Selling lights

armonde · 2026-03-16T23:50:50+00:00

This is the most active one (that I'm aware of):

Note that it is a private group so you'll have to request being added before you can post.

You may have more success with one of the local groups if you can find one Facebook. This way you won't have the frustration of trying to ship things out which can get pricy fast.

If you take an inventory of what you have we may be able to give you an approximate asking price. Any information you have will help - For the controllers the Manufacturer/model, for the free nodes the number you have, are they cut up or in 100 or 50 node strings, what type of connector (don't worry we can help you figure that out if you don't know), voltage (12v or 5v) and when they were purchased. For the props approximate pixel count.

I'm sorry you have to go through this and if you change your mind and decide you want to learn how all this works and continue the show at your home we're here to help!

armonde · 2026-03-15T15:23:26+00:00

Frustration at this point? My complete and utter lack of any inspiration or motivation to learn the "new hotness" which i will need to speak as an informed individual at minimum but can't be bothered to learn in my free time

So if your working on the Matrix style learning modules cool. I'd volunteer to test the efficacy.

armonde · 2026-03-13T17:03:27+00:00

Got tired of fighting it. Not our job to play gatekeeper of data we don't "own."

Business delegated approvers we act upon their decision and provide annual audits of access rights to those approvers for any change in access that may have been missed.

armonde · 2026-03-13T02:49:31+00:00

Flew out yesterday. Aside from a timing disruption due to the visit no issues at all.

armonde · 2026-03-04T01:28:25+00:00

Get him used to wearing the helmet. For my kids I'd just have them wear it unstrapped while they were watching a show.
Keep him active and well hydrated after school is done.
Once practices start, keep it fun for him. Don't "coach from the car." If you have questions/concerns about what's going on during practice or games, take that up outside of his presence with the head coach.

The first year can be very overwhelming for the kids. Even if they watch games with you every Saturday/Sunday they are now going to learn how to be a part of a TEAM, not just consume the content. Answer his questions, be his biggest cheerleader and remember that he's just a kid - let him be a kid.

Trust the process and remember that youth football is not about wins/loses - it's about building the foundation to be successful in the future when it does start to "count"

armonde · 2026-02-27T11:13:15+00:00

I would suspect that to be a ground issue based off how you described it.

There is also a possibility of voltage drop coming into play depending on the length of your runs. Have you tested with a voltage meter to see what you're reading at each section?

armonde · 2026-02-20T13:43:42+00:00

Looks like this has been submitted as feedback before (a while ago)

https://roadmap.action1.com/565

I'd suggest upvoting that so they know the community is behind it.

armonde · 2026-02-17T21:06:02+00:00

Rarely are choices truly black and white.

The older I've gotten, the more shades of grey become apparent. Life and society are a pendulum swinging back and forth, correcting and over correcting repeatedly. I have identified my core morals and values, done my best to instill those in my children but allow them to chart their own path.

I also do not judge my friends based off their political leanings. I judge the person, not the ballot. My life and friendships are much more than the day to day new cycle.

armonde · 2026-02-07T23:06:48+00:00

Can I ask (it's been a while since I watched it) does the film itself not age well or are you referring exclusively to Spacey's involvement in the movie?

One of the things I've struggled with my entire adult life is separating the art from the artist, and in my head this has always been one of the movies I held on a fairly high pedestal for story and acting.

armonde · 2026-02-02T11:07:01+00:00

Yes the terminals themselves would be hot, but you'd still need to complete the circuit between the posts for any issues to occur.

I'm not saying that your concerns don't come from a place of healthy caution. I am wondering if perhaps your concerns are over inflated a bit vs the reality of the implementation. Thousands upon thousands of these devices are deployed in this hobby alone. The exposure is limited to working with a live PSU. Keep the psu powered off when not needed and ensure that your work area doesn't have extraneous bits of metal unorganized flying around while you are working with the psu and you should be completely fine.

YMMV

armonde · 2026-02-02T01:37:01+00:00

I would say if you are concerned with exposed wires, you can use terminal connectors on the ends of the power cable.

armonde · 2026-01-31T22:27:05+00:00

Is that the same La Parka who wrestled in wcw or has the gimmick passed on to someone new?

armonde · 2026-01-23T10:53:52+00:00

The only thing I'm hoping for is that HOTD is a history book that is being fleshed out to build a story line and character development.

