good month of just stringing lights (evenings, full weekends and a few full weekdays)
- 2000'+ of SPT1 cord
- One mile of extension cords
- Started the planning and initial construction in March 2008. Full on construction work (almost every evening) since July 2008.

2007 Details

As always, the 2007 display was a lot of work, and the work does not end after the last bulb is in place. We must constantly check for and repair bad bulbs, wind damage and other acts of Murphys Laws. Between the care and feeding, we must make sure that the show is running properly during the advertised times. When not braving the cold, we are inside sequencing more songs to add to the display. It takes between 8-30 hours to properly sequence each song, depending on the number of channels (the number of electrical outlets you wish to control) and the complexity of the song. When not working directly on the display, the 'down-time' is spent listening to other Christmas songs to get ideas for additional songs to add to the display, and looking at others displays to gather ideas. The last remaining bit of time is spent helping neighbors with their displays. In between all the tasks, the family must also be fit in somewhere.

2007 Technical Details
- 17,000 lights
- 53 Amps draw
- 64 Channels (computer controlled electrical outlets)
- Ramsey FM30B FM transmitter
- 7 full days of just stringing lights
- 70+ extension cords (over 3000' of cords!)
- 50amp SSR (to control the projector)
- 6+ songs sequenced (more coming every few days)
- Started designing and construction items for the display in September
- Controllers are a mixture of Light-o-Rama and D-Light
- Controlling software is the Light-O-Rama Software Suite
- Countless hours of construction and song sequencing