Here is the link to my radio sign that i built today and when i was done i turned out the lights and tested it. Well as you can see the lights that make up the words are really hard to see. I used black marker and then drilled all my holes the only thing i can think of to make it better to read is paint the black letters a really bright color. And then light the sign with a spot light so you can see the paint. Then if i use a spot light i would not need the letter lights but worried that a spot light would take something away from the sign. plan kind of backfired and now i need to know how to fix it.
oops ya I need your help not you help... sorry
Last edited on Tue Nov 3rd, 2009 02:57 am by Dan Lott
I can see where you're kind of shafted - the dark color of the text is making it almost unreadable. How steady is your painting hand? I don't see much else you can do other than changing the color of the letters on the sign board or maybe increasing the density of the lights. Have you looked at it without the twinkling lights? That might allow the eye to make out the pattern of the letters a bit easier.
____________________ Dear, please stop referring to me as "the mad scientist"... How many times do I have to remind you I'm NOT a scientist! http://www.clearwaterlights.org
Some white paint around your letters should help out a bit. And if your sign is going close to your intended audience then I don't think you'll have a problem.
If it's still tough to make out, then that single spot light aimed at your sign will help. You can dim it down so you can just see the sign.
That sign above was our second attempt... our first we tried to have too many letters in too small a space so it looked "busy". The second time around we just kept it simple.
Good luck!
Last edited on Tue Nov 3rd, 2009 12:19 pm by Jeffrey
The real problem is that the letters are too close together. When making letters out of lights, you need to make sure there is some whitespace between them so it doesn't all bleed together....
Not quite sure how to salvage this-- you could try the bright paint you suggested. If you can get it readable I think it's a very attractive sign...
Dan, Here is hopefully an easy fix. Go and get a "Metallic" Sharpie or silver color. That is what I used for my sign and the letters show up great. Also I used Wide-Angle Polka-Dot LED lights. I explained it all here.
Alright left this project alone for a couple days and now i am back to it, i know why i walked away from it. I think i have to push the lights back in the holes a little so there is not so much light on the wood and making it look like a line of light. I think maybe the small ball shaped leds might come in handy there. Just need to find some. Any help there would be great. I bought a red flood light and lighted everything up and now you can read it but lights in the words still mess it up. Still have to paint the letters but now wondering if i should just pull out the letter lights and just paint the words and light it with the spot light. Ok another thought here what if i cut out the words with a jig saw and then build a back light box on the back of the sign. What do i put in the box for lights and somehow i have to cover the words i cut out so water does not get any. I figure more than brain on this and i can get it something i can use.
I hate to see you making this harder and more involved than it needs to be - especially this time of year. I tend to be anal sometimes in wanting everything to be perfect, but I've learned a bit over the years with regards to prioritizing. I'm also a fan of the keep it simple school and I think this is one of those times. If you can light the sign well enough with a red spotlight so it can easily be read then your problem is solved, for this year anyway. Unplug the LED's and move on. Yes, a nice sign is nice but if that's what people are talking about after leaving your site then you didn't spend enough time and effort on your sequencing.
____________________ Dear, please stop referring to me as "the mad scientist"... How many times do I have to remind you I'm NOT a scientist! http://www.clearwaterlights.org
