After one emergency trip to Fry's, half a dozen Lady Gaga videos, and several pounds of chips, tomatoes, caramel corn, cookies, cherries, and olive bread, our first build party ended in victory - though there were definitely some moments of uncertainty along the way.
We were a little under-staffed with our small crew of April, Ben, Misha, and Paul. Our first job was to drill new holes in the the top of each lantern to accommodate the ethernet faceplate. Somehow, we managed to eyeball the perfect drill bit at Ace Hardware for the jack to barely pass through (1.25"). On the underside of the lantern top, we had to screw in the LEDs and wire them to a keystone jack. The major snag came when the wires kept popping out of the jacks, or shorting against each other. We got several more types of jacks from Fry's, and tried tinning the ends of the wires, but nothing held the wires securely. Finally, perseverance won out, and we found that wrapping a zip tie around the jack gave it a much better hold.
Here are videos of our first times lighting up the lanterns with a Lightuino. We only scrounged up four ethernet cables, so we could only light four at a time.
Special mention must be given to Misha, who contributed a bunch more code today, including a handy routine to set the hue of each lantern. Here's a color wheel effect that demonstrates it.
Thanks to everyone, and hope to see you at the next build party!
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