Why I love Mega Trees is because it’s the foundation to a great display. It brings a light the eyes of people that have no ever seen one. Now that is why I LOVE a Mega Tree.
Thank you! This video is perfect timing for me. My entire block has Christmas displays. Mine is the largest and happens to be in the middle of the block. This past winter the wife and I decided to try and convert to digital. As I started looking into this hobby I began talking to the neighbors about it and having a block party after thanksgiving. With that I decided to look into getting some Wifi relays so that my system will be able to turn their lights on and off. Right now I happen to be looking at building my first Mega Tree. From the very start of your video I knew I found the right information as you are building the Exact tree I have been looking to build. My front yard is almost the same size as yours and the distance from the street has been a concern for the quality of the tree display. Without your information on the 1.5 inch strips and the smaller base, I was leaning towards a standard tree with 2 inch spacing and 6 foot base. I also have the unlevel front yard that you do and could use the measurements for your base as it is exactly what I have been looking for. It would be an honor to pick your brain about your tree. At the same time, I currently have no plans or need for an animation kit so please do not include me in your drawing. Thank you again for the video and your time to produce it.
Why you love a Mega Tree: the scale of the tree is just right for your yard. The carabiner clips on the topper as well as the tip regarding the rope on the back to help get the topper back down when packing it up. I think the pixel spacing really makes the tree full of color when it is running. Improving the mount for the star was well thought throw and makes for a lower maintenance prop. Putting a pole mount in ground and having something that is out of sight when not being used.
I just love the mega tree displays. I've wanted to do one of these for a while now . I have a 20ft flag pole that I turn into a Christmas tree for the season and everyone in my neighborhood looks forward to it always but it's just done with led lights strings and I have a plug in music box with about 20 songs that play...yea I know it's the old school display....that's why I want to upgrade this year to be able to do it up right. Id like nothing better than to have one of those talking trees along with a couple of those little talking trees or Christmas bulbs to go along with it. I live in Cape Coral , Fl. and have many real Christmas Palm trees, Coconut Palms and Foxtail Palm trees that I have grown in the yard just to display with my leds for Christmas. I also live on a corner lot that makes it a perfect set-up. Sorry I haven't run across your video before now but It's great to find someone that can actually give a name of parts and $$$ amounts for things needed...Very helpful
Why you love a Mega Tree: The scale of the prop give the wow factor and it also adds dimension relative to the mostly flat coro props. I did see you in Florida and I'm glad I did to thank you for your excellent content. Also I realized watching this one that you have shared so many interesting vendors such as maker pipe and jdeation, not to mention the amazon links.
Thanks for the video, I made my first Mega Tree last season and it was a big hit with the neighbors and other watchers! Nothing says Griswold lives here like a good Mega Tree! 👍
The MegaTree was the first thing that caught my attention about 6 years ago when we visited our first Christmas light show. So it's only fitting it was the first element I added to my show with pixels. I'll be taking some information from this to perfect my MegaTree this year. Thanks for all you do.
O my God this thing was SOOOOOOO heavy trying to get into the hole. Fell down once but my neighbour came over and helped get it up. Once it was up I thought "Gee its only 18 feet above ground, this is GINORMOUS" Now to figure out how to get it out of the hole. LOL
'why you love a Mega Tree', 'why you love the Mega Tree'. Tomato, Tomoto... I like the carabiner idea, I lift my 20ft, 180deg tree up from horizontal to vertical on a pivot to the side of my house and my strips want to fall off my J hooks, this would definitely change that problem.
I just love how a Mega Tree becomes the main focus of a Christmas show. Last year was my first year doing pixels. I am doing an 8" Mega Tree this year, but I also want to do a 12-13' Mega Tree next year. I've been watching several of your videos as I've been learning. It'll be good to meet you at the Florida Mega Mini. It'll be my second year going. I would love the animatronics kit. I make my own animatronics for my Halloween show and have ideas for stuff that I would like to add to my Christmas show.
I love a megatree as in my display it is the centerpiece prop. It can be a vertical or horizontal matrix and display an unlimited number of effects only limited by your imagination and understanding of all the nuances of the effects developed for xlights
Non-sponsored, but J.R. Mattos should have you help them show of their products. A lot of the information here is very hard to find, even a year later.
I finally have all my stuff for the tree. What is the length of your pole? I haven't cut it yet, afraid of going too short. Your video has been super helpful so far
Thank you for this video! I love my Mega Tree but I think that I will love it even more by converting from the ASAP/prtable hole system to the Mattos Design Sasquatch system with buried base. The ASAP system has served me well for many years but it's a real challenge getting a 20' tree set up. I've been debating on converting to Mattos but after seeing your video, and the ease of set up of this system, this is a no brainer! Thank you also for all of the great tips thoughout the video. The carabiner clips and ring anchors will be a must have as well. BTW, i love your matrix panels that are over your columns. Can you add a link to where those came from? Thanks again for such a great video!
