Our family loves the holiday season, lights, and technology. We thought this would be a perfect project for our family to work on together. We realized this would also be a perfect opportunity to share the magic of the season with each other, our community, and for those in need.

13,391 pixels and counting in our 2023 show! Our 2023 show is over twice the size of our original 2021 show. See the breakdown below for the number of pixels used for each show element. All pixels are 12v Red/Green/Blue (RGB) unless otherwise indicated: 2023 Show Breakdown - Total Pixel Count: 13,391 Megatree = 3,520 pixels (32 strips with 110 pixels each) Megatree Star = 370 pixels Matrix Display = 3,000 pixels Angel Wings 500 pixels per wing = 1,000 pixels Mega-Twinkly Lights (3D printed) x 7 = 7 pixels - each bulb uses a "puck style" light which contains 12 LED chips but is treated as one pixel) House Trim = 697 pixels Strobe Lights (Megatree, Star, and Trim) = 567 (5v white color, chip on board) Yard Border = 330 pixels Singing Trees - 252 pixels each x 4 = 1,008 pixels Geo Wreath (center window prop) = 600 pixels Mega Spinners (circles under windows) 240 pixels each x 2 = 480 pixels Leaping Arches - 75 pixels each x 7 = 525 pixels (strip lighting) Pixel Garden Stakes (3D printed) - 200 stakes x 5 pixels each = 1,000 pixels Window Frames x 3 = 338 pixels Flood Lights x 9 = 9 pixels (combination of 20w and 10w floodlights) 2023 Show Breakdown - Total Pixel Count: 6,020 Megatree and Star = 1,725 pixels Matrix Display = 1,235 pixels Singing Trees x 4 = 1008 pixels Geo Wreath (center prop) = 600 pixels Mega Spinners (circles under windows) x 2 = 480 pixels Leaping Arches x 5 = 375 pixels Ground Stakes x 50 = 250 pixels Windows x 3 = 338 pixels Flood Lights x 9 = (3D pri2nted) x 7 = 7 pixels - each bulb uses a "puck style" light which contains 1 LED chips but is treated as one pixel)

The entire show only uses a few hundred watts of power - the same as a few traditional 100w incandescent light bulbs. We use LED lights which are very efficient and operate on 12 volts (we also added some 5v strobe lights for 2022). They use very little power compared to incandescent/traditional twinkle and C9 lights. Our lights run at only 20%-30% total brightness which makes them even more efficient (and provides better clarity and color definition). We use approximately 13 power supplies (12v and 5v) which are not much different than what you would use for landscape lighting and computers.

We use a very low-power Signstek brand FM transmitter (0.5 watts) to broadcast over the air. We selected the station frequency (91.9FM) because it was free from interference from other radio stations.

The basic premise is as follows: We use special lights called "pixels". Pixels are bulbs that have 3 small lights inside them - a red light, a green light, and a blue light - these are also known as "RGB lights". You can think of these as larger versions of what you use in a tv screen or computer monitor. By controlling the brightness of these three lights we can make millions of colors. Pixels are controlled by...well.... controllers! The pixels attach to controllers, and the controllers tell the pixels (and their RGB lights) to be on or off and at a certain brightness. There are many different kinds of lighting controllers you can buy and each controller has its strengths and weaknesses. See the question about "What equipment are you using?" for details. But we need something to manage and coordinate the controllers, and for that, we use a system of computers. We use a number of small computers called Raspberry Pis which can fit in the palm of your hand. We have one "master" computer (a Raspberry Pi 3B+ which is about the size of a deck of playing cards) which coordinates a group of "remote" computers (these are smaller Raspberry Pi Zero WH which are about the size of a pack of gum). The master and remote computers run an operating system called Falcon Pi Player (FPP) which manages playlists, communications, and much more. Finally, we need software called a "sequencer" to tell the computers and controllers, and lights exactly what they should be doing and at what time. The sequencer is where the music and colors come together to create patterns and effects. We use a free, open-source piece of software called xLights. If you have ever worked with video or audio or other media editing software - or even something like GarageBand - you will understand the similarities. When you complete a sequence for a song in xLights, you upload the sequence file and the music to the master computer. The master computer then talks to the remote computers to tell them when to start a sequence, and it passes along the data in the sequence file to tell the controllers when and how to change each light.

Most lighting projects start with research. We started our journey on January 2, 2021 which gave us just enough time to research the topic, understand the equipment and technologies, order materials, and test test test (and break stuff!) There are many ways to approach a lighting project - so give yourself plenty of time to think about your goals, your house layout, and which technologies you wish to use. Excellent places to start are: Official xLights Support Group on Facebook. This group covers much more than just xLights software and contains a great deal of questions/answers/support information Learn Christmas Lighting Canispater Christmas Youtube Channel Do It Yourself Christmas forum Beginners Guide Wiki - some of the information here is out of date, but it provides a good high level technical overview of how a light show works Feel free to drop us a line if you get stuck!

