Welcome to T2Lights.com
This site is devoted to my computerized Christmas light show that is located in Henrietta, NY (a suburb of Rochester, NY). It isl a work in progress and new content is being added.
Questions/comments: tom@t2lights.com
New - Interactive LED Sign
New for 2009 we now have an interactive LED sign that you can send messages to. There is a webcam feed allowing you to see your new message realtime. Use the menu at the left or click here to try it out. Enjoy.
The show can be heard on 91.1FM
I have had many email asking what radio station the music can be heard on. I am using a low power FM transmitter that is set for 91.1FM. You should get good reception in front of the house.
2009 - Show Is Up And Running Nightly
The 2009 light show is running nightly from Saturday November 21st through Friday January 1. The hours are from 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM. This year Santa has visited and you can see him peeking out of one of the upper windows. Plans are underway to add more lights next year and hopefully the total will be over 20,000. If you have any suggestions for new songs I am interested in hear from you. You can email me at tom@t2lights.com.
Some quick facts about the show:
- Total number of lights: 16,240
- Total current required for all lights: 40.85 Amps
- Number of Songs: 14
- Length of show: 38 minutes
- Number of controllable channels: 112
Old news
2008 had some new issues
Last year was an interesting year for the show. Around the second week in December someone stole some elements of the display. I don't understand the logic behind it (and probably never will) but I will now have to find some replacements for next year. The third week of December I noticed that some of the lights on the arch going over the end of the driveway were out. Upon further inspection it appears that rabbits were chewing through the power cord going to the arch. I fixed that problem but that night I noticed that I had some major problems with the controllers I use for the show. It appears that when the rabbits chewed through the cord that it shorted out the communications I used to control the show and most of my controllers were not working. I have to apoligize to the visitors that came on Saturday night 12/20 because there was not much to see. On Sunday morning I was able to get all of the controllers working again. Hopefully the rabbits wont chew through any more cords this year.
2008 Show is up and running
The 2008 show is now up and running nightly through New Year's Night. This year's new additions are a leaping arch over the driveway containing 1,600 lights and a 3' by 17' Merry Christmas sign on the roof of the garage made from 135' of red rope light.. 2008 marks my first year with over 10,000 lights (14,389 to be exact) being controlled by 112 individually controlled channels.
Some quick facts about the show:
- Total number of lights: 14,389
- Total current required for all lights: 39.51 Amps
- Number of Songs: 14
- Length of show: 38 minutes
- Number of controllable channels: 112
Another Season Is Over
The 2007 light show is over but I am already working on the 2008 show. I hit the stores with their after Christmas sales and picked up quite a few more lights. The 2008 show should have about 30% more lights and about 50% more channels. I may add more songs but first I will need to update the existing songs to use the new channels. If you want to see what I am working on for next year check out my projects page.
Second year and still growing
2007 was my second year of using Light-O-Rama software to control my light show and I have to say that they have excellent software and support on their website. I currently do not use their hardware but from what I have read it is very robust and reliable. For 2007 I added an additional 24 channels and this allowed me to color change my 'mini-mega' tree between clear, red, and green. I also added 2 additional songs to the playlist bringing the total to 14.
New (and hopefully) Improved Website Design
I have overhauled the entire website starting in early 2008. Previously I was using a content management system to create/update the site but I found that I did not have the type of control that I wanted in the layout and visual appearance that I was looking for. Now I do the page design using Adobe Dreamweaver. This allows me complete control over the entire design.
2006 was the first year for computer control
I had always decorated my house with lights, blowmolds, and inflatables but after I saw the Carson Williams video in late 2005 I knew that I had to add that type of display to my house. Before I went computer controlled my display did have some custom controls that were designed by myself. From what is currently possible with the computer control what I did back then is pale in comparison. But it did give my display something that nobody else had in my neighborhood.
Questions/comments: tom@t2lights.com