Jamie, Glad you liked the video, as for the pillar panels our current ones are by Boscoyo ( 2 v4 panels to mail one pilar panel. 336 lights on each one. we will be upgrading to a new version this year by Gilbert Engineering which has 500 for each panel and has an image printed on it.
Hello, fellow Seattle Light! Why did you go with a hole vs the portable hole? How did you determine the depth and which of the hole? Did you put a 1/ 1/4" pipe in the hole with the couple at the top above ground? I'm creating my first Mega Tree this year with 150 pixels per strip, 1" spacing so it only 12.5 high but looking to go with 175 or 200 per strand which would go up to 16 ft high minus the star
we went with the inground whole as our yard is small and we knew the location of the tree would never change so it just made since. as for the depth we went down 3 feed and just put the base piece into the concrete with a piece of rebar through the whole at the bottom of it.
Do we literally write "why you love a Mega Tree" or like.. *actually* why we love megatree's? 'cos I don't got one, so.. I can't really say. But.. Hey! I'd love to love a Megatree o' my own. Then I could tell you why I love it. :P
Good morning Sir. I'm watching both of your videos. for two deference board controller from Wally's and F-16 V3. Can you please let me know which brand are you recommend ? Thank you vey much!
Every state at this point will tell you to use GPRS or equivalent in addition to 811. In our state they have declared 811 as an ineffective program although it's still running, they do come out and mark, they also take no responsibility for their work. You obviously can identify with this comment having ruptured a gas line..
I'm getting ready to install my Sasquatch Megatree and I also bought the buried base. Did I understand you correctly, you put PVC in the hole, then Concrete in the PVC and outside the PVC tube? Trying to understand what the purpose of the PVC pipe is if you just fill the inside and outside with concrete. Does it help with keeping the receiver stable while the concrete cures?
part of the reason to stabile it while it cured. and my buddy who is in construction said it would also give a little extra strength as the receiver is only 18 inches and the Pipe will go down further into the concreat
my buddy who does concrete work recommended it as the pole insert only went half way down the whole. this was a way to extend it further down. not sure if he was right but sounded ok
Yes if you watch my behinds the scenes video from this year we cover it. My tree including start uses 17 ports. no power injection or power balancing. I run my light at 20 % brightness. From the strand to the controller pig tail I used 5 foot extensions. these you can get from the same people who you buy your lights from. In a show you will need all lenghts of extensions. I use 5ft 10 ft and 20 ft ones.
if you are talking about the base ring there is no video. we used a local metal shop to bent the pipe for us as we were also having our arch hoops bent at the same time. and we put it together using maker pipe connectors
Don't enter me into your contest (very awesome BTW) but I wanted to like and subscribe from my personal page. I didn't realize I did it from my Mattos Designs account last night. 😁
X connect seams to be the preferred connector they both are the same in realty. i started with Ray Wu connectors so will stay with them so that all my builds going forward are compatible with the same type of connection. some people who use both 5 volt and 12 volt light will use a different connector with each type of light so there is no error in connecting the wrong power supplied controller to the wrong lights.
Great video. Can you tell me what the black thing and the green cap on the pipe is called? I can't seem to find them at Lowes, Home Depot or Amazon. Also that pipe gets larger at the end. Where did you get that and can you tell me what it's called? Thanks.
the black item with the green cap is a Round Irrigation Valve Box ( that is the search term you should use) the other white pipe is just large piping with the flanged end. ( it was a piece of scrap my buddy who works construct brought over. glad you liked the video.
Great video and I'm in the process of setting up a mega tree using your specs. One question, when importing sequences, many are based on a 2" spacing x 100 pixels giving the taller tree. For those sequences showing images, do you find the images look different when displayed on a 1.5" spaced tree.
Newbie, great video! What's missing what do I need to make the F16 perform. I would like a turn key set-up a one stop if you will. Show everthing on your excel shreadsheel to assemble tree plug in and watch it light up! Thanks
Thanks for the informative video. How did you level the base in the concrete? Did you use a short section of pole to check for plumb/level? I have the same base but haven’t installed it yet. Any tips?
I did not buy anything. the metal shop I hired created them. just pieces of metal with a hole drilled through it that they welded on to the top of the pole
@@CounterHolidayLights Thanks. I sent a pic to the shop I purchased my pole so hopefully they can make something similar. I like this approach much more then attaching directly to the topper.