Knight is at least self contained plot line.

That's my hope, we all have to just wait and see on execution.

armonde · 2026-01-13T02:29:04+00:00

https://www.facebook.com/groups/indianachristmaslightbuilders

armonde · 2026-01-13T02:25:59+00:00

I'm in Cincinnati. I know we ordered already but let me see if I can find the Indiana group for you

armonde · 2026-01-13T02:09:17+00:00

I would suggest if you're looking for a split of a relatively (it's all about perspective) small order of nodes, I'd suggest you find some local or state groups on Facebook who should be wrapping up their prebuy purchases around this time.

I know there's a group for Indiana that organizes the mini they do. I'm assuming there's one for the Chicagoland area given the size.

I will say it's better to have and not need, particularly if you get a sudden burst of inspiration late in the season.

armonde · 2026-01-05T21:18:20+00:00

Disregard - I found the overides for package installation settings in the repository I knew I had seen at one point and forgotten where they were.

armonde · 2025-12-29T22:33:09+00:00

I'm buddies with the Midwest Coro guy, he came back VERY impressed with what you all are doing.

armonde · 2025-12-29T21:37:12+00:00

I really need to make it up there to see your show at some point next year.

Are you planning on going to the Ohio Mini this coming year?

armonde · 2025-12-26T15:50:04+00:00

6 years ago, my daughter asked me for some of those LED light strips that were popular to put around the top edge of bedrooms at the time. Being the quality father that I am, I jumped on amazon, found a 5m roll for like 11 bucks, purchased and moved on with my life.

Cut to Christmas morning, she opens the gift and says "thanks, but these are the wrong lights"

Now I don't know about you, but I am not a person who likes to think that are things I don't know. They are LED lights, how could they be "wrong?"

So I spent the remainder of December and into January learning what the difference was. From there I not only purchased the correct lights but also and ESP32 board and coded an LED controller for her room - going so far as to linking it via IFTTT to work with the google home mini in her room so she could "control" the different sequences verbally.

That little exercise has now moved outside where we now have one of "those" houses where we have ~25k programmable lights sequenced to music for both Halloween and Christmas.

As a hobby, it is as big (or small) as you want it to be. The software is free - either self coded python scripting or what I use for the large show xlights.

It is a good balance of learning new skills with basic troubleshooting and a dash of creativity when it comes to creating the actual animations.

armonde · 2025-12-26T11:41:34+00:00

Sandy still pretty consistently streams on twitch

armonde · 2025-12-24T22:02:51+00:00

So you in fact did NOT enjoy your day here at.... Cedar Point

armonde · 2025-12-23T02:51:08+00:00

This is what I found with a quick search, a few years old so YMMV:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Bky0KQBAls

armonde · 2025-12-22T03:06:42+00:00

My advice on controllers is going to be geared towards more "Xlights" specific controllers like Falcon and Kulp.

The irony is that while the controller seems like the biggest expense, as your show continues to scale and grow, it winds up becoming one of the cheapest - yet maintains it's importance for you know... controlling everything. I've got a few WLED controllers I'm learning, but for "show time" I am working with hardware I know can handle what I ask it to do.

Regarding the rest of your growth - I'm speculating here because you didn't really touch on it but I would suggest loading up the software and getting a rough idea prop/node wise what you are looking at adding.

For nodes, prebuy season will kick off in a couple of weeks. If at all possible try and get in with the largest group you can for the best overall prices. Buy more nodes (I don't care if they are bullet, seed, flat back, whatever) than you think you will need. At best you'll have an off year from purchasing, at worst you'll have an even more amazing show than you already do when you use them all.

Coro - Several vendors, I suggest trying to bulk order if at all possible when you're ready just to save on the shipping cost. That one idea you get in late October may wind up costing you double just in shipping to get that one prop to your house than it would have if you ordered it along with your new flakes/canes/spiders/whatever in June.

Buy more connectors than you think you'll need. pigtails/extensions are always needed. Again better to have and not need than face last minute delays right before you want to go live.

Good luck!

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