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GE Light Effects strand with soldered extensions<\/p><\/div>\n

Phase 1: Inception<\/h1>\n

Located in the heart of the Midwest, we sit between some of the biggest names on the US hackerspace map. TCMaker to the North West, Pumping Station One to the East, ArchReactor to the South, and CCCKC to the South West. With such big names all around us, we were really going to have to do something special to make our mark.<\/p>\n

On the north wall of the QC Co-Lab, there is a 15×17 glass block wall facing a major city thoroughfare.<\/p>\n

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When we were searching for the making of our first big project, the thought hit us; those 8\u201d blocks would make perfect pixels in an LED display! So we dug in and started researching our options.<\/p>\n

We looked around at several solutions, including the\u00a0BlinkM<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0ShiftBrite<\/a>, but we quickly ran into an issue, at 255 pixels, the costs were adding up quick. We decided that we would need to wait to raise some funds and see if we could find another option.<\/p>\n

In November of 2010, an enterprising hacker named Darco (Robert Sun Quattlebaum), stumbled upon a little secret that took the hacker community by storm. He discovered the hidden secrets of\u00a0GE Color Effects Christmas Lights<\/a>. A few days later, one our our members, Ben Ziegler, managed to pick up two strings to play with during the QC Co-Lab Holiday party.<\/p>\n

Taping lights directly up to the glass, the lights were bright enough, but we wanted a solid block of color. A regular QC Co-Lab visitor, Josh Conroy, built some reflectors out of cardboard triangles coated with spray adhesive and aluminum foil. They were built into pyramids with duct tape. By bending the tips inward at the peak the cardboard kept the bulbs in place. We assembled the first 36 light string into two 3×5 sets using some ceiling tile frames with a fluorescent light diffuser in front to get a solid color wash.<\/p>\n

With the help of member Don Kieu, we got a modified version of Darco\u2019s initial Arduino code running and the timings worked out. Using a 3×5 pixel font Josh made, we had a two character scrolling marquee, and more importantly, a solid idea for moving forward. We thought that if we could catch an after-Christmas clearance sale, these lights would be a cheap and awesome way to fill out our lightwall. The problem was, it seemed like everyone else had the same idea.<\/p>\n

While searching from store to store looking at \u2018Sold Out\u2019 signs, we noticed an overlooked gem: GE Color Changing Snowflakes!<\/p>\n

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These use the same bulbs as the strands everyone else was using, but in a different form factor. We quickly bought up the last 5 sets we could find and started unlocking their secrets.<\/p>\n