Hi, Diana:  

Being the geek that I am, I'd be more than happy to use one of my multiple PCs (I have Windows, Mac and Linux systems) to program the display.

 

We've been talking about taking the next step into programmed light displays here at the Meister House for a few years now, and have already been looking through websites such as www.lightorama.com, and www.d-light.us

 

One thing that's nice about the technology these days is that there are a large number of options for the average person who wants an over-the-top display, but doesn't have the electrical knowledge to solder together some circuit boards and wires.

And while you can purchase one of those $99 units at Wal-Mart that will play a few pre-chosen songs, these units allow you to customize to your heart's content using a little bit of time and creativity with your personal computer.  Something agents at Geek Squad know a little bit about.

 

So about the Meister House ...

 

Like I said, we've been looking at purchasing one of the pre-assembled 16 channel units that you can find on the sites I listed above for some time now.  We've even seen them used in Halloween displays, so it'd serve multiple holidays in our case. I can easily run the necessary cabling to and from the computer room to where ever we need it.

Some time in the future, I'd love to have one of those FM transmitters that you can buy for those units so that people can hear the synchronised music from their cars, but in the meantime I'm interested in animating the display and synchronizing it to some great holiday music. Carol of the Bells is my favorite for this time of the year, so that would be my first test. We have a deck on the front to provide shelter for any additional equipment.

One great thing about our house is that it’s very long and open, which provides a great canvas to do just about anything we can with any equipment provided. The other is that the house is located on a corner, so that provides plenty of viewing space for people driving by.

I’d like to outline the house itself in lights, as well as make use of the bushes we have as part of the light show. We’ve also got a fair number of those plastic light-up decorations as you can see in the foreground that can be made to light up when needed.

One highlight of our yard is the “island” that’s in the front left there.

This area is a great little focus point as it’s next to the corner of the two streets, placing it in a prime spot for viewing, that’s also not too close to the neighbors.

In case you’re wondering, there are six flags there: