Lessons learned 2019

[Mississippipyro]

So 2 min into my show it rained enough to make my fusing wet :mad: had to hand light everything after board one with cigarette lighters (my torch stopped working)but I was able to keep the sky bright for 40 min. My HOA loved it and it?s now an annual thing going forward. What I learned:
1. I need a Cobra system 72cue or more
2. More built mortar racks, enough for 300-500 shells
3. Music, a must have
4. More plastic on hand
5. Better torch

Do you have any lessons learned from this year?

[AxeElf]

1a. A ton of fireworks weighs a ton.
1b. Plywood boards are fairly heavy to begin with; when fireworks are glued to them, they get even heavier.
1c. I need henchmen.
2a. I need to at least double my 60 cues for next year.
2b. Wiring up 60 cues in the afternoon heat is not good for a large diabetic body.
2c. See 1c.
3. I need bigger speakers that won't be drowned out by dozens of simultaneous explosions--maybe a couple of these bitches (https://www.amazon.com/Aiwa-Exos-9-Portable-Bluetooth-Speaker/dp/B00WF78GS4/ref=sr_1_8?keywords=large+bluetooth+speakers&qid=1562363019&refinements=p_36%3A1253507011&rnid=18238306011&s=aht&sr=1-8).
4. More mortar racks--I second that emotion.
5. Talon-type igniters don't deserve their bad reputation--but scraping the visco down to the powder and using their little rubber bands probably help.
6. Multi-fountain displays either need to be spaced further apart than I had them or the fusing needs to be shielded better than I had it.
7. If you have enough product scripted for the finale, nobody will notice if one or two cakes don't fire.
8. Even if people say, "No one wants to watch your fireworks videos," they will watch them anyway if they are spectacular enough.
9. My step-grandson's girlfriend's mom is a hottie-boom-bottie.
10. When people say, "The city should be paying YOU to do their show!" all the time, expense, exhaustion and dehydration become worthwhile.

[Berserker23]

I know how you feel used to shoot my shows off the same way, I finally upgraded to a Cobra Firing System 3 years ago best decision I?ve made if you do buy a Cobra make sure you buy the 18R2 because it?s so much better, if you buy the 18R you will end up selling it and upgrading like me

[PYRODAN]

Every year is a learning experience.

[PyroGyro]

So 2 min into my show it rained enough to make my fusing wet :mad: had to hand light everything after board one with cigarette lighters (my torch stopped working)but I was able to keep the sky bright for 40 min. My HOA loved it and it?s now an annual thing going forward. What I learned:
1. I need a Cobra system 72cue or more
2. More built mortar racks, enough for 300-500 shells
3. Music, a must have
4. More plastic on hand
5. Better torch

Do you have any lessons learned from this year?

Music adds a nice touch for sure. And even if your show isn't meant to be perfectly synced, there will be moments at which it seems like it is. :D

1. The fusing used in some 500g cakes is low quality. You'd think with an item that pricey that they would use better fuses
2. No matter how good your technique is for stringing cakes together with Visco, you can still have something not light.
3. While you can get fairly accurate with timings when manually fusing cakes together it is still prone to human error, especially when you have 30+ cues.
4. Even if your visco fuse timings are fairly accurate, they won't come close to as accurate as Electronic firing.
5. I really don't want to measure, cut, and splice fuse anymore, my displays have gotten too big for that.
6. I need a scripted, set and forget firing system
7. My video skills are weak and I have to figure out a way to capture all aspects of the show.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

I learned a ton.

1. When it doesn't rain all day the setup goes a lot faster!
2. When you glue cakes to boards instead of staking and taping them the morning of, the setup time is cut in half!
3. Don't just check continuity at the firing modules, check each module through the 18R2! I found I had one mod on the wrong channel, and numerous cues didn't have continuity when checked with the 18R2.
4. Never let anyone touch your sound system, even if he claims to be an audio engineer!! My show started and the music volume was at zero! Had to run over and turn it up after the effects started firing. Not cool.
5. Have water on hand for all the cake fires!!
6. Don't trust the firing duration of any cake video! I had periods of black sky because cakes fired twice as fast as the online videos and printed labels indicated.

[Stormcrow]

1. Pre wired boards rolled out by trailer was fantastic
2. Praying for no rain works
3. Forced to set up late afternoon sucks
4. Initiators are so much better than talons.

[PyroGyro]

I learned a ton.