@@CounterHolidayLights Thank you but I am looking to find out how many feet or inches each strip is. Also, do you have 1 or 2 spare holes at the top and bottom for mounting?
Bob, if my spacing is 1.5 inches and I am running 100 Lights that is 150 inches or 12.5 feet as mention in the video. we have one extra hole at the top and 3 at the bottom
Why I love Mega Trees is because it’s the foundation to a great display. It brings a light the eyes of people that have no ever seen one. Now that is why I LOVE a Mega Tree.
could not agree more. :)
The mega tree is what catches the eye first. Most people seem to watch that the most.
100% agree
Mattos Designs owes you big time!
:)
Thank you! This video is perfect timing for me.
My entire block has Christmas displays. Mine is the largest and happens to be in the middle of the block.
This past winter the wife and I decided to try and convert to digital.
As I started looking into this hobby I began talking to the neighbors about it and having a block party after thanksgiving.
With that I decided to look into getting some Wifi relays so that my system will be able to turn their lights on and off.
Right now I happen to be looking at building my first Mega Tree.
From the very start of your video I knew I found the right information as you are building the Exact tree I have been looking to build.
My front yard is almost the same size as yours and the distance from the street has been a concern for the quality of the tree display.
Without your information on the 1.5 inch strips and the smaller base, I was leaning towards a standard tree with 2 inch spacing and 6 foot base.
I also have the unlevel front yard that you do and could use the measurements for your base as it is exactly what I have been looking for.
It would be an honor to pick your brain about your tree. At the same time, I currently have no plans or need for an animation kit so please do not include me in your drawing.
Thank you again for the video and your time to produce it.
Bob glad you found this useful, feel free to reach out anytime
Why you love a Mega Tree: the scale of the tree is just right for your yard. The carabiner clips on the topper as well as the tip regarding the rope on the back to help get the topper back down when packing it up. I think the pixel spacing really makes the tree full of color when it is running. Improving the mount for the star was well thought throw and makes for a lower maintenance prop. Putting a pole mount in ground and having something that is out of sight when not being used.
could not agree more
I just love the mega tree displays. I've wanted to do one of these for a while now . I have a 20ft flag pole that I turn into a Christmas tree for the season and everyone in my neighborhood looks forward to it always but it's just done with led lights strings and I have a plug in music box with about 20 songs that play...yea I know it's the old school display....that's why I want to upgrade this year to be able to do it up right. Id like nothing better than to have one of those talking trees along with a couple of those little talking trees or Christmas bulbs to go along with it. I live in Cape Coral , Fl. and have many real Christmas Palm trees, Coconut Palms and Foxtail Palm trees that I have grown in the yard just to display with my leds for Christmas. I also live on a corner lot that makes it a perfect set-up. Sorry I haven't run across your video before now but It's great to find someone that can actually give a name of parts and $$$ amounts for things needed...Very helpful
Frank we are glad you found us and enjoyed out build video we try to put on one video every month or two that shows the whole picture.
Why you love a Mega Tree: The scale of the prop give the wow factor and it also adds dimension relative to the mostly flat coro props. I did see you in Florida and I'm glad I did to thank you for your excellent content. Also I realized watching this one that you have shared so many interesting vendors such as maker pipe and jdeation, not to mention the amazon links.
Sunny sorry i can put your name to your icon but i hope we had a chance to chat if not I will be back again next year.
Thanks for the video, I made my first Mega Tree last season and it was a big hit with the neighbors and other watchers! Nothing says Griswold lives here like a good Mega Tree! 👍
glad you liked it
the whole world needs to be filled with Griswold's
The MegaTree was the first thing that caught my attention about 6 years ago when we visited our first Christmas light show. So it's only fitting it was the first element I added to my show with pixels. I'll be taking some information from this to perfect my MegaTree this year. Thanks for all you do.
it was almost the same for us
Great tutorial well explained and well worth the watch. In fact I will probably watch it again just so I can pickup all of the links you have put in.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I dont know about Sasquatch but I had a skookum knock on my door wanting a cup of sugar the other day!!
LOL
O my God this thing was SOOOOOOO heavy trying to get into the hole. Fell down once but my neighbour came over and helped get it up. Once it was up I thought "Gee its only 18 feet above ground, this is GINORMOUS" Now to figure out how to get it out of the hole. LOL
It is amazing how heavy the pole is. get help from my neighbors on either side of me each year for putting it in and taking it out.
