MyClovisChristmas.com
Photos
Mega Tree Construction
Our Mega Tree was made using two 10ft lengths of 1 1/4" rigid electrical conduits screwed together with a coupler. Approximately 4 feet was set into metal sleeve made from a 1 7/8" galvanized chain link fence post set in concrete. I did that portion of the project in September. Notice the post fence post cap protects the sleeve and allows the grass to grow in nicely. Its a very nice fit for the main mast.
The main mast uses a sliding collar and pulley. This allows the mega tree lights to be hoisted rather than hung. Don't want to fall of any ladders. The collar was made using 1 ft cut off the fence post (1 7/8" dia). I then welded a 1 1/2" floor flange on to the fence post. Then I drilled 12 holes on the flange so I can wire tie the mega tree light strings to the collar. Notice the 3/16 steel cable and pulley I attached to the mast for hoisting. (Sweet setup. Made things easy.) If you look closely I also welded 3 tie downs from old links of chain to the sliding collar for guy wires to keep my Mega Tree from blowing away.
Control boxes were attached to pole using heavy U bolts.
Oh if you notice there are very few power cables on our display. Its a well know fact that Santa does'nt like extension cords (neither do gardners). The reindeer get all tangled up in them. To solve this unsightly problem our mega tree only required two extension cords. All other cabling was done using multi conductor cable which allowed up to 10 channels per run. For example all eave light was done using one cable. All 8 bushes, 4 rope lights, Mini trees, and snowman used 4 neat cable runs. Oh and each cable run has several unused conductors for future expansion. ;-)
Mega Tree Construction and planing was fun.
Mega Tree Specs. 16ft from ground to top of mast.
Bottom Skirt if 8 ft in diameter.
(Made from 1/2" grey electrical PVC)
Tree Trunk Rings were 2 ft diameter
1/2 Grey PVC. Bent using open flame heat.
Used 5/8" x 3ft rebar to hold it all to the ground.
What does this all cost? I must say, I really don't want to know.
Oh and can you find the hidden "Stealth Elf" in the photos below?
Our Mega Tree was made using two 10ft lengths of 1 1/4" rigid electrical conduits screwed together with a coupler. Approximately 4 feet was set into metal sleeve made from a 1 7/8" galvanized chain link fence post set in concrete. I did that portion of the project in September. Notice the post fence post cap protects the sleeve and allows the grass to grow in nicely. Its a very nice fit for the main mast.
The main mast uses a sliding collar and pulley. This allows the mega tree lights to be hoisted rather than hung. Don't want to fall of any ladders. The collar was made using 1 ft cut off the fence post (1 7/8" dia). I then welded a 1 1/2" floor flange on to the fence post. Then I drilled 12 holes on the flange so I can wire tie the mega tree light strings to the collar. Notice the 3/16 steel cable and pulley I attached to the mast for hoisting. (Sweet setup. Made things easy.) If you look closely I also welded 3 tie downs from old links of chain to the sliding collar for guy wires to keep my Mega Tree from blowing away.
Control boxes were attached to pole using heavy U bolts.
Oh if you notice there are very few power cables on our display. Its a well know fact that Santa does'nt like extension cords (neither do gardners). The reindeer get all tangled up in them. To solve this unsightly problem our mega tree only required two extension cords. All other cabling was done using multi conductor cable which allowed up to 10 channels per run. For example all eave light was done using one cable. All 8 bushes, 4 rope lights, Mini trees, and snowman used 4 neat cable runs. Oh and each cable run has several unused conductors for future expansion. ;-)
Mega Tree Construction and planing was fun.
Mega Tree Specs. 16ft from ground to top of mast.
Bottom Skirt if 8 ft in diameter.
(Made from 1/2" grey electrical PVC)
Tree Trunk Rings were 2 ft diameter
1/2 Grey PVC. Bent using open flame heat.
Used 5/8" x 3ft rebar to hold it all to the ground.
What does this all cost? I must say, I really don't want to know.
Oh and can you find the hidden "Stealth Elf" in the photos below?
How do we Control the Lights?
Our light display uses 3 16ch digital addressable SCR light controllers. There are may places you can get these devices but I chose a company called Light-O-Rama.
The reason I selected this brand Is I liked the
"multi step ramping", power capacity, Expansion and support policy. Not to mention they sell a line of Do It Yourself products where you can solder and assemble the units yourself and save a little money if you have skills.
I run the whole show on an OLD notebook with a blazing 900mhz P-III processor. Its old but does the job ok.
I port the audio to an FM radio transmitter which I also assembled from kit form. Its a RAMSEY FM100B.
All music was coreagraphed manually note for note using Light-O-Rama's propriatory software. It can take 4-8 hours for a 3 minute song if you go into detail.
These are just a few basic FAQ's If you have any specifics please email me and I will try to help you. Email: EJS3@comcast.net
Our light display uses 3 16ch digital addressable SCR light controllers. There are may places you can get these devices but I chose a company called Light-O-Rama.
The reason I selected this brand Is I liked the
"multi step ramping", power capacity, Expansion and support policy. Not to mention they sell a line of Do It Yourself products where you can solder and assemble the units yourself and save a little money if you have skills.
I run the whole show on an OLD notebook with a blazing 900mhz P-III processor. Its old but does the job ok.
I port the audio to an FM radio transmitter which I also assembled from kit form. Its a RAMSEY FM100B.
These are just a few basic FAQ's If you have any specifics please email me and I will try to help you. Email: EJS3@comcast.net