2. When you glue cakes to boards instead of staking and taping them the morning of, the setup time is cut in half!


In previous years I was glueing my cakes. This was great because no matter what cakes would not move or slide off the plywood in transit, but made it very hard to reuse the plywood after(I used gorilla glue). I decided to tape this year because I wanted to be able to reuse the plywood but it was the wrong move. It took longer for sure, and even when using good tape, the cakes weren't solidly on the plywood.

[Snafumonkey]

1. Check, double check and triple check to make sure all mortar racks are secure
2. Buy too many ignitors before you need them
3. Store all pyro accessories in the same place
4. 9 hours on the road Tuesday and 9 hours on the road Wednesday and building racks and fusing everything on Thursday makes no.1 a necessity and really drains a person
5. 10-17 year olds are the best help you can hope for
6. Write down what you learn so that you have a no. 6(lol)

[Wholesale Fireworks]

1. Buy wholesale
2. buy early
3. buy from WFBOOM.COM
4. AFW products rock

Pretty much all you need to know

[esgrillo]

1) ematch everything
2) do as much garage prep before you do your field set up
3) You are blessed by dear lord baby Christmas Jesus if you can have one of your crew also be a Cobra expert. What a HUGE difference, hours saved set up day
4) Organize your help to be available when you need them the most. For me getting product from my garage to the shoot site.
5) After checking module continuity, always check again with your 18r2 to see issues with the script
6) Keep your friends that drink too much away on set up day... save them for clean up if they want to help
7) For me, I do not glue cakes to boards. I have a shoot site that consists of 21 4x8 sheets so that is impossible for me. I tape, daisy chain fuse as necessary, match, and clearly label everything in advance.
8) Have multiple copies available of your site layout (include mod, slice racks, & comet rack locations), module report, and script
9) You never can be too safe. Double check every safety device you have... multiple hoses & gas powered fire pump in my case.
10) Program some alternate cakes
11) Slats installed on comet racks are huge time savers and prevent a lot of field wiring errors
12) You can never have too many people to help clean up
13) You can never say thank you enough to people that help.
14) 15 18m's, 7 36m's, and a 72m might finally be enough modules

[Robbro097]

1 knee pads r a good idea
2 hammers became slippery when wet (3lb hammer slipped out of my hand and hit half inch above my knee with 4 screws in it)
3 you can never have too many stakes on hand (if u stake good heavy hammer with long handle sure does help)

[Icooclast]

1. Buy wholesale
2. buy early
3. buy from WFBOOM.COM
4. AFW products rock

Pretty much all you need to know

i see what you did there. lol

[Pyro Paul]

I learned that I need to take a break from my backyard show for a year or so.

[jayf]

#1 Upgrade to a Cobra 18R2 remote and get a 2nd firing module. This was my 1st year using Cobra.
#2 Planning on using the flat bed wagon that's been in the shed for almost 25yrs. I plan on setting most everything up on the deck of the wagon in the shed and pull it out on the day of the party, untarp and go.
#3 Over 50% of the people at our party were interested in how the cakes, candles ect were made & how they work. Also how the Cobra system works. I saved several used cake boxes and plan on a little educational table or 2 for next years party.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

In previous years I was glueing my cakes. This was great because no matter what cakes would not move or slide off the plywood in transit, but made it very hard to reuse the plywood after(I used gorilla glue). I decided to tape this year because I wanted to be able to reuse the plywood but it was the wrong move. It took longer for sure, and even when using good tape, the cakes weren't solidly on the plywood.

When I tape and stake, I mean set the cakes on the grass/dirt, stake them end to end, then tape them all to one another around the stakes. They don't budge after that. It just take me twice as long to set up the show.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

5) After checking module continuity, always check again with your 18R2 to see issues with the script - With the script? What does it tell you about the script? This was the first year I actually checked continuity using the 18R2, and I found individual cue issues and a firing mod on the wrong channel. I'm not sure what you mean by finding errors with the script. Please elaborate.

13) You can never say thank you enough to people that help. - Absolutely spot on!!

14) 15 18m's, 7 36m's, and a 72m might finally be enough modules - Blasphemer!!! You and I both know that's not true. lol...


When do we get to see the show video?? :cool:

[Rick_In_Tampa]

I learned that I need to take a break from my backyard show for a year or so.

Lol.... Amen to that!! I'm so sore I can hardly walk or lift my arms still.

