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Weekend Warrior Anyone who's toured the Valley during the Christmas season knows what wonderful sights there are to be seen. Wreaths are hung and Main Streets strung with displays. But then there are the homes. ... From simple candles in the windows to all-out trim and tall spruces on the front lawn, the art of Christmas lighting shines through the darkest nights of the year to turn the landscape into ... well ... a genuine winter wonderland. In this month's Weekend Home Warrior, we won't tell you how to string those lights. {Just be careful with the ladders and live outlets, ok? You have loved ones who'd like you home for the holidays.} Instead, we thought we go in search of some examples of what you can be done. Then, if you get at least mildly obsessed, we turn you on to some sites on our links page that'll give you some ideas of what's out there. {Look global. Shop local.} Ready? {Click on any of the associated images to go to the websites where these displays can be seen.} Jeff Barnett's Extreme Xmas Lights -- Franklin, Tennessee
Jeff Barnett's e-mail address is webmaster@lightguru.com. His site, Extreme Lighting, not only has pictures of his displays from 1998 & 1999, but the rig in the making for 2000, as well as tech specs, maps, and plans. In 1999, this "Light Guru" strung, hung and mounted 18,485 lights, with 21,742 planned for this year's display. The web site is called . The Light Guru uses X10 technology -- a communications technology that will run across standard 110V house wiring or wireless -- along with his home-built PC and controller boxes. As he notes, the PC is nothing heavy-duty, simply a 400 MHz, AMD K6-2 with 96 meg of RAM. And the RJ-45 cable connection controllers sync through the software, something called DasherS. Mind you, this isn't a static or random light display. It's a full-blown show that runs for almost 12 minutes on a continuous loop. The Light Guru runs the display from 5:15 to 9:00 each night, and 'til midnight on Xmas Eve. Doug Lawrence's Sylvan Lights Display -- Sylvan Lake, Alberta
The Sylvan Lights display in Sylvan Lake, Alberta, is a little more modest that the Extreme Lighting display, sporting a mere 12,350 in 1998. However, the builder was 19 years old, a young fellow by the name of Doug Lawrence. Doug boasts: "Home-made Christmas figures and displays! Nothing store-bought here!" He has an animated Santa and reindeer, "Giant" animated snowflakes {some 7 feet tall}, and, he adds, the "Garage door is fully operational! Even when the lights are on!" Finally, the tree in the front yard dims and brightens in sync with the holiday tunes he pipes. Doug set up his display through a small "pony" sub-panel off the main breaker, with 6 dedicated 20-amp breakers each feeding individual outside receptacles. In fact, the feeds go into a home-made 'power bar' of his own construction, so that he's able to turn on the entire display by throwing a single switch. Somewhere Down Under
This display comes from somewhere in Australia. The site, which, unfortunately is a GeoCities sub-web, is slow-loading, mostly, however, because the graphics aren't compressed. But the display is worth a look. The site is maintained by a woman by the name of Lyn McArthur. Here, too, as with the Extreme Lighting display, she uses X10 technology and a PC to power and sync the display, with 2 24-line I/O cards for a total of 48 lines . Of course, being Down Under, you need to watch out for diff's in voltage. This display runs off of a 240-volt main, with step-down transformers to 24-36 volts. Lyn made her own control boxes, and uses "About 70 double adapter plugs and about the same again of the four way power boards." The beauty of her system is that, with the step-down's and her controller boxes, she's managed an extensive display that still goes light on the juice draw. Are you planning a display this holiday season? If so, we'd like to know. ... DownStreet would like to photograph your display and talk with you briefly about it, preferably in time for our next issue which is set to go to this on-line 'press' on December 15th. If you're willing to talk with us and have us photograph your display and maybe some of your wiring layout, please call 453-5124, or e-mail us at: We'll do our very best to accomodate you and your schedule. Thanks.
******* ******* If you would like to submit something for our House & Home section, don't hesitate to let us know. Simply e-mail us at house@downstreetmagazine.com. The e-mail should contain your name, address, and a phone number where we can reach you. You may also send a copy of your proposed article. The text can either be included in the body of the e-mail, or you can send it as an attachment in just about any word processing format. If your piece is accepted, we will pay a small honorarium for your interest & your time. [See Freelancers Wanted for more details.] ******* ******* If you would like to advertise in this section, or throughout the magazine, please visit our Advertising Info Pages ... or call, write, or e-mail ads@downstreetmagazine.com. ******* *******
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