Here is a list of most of the components of our 2023 setup: Lights 12,299 ws2811 12mm RGB bullet pixels ws2811 strip lights 30/10 (arches) x 7 567 ws2811 12mm strobe lights (bullet pixel form factor) ws2811 45mm pixel puck lights (12 LEDs/5050) x 7 for Mega Twinkle Lights Floodlights 20W x 4 Floodlights 10W x 5 Controllers: Falcon F16V3 (16 port controller) x 2 Falcon Expansion board (16 ports) x 2 Falcon Differential Expansion board for receivers x 1 Falcon Differential Receiver board (4 ports) x 1 QuinLED Dig-Quad x 3 with ESP32 boards running WLED for house trim RGB, house trim strobes, and Megatree/Star strobes ExperienceLights Raspberry Pi "In & Out" Hat for Angel Wing button integration to select wing color Falcon PiCap x 1 (center window wreath) ESPArtStick Pi Hat x 2 (spinners, house windows, roof floods) Computers: Raspberry Pi 3B+ main show computer x 1 Raspberry Pi Zero WH x 5 - remote computers for props on house, wings, and relay controller to activate outside speakers Raspberry Pi 4 2G - communications gateway for remote management Raspberry Pi 4 2G - backup main computer Software: Falcon Pi Player (FPP) - handles scheduling and synchronization xLights - sequencing software Audacity - sound editor FM Transmitter: Signstek ST-05B FM transmitter Network: Ubiquiti Nanostation Loco M2 wireless network/access point Netgear 4 port switch Netgear 8 port switch ZeroTier VPN service - primary remote access Real VNC - backup remote access Power Supplies: Meanwell 12v 350W x 4 Meanwell 5v 300W x 2 HP Server PSU 12v 900W with breakout board x 4 HP Server PSU 12v 750W with breakout board x 2 HP Server PSU 12v 450W with breakout board x 1 Enclosures: Primary main enclosure box is an equipment travel case donated by Automation & Control Inc. out of Moorestown NJ. Secondary main enclosure is a Box 32026 (XL) Double Decker with custom mounting plate for controller hardware (JDeation) Differential receiver enclosure is a BudBox 32026 (XL) Double Decker with Bud NBX-32926-PL mounting plate CableGuard CG-1500 with WiredWatts mounting plates CableGuard CG-2000 with WiredWatts mounting plates Plano 1312 Box x 4 SockitBox (weatherproof box) x 2 3D Printed: Prusa Mk3+ 3D printer using OctoPrint running on Raspberry Pi 4 2GB Mega Twinkle Bulbs printed using California Filament Cloudy White PETG for the bulb and Paramount Military Green PETG for base. Print time approximately 17 hours each. Brackets and braces for stars and spinners - California Filament (various colors) PETG Brackets for PVC pixel pipe (1/2" PVC drilled with 12mm holes for pixels) on house trim - California Filament Cloudy White PETG Clips for strobe lights attached to PVC pixel pipe - California Filament Cloudy White PETG Miscellaneous: Pixel Pipe for house trim - 1/2" PVC drilled with 12mm holes for pixels 5v Wifi controlled relay to reboot computers remotely if needed 9 Sonoff/eWeLink smart wifi switches to control/reboot/reset computers and power supplies 2 Foscam PTZ cameras to monitor show and traffic Multiple 5v ws2811 pixie/fairy lights for inside house Multiple ESPArtSticks, ESPixelSticks, and Quin-LED Dig-Unos to control ws2811 pixie/fairy lights inside house HDPE tubing for arches PixNode strips for Megatree Boscoyo ChromaMesh for matrix Trampoline base for Megatree Forstner bit to drill holes for strobe pixels 12v to 5v buck converter for radio button/speakers Basic relay for radio button/speakers Gallons of dielectric grease for waterproofing

We are located at 5 Olmsted Lane, Cinnaminson, NJ 08077. We are near Routes 130 and 73, off of Forklanding Road.

Our Halloween show runs daily and starts at 6:30 PM. We have over 1.5 hours of music that runs non-stop until 10:30 PM Sunday-Thursday and 11 PM Friday-Saturday. You can visit at any time during these hours.

Our show is FREE and no tickets are required! Our show runs non-stop starting at 5PM daily. We are on a public residential street and you can drive by at any time during show hours. No tickets or reservations are required.

Our show is FREE and no tickets are required! Our show runs non-stop starting at 5PM daily. We are on a public residential street and you can drive by at any time during show hours. No tickets or reservations are required.

Visit our charity page at www.LightsOnOlmstedLane.com/charity to help the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the Food Bank of South Jersey! You can donate online or you can donate in person at the display. We also accept Venmo @LightsOnOlmstedLane