[SvnTwoo]

1. Buy wholesale early
2. Buy extra ignitors (twice as many as you need)
3. Always need more mortars (have 300 tubes/racks, need 500 or so)
4. 16'x8' trailer setup makes it easier, however you still always have extra pallets.
5. Layout/plan early
6. Prep for rain... We got dumped on this year. Wrap in plastic wrap from here out.
7. Reynolds wrap foil is tears less than the cheap foil from the Dollar Store.
8. Foil all mortars, fuse included.
9. Double, Triple Check you ignitors....
10. Don't try to shoot in the rain unless you are 100% prepared.
11. Losing 70 cakes due to rain sucks.
12. Shooting 280 mortars still provides a decent show the next day after rain.
13. Even though the City Ordinance said no fireworks after July 4th, the Police did not enforce it until after 11pm on the 5th.
14. Cobra 18r2 and two 18m's are not enough but you can plan a heck of a show.
15. Take batteries out of your firing system/modules.
16. My GoPro Hero4 needs replaced, stopped recording before the show started.
16.. Prep for next year.

[joewad]

I didn't glue any boards this year., primarially 1.3 and rebar. But when I glued 1.4 product I use to cut my boards to a 12"x 24"board which will hold 2 -500 gram cakes perfectly. A standard sheet of plywood can be cut twice free by Lowes making it easier, then I halve each board to a final dimension of 12" x 24". Buying a case of 4 = 2 boards, I would then shoot from 2 separate firing positions. When you don't have the machinery and you're a 1 man show you gotta save your back and "hernia areas". I'd place the smaller stuff in the middle for mass detonation (200 grammers that are 12 or so to a case. You can then stack your cake boards up for storage, I'd never exceed 4 though.

[jLk_pyro]

11. Losing 70 cakes due to rain sucks.


Yikes! What a bummer. I got lucky this year with the rain. Although I was glued to the radar all day watching storm after storm miss us by just a few miles. Sucks to hear about the lost cakes. Here's to hoping for better weather for you next year!

[esgrillo]

When do we get to see the show video?? :cool:

Rick, technically I meant check for problems "using the script" loaded in the 18R2. We are on the same page... With control panel I caught a lot of boo boos. I should have done that earlier... caught an error I did not have time to fix... kicking myself in the ass for that since I told myself the same exact thing last year.

I said "MIGHT" be enough on the mods lol. I do borrow 3 from my friend Reed... if thats not possible... well you know what happens. I am becoming a huge fan of slats... such a time saver and I feel liable for making the set up as easy as possible for the people that volunteer to help. I was able to get done in 4.5 hrs this year and that includes moving product from my house to the field. Also a lot of that was due to having another Cobra guy on my crew. Huge difference. I do set up the platforms the night before admittedly.

The video is done, processing now. Show was good. Takes a while to put together since I combining footage from 6 different cameras (2 were audience cell phones that had a good view). Syncing the tracks is pretty tedious.

My DMX integration worked perfect so was pretty happy with that considering the cost, time, and learning curve factor with that. Did have some problems with some DMX devices that I need to sort out but overall the lights/lasers/flames were a hit with the crowd. Even though they are tough to film with a camera set up designed to view fireworks with a 300ft x 300ft spread, I am including that in the video. It is kind of funny listening to people cheer to a light lol.

Really really happy how Bohemian Rhapsody came out. Had over 140 cues in that song... comet and flame pot runs really timed great. Crowd was singing and jumping around to it. 1/3 (one platform) of my bump bears in the finale did not fire... think it was my only failed match during the show. Other than that just a couple minor things only myself or another pyro would notice.

[esgrillo]

When do we get to see the show video?? :cool:

Check this pic out from the show... next door neighbors house... good camera and good camera operator

http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=4264&stc=1

[zalytn]

I use liquid nails for gluing my cakes to plywood and it has worked perfect for me.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Rick, technically I meant check for problems "using the script" loaded in the 18R2. We are on the same page... With control panel I caught a lot of boo boos. I should have done that earlier... caught an error I did not have time to fix... kicking myself in the ass for that since I told myself the same exact thing last year.

I said "MIGHT" be enough on the mods lol. I do borrow 3 from my friend Reed... if thats not possible... well you know what happens. I am becoming a huge fan of slats... such a time saver and I feel liable for making the set up as easy as possible for the people that volunteer to help. I was able to get done in 4.5 hrs this year and that includes moving product from my house to the field. Also a lot of that was due to having another Cobra guy on my crew. Huge difference. I do set up the platforms the night before admittedly.

The video is done, processing now. Show was good. Takes a while to put together since I combining footage from 6 different cameras (2 were audience cell phones that had a good view). Syncing the tracks is pretty tedious.

