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 It has become a bit of a tradition over the past few years for each display to be bigger than the last. 2003 was no exception, breaking the 10000 light barrier, and requiring a new power control and distribution board to handle the extra load. It went back to the cold blue, white and green colours that were so popular in 2001, as I wasn`t overly keen on how last year`s purple, blue and red turned out. With new garland swag-style lights adorning the roofline and the return of some neon-ropelight too, the overall look in `03 was quite different. The microprocessor-run light trees returned, and were joined by four more light-trees of the spiral ropelight kind.  Following the popularity of the LED lights used the previous year, I made sure there were plenty of LEDs this year too. I had a lot of problems with the blue and white ForeverBright LED light sets, but the manufacturer made good on their 5-year warranty and replaced my sets with new versions that performed flawlessly around the windows and up the walls. They weren`t the only ones either. Brand new for the 2003 season were LED-C7 bulbs, a product of USA-based Carpenter Decorating, and the only ones in the UK too. Bright and bold blue and white LED-C7s completed the roofline, while magical RGB colour-changing versions surrounded the front door and cycled through a selection of different colours.  More lights meant more power. The 110 volt four-circuit sequentially switched system that had powered previous displays had been outgrown, so a new solution was required. To the left is the schematic diagram of the new system, and further details of it are avaliable in the Behind-the-Scenes gallery below. I decided to permanently build it into one of the cupboards in "central command" since every year that cupboard was taken over by the control gear anyway, and the rest of the time it was used to store that same equipment. Having a system already connected and ready to go at the turn of a switch would be a lot more convenient, and didn`t lose me much storage space either. The system expanded on the sequential switching idea using 6 circuits instead of 4, still controlled by an automatic timer that would allow the whole display to run largely untouched for the entire season. Three pairs of channels fed by the three 110 volt transformers, and 2-pin outlets fixed to the wall below to supply the lights, plus provision was still there for 110 or 240 volt power to be switched outside in the metal cabinets, and low voltage supplies switched indoors. As always, I produced a computer-simulation picture to guide me in the right direction. This one was based on the same 2001 photo that I used for last year`s simulation, but edited accordingly to reflect the new styles of lights around the roofline, and the spiral-trees that would occupy the empty space where the big bushes in the front used to be. The finished result is pretty close to what I actually achieved, as you can see above and in the Night picture gallery. And of course, the Webcam returned along with the two CCTV cams to give a day-by-day view of things throughout the season. This year my photography improved drastically thanks to a new digital camera purchased earlier in the year. A Sony F717 helped me capture the setup, with more pictures than ever arranged in the galleries below.
 - Top Roofline - 70 blue and white LED C7 bulbs, 1500 green Garland Lights and a clear Xenon beacon at the peak of the roof. - Corners of walls and chimney - 420 blue ForeverBright LED lights. - Upstairs window, left - 70 white ForeverBright LED lights, 100 blue swag-style lights. - ...middle - round window - 70 white ForeverBright LED lights, in tree - 70 blue ForeverBright LED lights, mounted to celing - LED message sign. - ...right - 70 white ForeverBright LED lights, 100 blue swag-style lights. - Above front door - 4x 144-lamp small Ropelight Snowflakes, 2x 144 lamp large Ropelight Starflakes. Along guttering - 10 blue and white LED C7 bulbs, 4x 36-lamp blue and white snowflakes. - Front Door - 10 R/G/B Colour-Changing / 5 single-colour LED C7 bulbs, in ring- 30 green low voltage minis. In windows either side- animated LED matrix figures of 3 large trees (134 LEDs each), two bells (83 LEDs) and three Sleighs (126 LEDs each). - Small tree to the right of the front door - 120 white low voltage minis, these remain on all the time. - Downstairs window, left - 70 white ForeverBright LED lights, 100-bulb blue Snowflake Garland silhouette. - ...right - 70 white ForeverBright LED lights, 100-bulb blue Snowflake Garland silhouette. - Bush in front of downstairs-right window - 200 teal and blue minis. - Staked in the front lawn and beside the front door - 8x 35-light mini trees. - Bushes at front, left, driveway and steps up to the front door - 800 teal and blue minis, 2x 35-light mini trees. - Along the wall beside the steps up to the front door - 300 green swag-style lights. - In front of remnants of bushes to the right - 2x small green 216-lamp Ropelight Spiral Trees, 2x large green 396-lamp Ropelight Spiral Trees. - Garage - On roof, 4 light-trees in green/gold (largest 1000 minis, large 600 lights, medium 300 lights and small 200 lights each topped with green xenon strobe beacons), round front/side- 500 blue swag-style lights, 25 white and blue LED C7 bulbs. - Bush by Garage - 100 teal minis. ## Total - 10403 plus the LED matrix sign ## |
