Show Us Yours - Apollo Led Light Setups

[MADONMACS]

I have just set up the Apollo LED lights from the AV Forum member Noodleman.

Firstly I am in NO way connected with the company, just a happy customer.

Below is a short review and pics of my setup.

If there are any other users of the Apollo LEDs please post some pics and any tips / tricks you have come across.

One tip i have is if you press breathe then stop the fading about half way up then you can press the Night (dim) button and it will dim in four steps from where you stopped the fading up (ie dimmmable darker in four steps_

The LED lightbars are EXCELLENT build quality for the cost, easily setup with the usb controller that each lightbar plugs into. The IR remote reciever is a seperate plug in unit which plugs into the usb controller, which has a longish cable which can be easily positioned so it can see the IR remote.

The remote is a bit small and fiddly to use due to its very small credit card size.

They can be controlled via any Harmony remote so that isue with the small remote is not a problem.

Being LED lighting there is NO heat emitted from the leds or tubes so can be placed anywhere where heat from conventional lights may be a problem.

The colours are very bright (they can be dimmed in 4 steps) easily enough to light up a room *mine is 18ft X 14ft. I am using 4x 24 inch Lightbars hwich can be added to (upto 6)

The control features are very good,
7 colours as below

7 preset colour steps fading smoothly from red, green, blue, purple, orange, yellow and white

1 millon colour steps (this will take ages to step through all the million combinations!!

Breathe.... slowly 0r fast fading from the colour(s) to black then back up again

Fully mixable RGB red, green, blue of the leds so you can create you own custom colurs and saving them to 7 memory buttons (which can be then stepped and breathed through)

sleep mode (turns off after preset times)

I'm sure there is a lot more I haven't found the remote can do yet (the instructions that come with the remote are very funny japanese english)

All in all I am very impressed with them and the excellent service and feedback from noodleman if you need any help with setting them up and would highly recommend them to any other forum member

Please post your setup of the LEDs and SHOW US YOURS don't be shy

Regards Madonmacs

[noel-pilot]

Hey that looks great,
What i'm very interested in is your screen, have you mounted it in the space between ceiling and floor?
Sorry to be cheeky but any chance of some pics of it in daylight both extended and also completely retracted!
Would love to do something like that but not sure how clean it would look when not in use,

Many thanks
Noel

[MADONMACS]

Hi Noel
Glad you like the setup
The idea was to have a screen that was invisible when not in use.

Luckily I live in a bungalow so there was no problems with spaces in any upstairs rooms!

Secondly the roof joists just happened to run the right way in line with the screen.

It was a bit of a bugger to get the screen up into the loft an swing it into position through the roof space/trusses

You can do it if the joists run the wrong way but its a nightmare job.

The screen is a 2m widescreen IR Electric Sapphire from here.

http://www.projectorscreen.co.uk/sea...archbox5=16by9

I have used it for around a year it is VERY good quality for the cost. They also do an RF version if you want to. I needed the IR version to work with my Harmony remote (also very good)

They now do some new neater screens (*mayfair) with excellent mounting hardware that just clips to the case if you ceiling mount it. I saw them at the Bristol sound & visionshow and got a good deal there.

I have a very good friend who also bought the same screen at the show. He has mounted his onto the ceiling though (you could build a pelmet around the screen case) many forum members have done it.

The trickiest bit is to get the PJ distance / throw very accurate before you mount the screen in the ceiling. Once you cut the hole in the ceiling there is no-going back Some people say mount the screen first then make the PJ fit the screen afterwards. This you CAN do but it makes it much easier if you have it measured out beforehand!!

I wanted the smallest hole/slit possible for the screen to drop through. I wanted it invisible as possible when retracted remember so I gave it 20mm each side of the dropbar of thr screen. If you need to draw out the hole in PENCIL not pen on the ceiling (otherwise you will have to paint the ceiling again to get the penmarks off.

Now hold your bresth i used a brand new stanley knife to start off the hole then used a new plaster saw blade (its very thin blade and cuts through plasterboard like butter. TAKE YOUR TIME i cut INside the lines i drew cause I can't saw that straight over a big distance. Then when the hole was cut I remeasured then used a plasterboard file to go upto the guidelines again take your time here. Wipe down with a damp cloth to kill the dust.

To make the slit good you can use any surround you like. I wanted it to blend into the ceiling so I used simple plastic angled beading from B&Q fixed onto the ceiling with no nails. Once dry this will never come off!!

make sure you have made the above space where the screen case goes os as dust free as possible. Luckily I can nip up into the loft now and again to hoover any dust around the screen case. I was going to make a box for the case to make it dust free but i just hoover around it.

Here are some pics hope that helps

Regards Madonmacs

Originally Posted by noel-pilot

Hey that looks great,
What i'm very interested in is your screen, have you mounted it in the space between ceiling and floor?
Sorry to be cheeky but any chance of some pics of it in daylight both extended and also completely retracted!
Would love to do something like that but not sure how clean it would look when not in use,

Many thanks
Noel

[noel-pilot]

Thats awesome, exactly what I want to do, ...time to go find out which way the joists run! think it might be a bit harder in my case but definitely worth a look!

Cheers for the pics very much appreciated!!

Noel

[laserdave]

QUOTE Luckily I can nip up into the loft now and again to hoover any dust around the screen case. I was going to make a box for the case to make it dust free but i just hoover around it.


You Hoover...... HI FI Show coming up, Are you Hoovering or just opening the patio doors ?

[FutureTech]

heres few pics of where we have ppl round for drinks and parties etc. sorry for poor quality but cheap camera

Originally Posted by FutureTech

hi all
just like to say that these lights are amazing i have bought 16 x 24" tubes to use as a wall wash effect in my garage and I’m absolutely delighted of how they look. not only that but the help and aid in my purchase was truly outstanding help me draw up plans and was always very helpful.

Here are a few pics - my camera is awful btw and so quality of pics doesn’t do these lights justice. plus the fact I’m useless at taking pictures hence the blur but u get the idea of brightness and colour they provide.
just waiting on a few other things then ill tidy up the cables etc

[noel-pilot]

I WANT YOUR GARAGE!!!!!

Nuff said!

Noel


so jealous!!

[MADONMACS]

Hi LaserDave its Dobbs
Yes I only Hoover the LOFT lol. I have special dust removing laminate floors (he, he, he). Hopefully the new M&K stuff a Panny & JVC PJ's will be at the Bristol Show. (will call you Sunday mate)

[MADONMACS]

Thanks Everyone keep Your Piccies coming of your setups. I will try to get a video clip of the Leds in colour changing action