Hello from Canberra Aust

[aussiephil]

Hi from a cold and frosty place, well at least it is on the day I write this.

Another forum, another hobby and never enough time. If you think you recognise the forum name from other forums then you may very well be right

My travels in the audio world started about 30 years ago with the purchase of a Denon stereo amp (that I still own) and a couple of 3-ways that I keep blowing bass drivers in, the cones were white and looked good though.

Then we got into Mobile DJ work and a visit to Etone in the early 80's seen me walk out with a couple of 18" drivers and some plans for bass reflex cabinets that had to be upscaled from the 15's they were designed for! No problem in my early 20's just add 20% to all the dimensions then make them so i could pick them up. I can still remember the fun tuning the rectangular port, built a cab, mounted driver found some bass heavy music plugged speaker into amp and turned volume up with the speaker sitting in the middle of the yard, then just slide the board in that would make the final side of the port until the bass sounded firm and solid, that became the port length.
Nearly 30 years on those same speakers with a couple recones under their belt now are stacked on one side of the HT setup supporting the TH in Sub duties.
This first experience set me on the road of always building my own cabinets often purely with guesswork and listening to the result. nothing particular special after reading and seeing a lot of the efforts here though.

Apart from all that I am heavily into Christmas Lighting and run my own forum/wiki dedicated to that hobby as well as doing electronic designs for lighting control.

Apart from being somewhat cynical of the more esoteric claims that go around I enjoy music and sound systems, though I certainly favour a "live" sound from pro audio gear.

Phil

[planet10]

Welcome to the forum Phil.

dave

[Moondog55]

Hi Phil. Personally I think you are far too young to be that cynical Welcome from chilly Geelong

[Cal Weldon]

Hello Phil and welcome. Come pull up a chair near the fire.

[Moondog55]

Originally Posted by Cal Weldon

Hello Phil and welcome. Come pull up a chair near the fire.

Yep we're burning old speaker boxes

[c2cthomas]

Hello Phil - and Welcome to diyAudio!!!

About you doing Christmas lighting for a hobby - Do you do yours now when it's "winter" down-under - or do them during December when it's your summer - or both????

If you're like some of my neighbors they seem to enjoy having them up all year around!!!

[aussiephil]

Thanks to all for the welcome.

Can't bear to burn the old boxes, besides they say MDF is not good to burn

Originally Posted by c2cthomas

Hello Phil - and Welcome to diyAudio!!!

About you doing Christmas lighting for a hobby - Do you do yours now when it's "winter" down-under - or do them during December when it's your summer - or both????

If you're like some of my neighbors they seem to enjoy having them up all year around!!!

We do them in summer, mine usually are running from first week of Dec through to New Years day with a few weeks each side for setup and tear down.
Quite pleasurable to sit outside on warn evenings, have a beer and chat to visitors.
My lights are all set to music and here's one of the Videos from 2010
Pokemon on Vimeo
vimeo has most of my other videos as well from 2010.
The closest Megatree has 2240 individually controlled and sequenced RGB Leds using 6720 channels with over 8000 channels for the entire display. The direct light control hardware was all my own design and DIY built. This was one of less that 10 of these worldwide in private displays for 2010.

This one http://www.vimeo.com/17761183 really shows off some of the special effects.

Cheers
Phil

[c2cthomas]

Remarkable work you do!!! I took a look at the video where you are showing how to waterproof one of the LED devices and when I think that you have done that to all of the LED (interconnects, etc.) it looks like a full time job!!!!

Do you ever get to see your wife and family????? A question often asked of many of us here who tend to spend a lot of time out in the shop.

[aussiephil]

Originally Posted by c2cthomas

Remarkable work you do!!! I took a look at the video where you are showing how to waterproof one of the LED devices and when I think that you have done that to all of the LED (interconnects, etc.) it looks like a full time job!!!!

Do you ever get to see your wife and family????? A question often asked of many of us here who tend to spend a lot of time out in the shop.

Over and above the paid day work, it was such an intense use of time that 4-5 hrs sleep was quite normal, lucky that my better half was very supportive last year. Burnt myself right out though hence a little shift in hobbies to help maintain some balance
Still involved in the xmas lights just greatly reduced time this year...... well the first half anyway.
Made time for family this year.

Phil

[c2cthomas]

Originally Posted by aussiephil

Made time for family this year.

Phil

Careful - the audio hobby can destroy a lot of spare time!!!