01/03/2022
There have been lots of questions around the setup for Hawksbury Lights. Below is the simple overview. It takes many hours of programming and hardware setup to make things work from the host.
Neighbors simply plug strings of lights into the Receiver box in their yard and plug the box into an outlet. This receiver box has an Xbee radio to receive the wireless data. The data from the Xbee module goes to a chip that is programmed with Renard firmware to a specific address that I set for each home. When this chip gets signal to fire 1 of the 8 channels of the box, like a relay, it powers that one channel with 110v.
These boxes and circuit boards are assembled, soldered and tested by me as part of the hobby. Troubleshooting why something is not working is primarily supported by the host so patience and determination is a must.
For the host, there is a show PC. The PC has the light programming software installed (Vixen Lights). To get the data from PC to the transmitter that shoots down the street, I have a directional antenna mounted to the light pole aimed straight down Hawksbury Rd. Since my house is at the corner, I have a second directional antenna aimed down 81st street to pick up those homes. The directional antenna is fed from an Xbee radio mounted to a Xbee explorer card. This card has a usb connection that allows me to connect up a USB extension cable to run to my garage where the PC is located.
The Vixen software let’s the user import music and then add effects to the display elements to make the light show.
I have added smart LED strings around my house. These lights are directed by Vixen but instead of the receiver boxes taking wireless signal, the RGB strings are connected to specific RGB controllers (Sandevices e6804) via network cable. These RGB strings also have power considerations to include as the voltage drops the further from the controller the LEDs are so power injection is applied in several places in addition to the controllers.
Sound is simply done from PC headphone jack to a fm transmitter (Amazon has several options). I placed an exterior antenna at the street to try to get good sound by the pool. This has been a little tricky as most years, we would get static near the pool. This year, the signal seemed to be cleaner all the way to the pool.
I’m looking to have some circuit boards printed so I can make up more boxes. Fully assembled and tested 8 channel box would cost between $200-$250. If anyone has interest in getting into lighting up your yard and/or neighbors, reach out to me and we can work out a plan.
