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 The 1997 lights display was a small step up from my first large one in 96. Many of the lights I used the previous year saw a return, some with a slight makeover like the guttering lights which I painted in red, green and white. There were also a few more home made ones- upstairs saw LED lights in the two bedroom windows and a new set for the front door too, with a controller to flash red and green LEDs back and forth. Also this saw the first use of lights in the front bushes.
Unfortunately all the photos I took of the year`s display were lost, I have no idea exactly what happened to them, I never ever had them back but suffice to say, they`re not here now. It would seem then, that records of that display have been lost, save for a dim recollection in the back of my mind.....well not exactly. In these earlier days of decorating, I used to plan my displays using what was at the time, my only computer- a 1988 vintage Commodore Amiga-500, and a program called Deluxe Paint-III. I produced "simulation-like" pictures, mainly to see what different colours or locations of lights may look like. I did one of these for 1997 which, according to my memory, is almost exactly the same as how the finished display was laid out. So, with the aid of the same video capture system that I used to use alongside my video camera to take the photos you see on my other web sites (as I don`t have any PC-Amiga emulation software) here it is...  Apologies for the slight distortion, due to the Amiga`s much lower graphics resolution and also JPEG compression at this end. Should`ve used GIF, but never mind, it`s too late now. The only real ommisions that I can remember were 10 white lights along the guttering above the front door, and two small tree shapes I made using hardboard and coloured LEDS, hung in the middle of the two downstairs windows. Everything else is much as I remember.  As a result of the loss of the photos, and the fact that it was nearly 5 years ago that I did this display, the following may be incorrect or uncertain in places, but still should serve to give a reasonable idea of what was used.... - Top guttering- Noma 20 outdoor mains series set (red, white, green- hand painted). Unknown 20 mains series set with slightly larger bulbs that are identical to American C7 types (red, white, green- hand painted). - Upstairs window, left- home made 24 LED set (red). - ...middle- 20 mains mini set (green, pink, blue- hand painted). 19-light flashing "Star" display (red, amber, yellow, green LEDs) which was a kit bought from Maplin Electronics. - ...right- home made 24 LED set (green). - Above front door- Home made 40-light low voltage tree shape (green, red), along guttering- home made 10 flashing low voltage set (clear) - Front door- Around the outside, 40 Noma Carousel trinkling low voltage mini set (clear). In ring on door- home made 10 low voltage set (red and green LEDs). Around pillar- 40 low voltage miniature set (clear). - Downstairs window, left- Noma "Christmas Star" 40 mains twinkling set (clear). Small home made 36 light Tree shape (red, green LEDs). - ...right- Noma "Canterbury Belles" 40 mains set with bell-shape shades round each bulb (multicolour). Small homemade 36 light Tree shape (red, green LEDs). - in front bushes to the right- 2x 80 low voltage twinkling set (clear) ## TOTAL LIGHTS- approximately 579 ## |