Great video! Love the Mattos Sasquatch tree line of products!
glad you enjoyed the video
'why you love a Mega Tree', 'why you love the Mega Tree'. Tomato, Tomoto... I like the carabiner idea, I lift my 20ft, 180deg tree up from horizontal to vertical on a pivot to the side of my house and my strips want to fall off my J hooks, this would definitely change that problem.
glad you were able to get a new tip on our video
Great job Lorne! See you in Florida!
For sure!!
Thank you I was trying a tree this year you help out for sure.
Glad I could help
I just love how a Mega Tree becomes the main focus of a Christmas show. Last year was my first year doing pixels. I am doing an 8" Mega Tree this year, but I also want to do a 12-13' Mega Tree next year. I've been watching several of your videos as I've been learning. It'll be good to meet you at the Florida Mega Mini. It'll be my second year going. I would love the animatronics kit. I make my own animatronics for my Halloween show and have ideas for stuff that I would like to add to my Christmas show.
That is awesome! see you here
Awesome video, real pro! Thank You!
Glad it was helpful!
Hello from Quebec Canada. As always very good video. For me, this is my 2nd year. It's my goal this year to do a Megatree.
You can do it!
I love a megatree as in my display it is the centerpiece prop. It can be a vertical or horizontal matrix and display an unlimited number of effects only limited by your imagination and understanding of all the nuances of the effects developed for xlights
Could not agree more 😀
Non-sponsored, but J.R. Mattos should have you help them show of their products. A lot of the information here is very hard to find, even a year later.
glad you found it useful
very good detailed video good explantion
Glad it was helpful!
Great video
Glad you liked it
I finally have all my stuff for the tree. What is the length of your pole? I haven't cut it yet, afraid of going too short. Your video has been super helpful so far
My pole is 14 ft. 18 inches go in the ground. if it is to tall that will not hurt as the toper slides up and down the pole
So awesome
glad you liked it
Thank you for this video! I love my Mega Tree but I think that I will love it even more by converting from the ASAP/prtable hole system to the Mattos Design Sasquatch system with buried base. The ASAP system has served me well for many years but it's a real challenge getting a 20' tree set up. I've been debating on converting to Mattos but after seeing your video, and the ease of set up of this system, this is a no brainer! Thank you also for all of the great tips thoughout the video. The carabiner clips and ring anchors will be a must have as well. BTW, i love your matrix panels that are over your columns. Can you add a link to where those came from?
Thanks again for such a great video!
Jamie, Glad you liked the video, as for the pillar panels our current ones are by Boscoyo ( 2 v4 panels to mail one pilar panel. 336 lights on each one. we will be upgrading to a new version this year by Gilbert Engineering which has 500 for each panel and has an image printed on it.
Hello, fellow Seattle Light! Why did you go with a hole vs the portable hole? How did you determine the depth and which of the hole? Did you put a 1/ 1/4" pipe in the hole with the couple at the top above ground? I'm creating my first Mega Tree this year with 150 pixels per strip, 1" spacing so it only 12.5 high but looking to go with 175 or 200 per strand which would go up to 16 ft high minus the star
we went with the inground whole as our yard is small and we knew the location of the tree would never change so it just made since. as for the depth we went down 3 feed and just put the base piece into the concrete with a piece of rebar through the whole at the bottom of it.
Do we literally write "why you love a Mega Tree" or like.. *actually* why we love megatree's? 'cos I don't got one, so.. I can't really say. But.. Hey! I'd love to love a Megatree o' my own. Then I could tell you why I love it. :P
Great Response
Good morning Sir.
I'm watching both of your videos. for two deference board controller from Wally's and F-16 V3. Can you please let me know which brand are you recommend ?
Thank you vey much!
Tony, all of our controllers are falcon based we use a F48 with receivers and the F16 set up in the mattos video
Every state at this point will tell you to use GPRS or equivalent in addition to 811. In our state they have declared 811 as an ineffective program although it's still running, they do come out and mark, they also take no responsibility for their work.
You obviously can identify with this comment having ruptured a gas line..
100% agree. they have not recommended any other service in our state to this point. the pictures keep me from paying anything
I'm getting ready to install my Sasquatch Megatree and I also bought the buried base. Did I understand you correctly, you put PVC in the hole, then Concrete in the PVC and outside the PVC tube? Trying to understand what the purpose of the PVC pipe is if you just fill the inside and outside with concrete. Does it help with keeping the receiver stable while the concrete cures?
part of the reason to stabile it while it cured. and my buddy who is in construction said it would also give a little extra strength as the receiver is only 18 inches and the Pipe will go down further into the concreat
@@CounterHolidayLights Awesome - Thanks
How much pvc pipe needed
We used about a 3 foot long section
Do you have to slack your guy wires before cranking down with the star attached? Wondering how that clearances.
