(NOTE:  This is a description of the original panel we built.  It has been replaced with a new panel utilizing LOR products.  I will leave this information here, as it does provide detailed info to anyone who might also like to build one from scratch.  I will update this page as time permits to include the new LOR panel)

The Components

The Software          

 

 

 

 

We run LOR 1.5.0, but will be upgrading to 1.6.0 for the 2007 season.  If a DIO card is to be used, you will also require Instacal and Universal Library from Measurement Computing.

The Cabling The panel consists of a large steel enclosure, 96 Solid State Relays (SSR's), 48 split receptacles, and the wiring needed not only for the outlets, but also to provide the power.  Also included on the panel, are 12 dedicated GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter) protected outlets.  The entire display is

 

The Panel The panel consists of a large steel enclosure, 96 Solid State Relays (SSR's), 48 split receptacles, and the wiring needed not only for the outlets, but also to provide the power.  Also included on the panel, are 12 dedicated GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter) protected outlets.  The entire display is constantly monitored for any ground fault, and will immediately shut down that portion if one is detected.

We also have 12 interactive circuits built onto the panel, however, these are not necessary for the computerization, so we won't discuss them on this page.  You can find info on them here.

We also have 32 channels of LOR hardware

 

The Transmitter We use a Ramsey FM25B transmitter.   You can either buy the kit, and build it yourself, or buy the finished product.  Note:  A transmitter is not necessary as you can place speakers in your yard.  It is nice to have though, as your visitors can remain in their vehicles on stormy nights.

 

 

 

The Amp Any old stereo amplifier you have laying around will do the trick.  This is used to power the speakers out in the yard.

 

 

 

 

How It's All Put Together

Here is a basic sketch of the panel layout.  You can click on it to open it in a new window, to help follow the discussion.

BASIC PANEL LAYOUT

It all begins with the PC.  If you are only going to use a commercially available controller (ie. LOR), all that is required is to load their software.  If a DIO card is to be used, you will need to load Instacal, Universal Library, the card driver, as well as LOR.  LOR will have to be configured accordingly.  This software uses so little computing power, any old computer should do.  (Within reason, of course).

The card we used is a  National Instruments PC-DIO-96.  It is a 96 channel DIO (Digital input/output) card that fits in a spare ISA slot.  A ribbon cable connects this card to 2 breakout boxes, which connect each individual wire to its' corresponding relay.  Also connected to the relay is the ground lead back to the PC, 110VAC in from the household power, and 110VAC out to one of the 128 outlets.  The cords to the yard are plugged into the corresponding outlet.

The screen shot to the left is a typical sequence (click to enlarge).  It is simply a large graph with the channels on the left (rows), and the time sequences along the top (columns).  A function must be assigned to each cell.  Common states are: On, off, shimmer, twinkle, etc.  Some of my sequences have over 250,000 individual cells, so I do as much cutting and pasting as I can.  It generally takes me about 20 hours to program a single musical sequence. (The entire 2006 show took over 120 hours to complete)

Although it is possible, you are basically limited to on and off with an SSR type configuration, but have all features with LOR hardware.

How the signal gets to the panel:

Lets say for instance, that we want the lights to be on on channel 1, for 1/10th of a second from 0:00:00 to 0:00:10.  That corresponding cell would be highlighted.  If you look at the close up of the LOR screenshot above, you will see that circuit 69 (large tree circuit # 4) was on for most of the screen shot with the exception of 4 off cycles. 

SSR's:  When the program tells a particular channel to light, the PC will send a message to the DIO card.  The DIO card will send out +5VDC on the corresponding lead, which will be received from the SSR.  The 110VAC terminals will then short together within the SSR, and 110VAC will be provided at the outlet.  Whatever is plugged into that outlet will become energized.

LOR boards:  This  works in much the same way, except all the components are mounted on the board itself.  This signal is carried from the PC's serial connector to an SC485-RJ45 adapter.  This data signal is then translated on the board, a the 110VAC is switched right on the board.

There is A LOT more detail that I could get into here, but I think this should be a pretty good start for the newbie.  If you could follow most of this discussion, you shouldn't have any problem setting up your own display.  Of course, please feel free to email me with any questions, concerns, or if you find something here that I totally missed.

Have fun.

Dan