The Superior Express -

In 2012, Dale Endorf, South Central Public Power District operations manager, undertook a large project of decorating his home with a magical array of programmed Christmas lights. Dale, an electrical engineer, spent countless hours putting together a light show that was enjoyed by many residents and visitors to the Nelson area. The show continued with improvements and modifi cations for the next several years.

Dale took 2017 off from decorating as he was recuperating from wrist surgery and did not have the ability to string all of the thousands of lights around his house and yard. The show returned in 2018, but by then new LED technology enticed Dale to completely revamp and rebuild.

During 2019, Dale designed and purchased a completely new system. In August of 2020, assembly began on the new project. Dale constructed all of the control boxes himself using a Raspberry Pi computer, power supplies, controllers and receivers. The system is controlled by a PixelController F48 diff erential controller. The controller sends signals to eight differential receivers located throughout the property.

Half-inch PVC pipe was used to design frames around all the windows and doors and along the roof lines. The PVC was drilled for each light which is now called a pixel. Dale is using RGB pixels which allow each pixel to be programmed to display any color. A Christmas Mega-Tree that stands 15 feet tall and has a 6-foot base was built around a steel pole set 18" into the ground. There are spiral trees in the front yard and panels of pixels on the front porch columns. A total of 6,400 pixels have been used throughout the project with 1,872 pixels on the Mega Tree alone.

The Raspberry Pi in the main control box is connected to Dale's laptop computer via Wi-Fi. An xLights program set up on the desktop enables each Christmas song to be programmed to synchronize the pixels to the music.

When it comes to programming the songs for the display, the whole family has become involved. Dale, his wife, Meghan, and their two sons; 10-year- old Gavin and 8-year-old Evan have all programmed their own songs for the display. In all, there will be at least six songs in the mix with, I'm sure, more coming.

Visitors to the home will be able to listen to the Christmas music on their FM radios by tuning to channel 91.9. The display will be on a continuous loop from 5:30 to 10 p.m. daily. The Endorf home is located at 288 West 4th Street in Nelson. Turn west at the 4th and Main Street intersection in Nelson and travel three blocks west to the top of the hill. I promise you will have no trouble fi nding the lights once you get close.

The Endorf family Christmas display began on Saturday, Nov. 28, and will run through Epiphany, January 6.