[anubis1369]

I am interested in setting up a light show to really boost up the scare factor in this year's yard haunt. I have 2 Gemmy light shows but they simply do not do want I am looking for. I have looked into Light o Rama, etc, but don't have the budget to accomodate the purchase. Any suggestions, tips, tutorials on building something that synchronizes my music with lights? Thanks in advance!

 

[wwebber]

lightorama is the way to go. if your handy with a sodering iron thay have a kit for around $100.00.
thay have step by step directions that makes it easy.

 

[VinceB]

I am interested in setting up a light show to really boost up the scare factor in this year's yard haunt. I have 2 Gemmy light shows but they simply do not do want I am looking for. I have looked into Light o Rama, etc, but don't have the budget to accomodate the purchase. Any suggestions, tips, tutorials on building something that synchronizes my music with lights? Thanks in advance!

Cheapest way is a Kit 74 with Vixen. Total cost will be less than $50 (not including lights and wiring). That will give you 8 programable channels. Down side is you need a computer with a parallel port to run the show. But an old laptop with a parallel port is pretty easy to find for free or near free. check out Vixenlights.com for some more info.

 

[Jack Stevens]

Light-O-Rama (lightorama.com) will be having an inventory clearance sale some time soon; the date varies from year to year, but you can sign up over there for an email notification about when it will be - typically late February or early March. The cost savings are significant, but it is an inventory clearance sale. They had about 500 CTB16PC 16 channel controllers in last year's sale, sold out in 4 minutes.

If you're handy with a soldering iron, you can build your own controller from a kit. There are several available from a number of hobbyist forums - not commercial; they look for the best prices during group buys. The Lynx Express (16 channels, 8 amps per channel with a limit of 15 amps per 8-channel bank) just completed a group buy; about $60 or so. http://diylightanimation.com/index.php?board=13.0

Do-it-yourself-Christmas (DIYC) http://doityourselfchristmas.com/forums/showthread.php?14698-Renard-SS-Interest-Only#post148554 is about to get a group buy on the RenSS series of controllers - 8, 16, or 24 channels, about $2.75-$.00 per channel.

If you go look at eBay for controllers, be warned. Quite often the used controllers there go for more than new prices.

 

[ctmal]

DoityourselfChristmas.com has multiple solutions if you're into diy.