It depends on the star on top and placement of the lines. if there is clearance there is no need.
Where did get the ground screws for the ring
Dennis, there is a link in the description for the 26 Inch Earth anchors. if you click on the link you will also see there other size options
why did you guys use the tube not not just concrete all around the 2x2? seems like it would be harder to level with it in the pic tube
my buddy who does concrete work recommended it as the pole insert only went half way down the whole. this was a way to extend it further down. not sure if he was right but sounded ok
Were you able to run 200 pixels on one port? Can you explain how you hooked it up/wired to the controller and what extensions you used.
Yes if you watch my behinds the scenes video from this year we cover it. My tree including start uses 17 ports. no power injection or power balancing. I run my light at 20 % brightness. From the strand to the controller pig tail I used 5 foot extensions. these you can get from the same people who you buy your lights from. In a show you will need all lenghts of extensions. I use 5ft 10 ft and 20 ft ones.
@Counterholidaylights was a video released of the construction of the base? I am here looking for some direction as I am new to the craft.
if you are talking about the base ring there is no video. we used a local metal shop to bent the pipe for us as we were also having our arch hoops bent at the same time. and we put it together using maker pipe connectors
Don't enter me into your contest (very awesome BTW) but I wanted to like and subscribe from my personal page. I didn't realize I did it from my Mattos Designs account last night. 😁
Ok and thanks for the subscribe. see ya in a couple of days
What pigtail type do you use and why? What is the difference between Xconnect and Ray Wu?
X connect seams to be the preferred connector they both are the same in realty. i started with Ray Wu connectors so will stay with them so that all my builds going forward are compatible with the same type of connection. some people who use both 5 volt and 12 volt light will use a different connector with each type of light so there is no error in connecting the wrong power supplied controller to the wrong lights.
Great video. Can you tell me what the black thing and the green cap on the pipe is called? I can't seem to find them at Lowes, Home Depot or Amazon. Also that pipe gets larger at the end. Where did you get that and can you tell me what it's called? Thanks.
the black item with the green cap is a Round Irrigation Valve Box ( that is the search term you should use) the other white pipe is just large piping with the flanged end. ( it was a piece of scrap my buddy who works construct brought over. glad you liked the video.
Great video and I'm in the process of setting up a mega tree using your specs. One question, when importing sequences, many are based on a 2" spacing x 100 pixels giving the taller tree. For those sequences showing images, do you find the images look different when displayed on a 1.5" spaced tree.
no, i noticed the resolution improved on graphics a lot
Newbie, great video! What's missing what do I need to make the F16 perform. I would like a turn key set-up a one stop if you will. Show everthing on your excel shreadsheel to assemble tree plug in and watch it light up! Thanks
Everything, Would be way to long of a video. we do have a video on the controller as well a 2 part series of planning a build.
@@CounterHolidayLights How many power supplies did this tree require, and what kinds? Do they each require a separate outlet?
2 for the tree but we have 4 in the controer
any other idea for earth anchors as those you listed are no longer available?
looks like they moved there items off amazon. you can find them here americanearthanchors.com/shop-by-product/penetrators/
Thanks for the informative video. How did you level the base in the concrete? Did you use a short section of pole to check for plumb/level? I have the same base but haven’t installed it yet. Any tips?
We had a short piece of pipe we put in the base so that we could have magnetic levels on all for side to insure is was level.
@@CounterHolidayLightssounds good - thank you!
What gauge guy wire?
20 gage
What exactly did you buy to have those eyelets welded onto the four corners?
I did not buy anything. the metal shop I hired created them. just pieces of metal with a hole drilled through it that they welded on to the top of the pole
@@CounterHolidayLights Thanks. I sent a pic to the shop I purchased my pole so hopefully they can make something similar. I like this approach much more then attaching directly to the topper.
what size PVC did you use?
No PVC was used in this build are you talking about the base ring. that is 3/4 inch EMT
@@CounterHolidayLights I meant the PVC you placed in the ground.. My apologies
I believe it was a 4 inch pipe
Also, when you ordered the LED strips for the tree, what length are they?
100 lights per strip
@@CounterHolidayLights Thank you but I am looking to find out how many feet or inches each strip is. Also, do you have 1 or 2 spare holes at the top and bottom for mounting?
Bob, if my spacing is 1.5 inches and I am running 100 Lights that is 150 inches or 12.5 feet as mention in the video. we have one extra hole at the top and 3 at the bottom
Did y'all ever do that Boscoyo mega tree kit giveaway?
Yes we did Denise Martin was the winner on that one
Where are you in Florida?
not in Florida, other side of the country Washington