My DMX integration worked perfect so was pretty happy with that considering the cost, time, and learning curve factor with that. Did have some problems with some DMX devices that I need to sort out but overall the lights/lasers/flames were a hit with the crowd. Even though they are tough to film with a camera set up designed to view fireworks with a 300ft x 300ft spread, I am including that in the video. It is kind of funny listening to people cheer to a light lol.

Really really happy how Bohemian Rhapsody came out. Had over 140 cues in that song... comet and flame pot runs really timed great. Crowd was singing and jumping around to it. 1/3 (one platform) of my bump bears in the finale did not fire... think it was my only failed match during the show. Other than that just a couple minor things only myself or another pyro would notice.

I need to get this control panel already. I hear great things about it. I tried once to download the free version, and I couldn't figure out how to do it. Probably would have helped catch the many little errors I had earlier too. With the size of your show, I can see how it's indispensable.

lol... See! I knew you didn't believe what you were typing! lol... Never say never. I said the same thing and I'm looking at buying 3 more this November. Now we have "quick plugs" to make our lives "easier." Are you going to convert your mods? What do you think about those? I'm probably going to wait until they come up with a way to wire them in series.

Can't wait to see the video! Sounds like it was a show for the ages!!

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Check this pic out from the show... next door neighbors house... good camera and good camera operator

4264

That is an awesome picture!! Should be your new wallpaper.

[bigred00]

1. If you?re recording it, do a test run with your highest flying effect to be sure the camera can see it break. 48 62mm Dominator shells disappeared off screen! Lesson learned

[esgrillo]

I need to get this control panel already. I hear great things about it. I tried once to download the free version, and I couldn't figure out how to do it. Probably would have helped catch the many little errors I had earlier too. With the size of your show, I can see how it's indispensable.

lol... See! I knew you didn't believe what you were typing! lol... Never say never. I said the same thing and I'm looking at buying 3 more this November. Now we have "quick plugs" to make our lives "easier." Are you going to convert your mods? What do you think about those? I'm probably going to wait until they come up with a way to wire them in series.

Can't wait to see the video! Sounds like it was a show for the ages!!

I dont anticipate converting.

1) Every year I have cues with more than one wire plugged in
2) I trim a lot of leads for comet racks so wires are dressed properly
3) limits the source for matches

Can you even terminate a match that does not have a plug?

[Pyro Paul]

1) ematch everything
2) do as much garage prep before you do your field set up
3) You are blessed by dear lord baby Christmas Jesus if you can have one of your crew also be a Cobra expert. What a HUGE difference, hours saved set up day
4) Organize your help to be available when you need them the most. For me getting product from my garage to the shoot site.
5) After checking module continuity, always check again with your 18r2 to see issues with the script
6) Keep your friends that drink too much away on set up day... save them for clean up if they want to help
7) For me, I do not glue cakes to boards. I have a shoot site that consists of 21 4x8 sheets so that is impossible for me. I tape, daisy chain fuse as necessary, match, and clearly label everything in advance.
8) Have multiple copies available of your site layout (include mod, slice racks, & comet rack locations), module report, and script
9) You never can be too safe. Double check every safety device you have... multiple hoses & gas powered fire pump in my case.
10) Program some alternate cakes
11) Slats installed on comet racks are huge time savers and prevent a lot of field wiring errors
12) You can never have too many people to help clean up
13) You can never say thank you enough to people that help.
14) 15 18m's, 7 36m's, and a 72m might finally be enough modules

I found no. 11 to be very true. I shunted each slat mounted to comet racks, matched and landed all the single shots the weekend before my display.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Can you even terminate a match that does not have a plug?

I don't see how. Not unless you keep at least 1 bank of stereo connectors.

I'm in the same boat you are. Very rarely do I have just 1 thing on a cue. So unless they start selling "pig-tails" with plugs that you can use to splice initiators/e-match into, I just don't see how I could use the plug option.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

I found no. 11 to be very true. I shunted each slat mounted to comet racks, matched and landed all the single shots the weekend before my display.

Correct me if I'm wrong guys... If you plug everything into a slat, all of it is fired at the same time, yes? So I don't understand how you'd be able to wire a comet run to shoot 18 comets (for example) .5 seconds apart. They would all go up at the same time, right?

[Pyro Paul]

Correct me if I'm wrong guys... If you plug everything into a slat, all of it is fired at the same time, yes? So I don't understand how you'd be able to wire a comet run to shoot 18 comets (for example) .5 seconds apart. They would all go up at the same time, right?

I fire a lot of multiple comets and mines on angles in tandem and don't do runs yet so it works great for me. each cue on the slat mirrors the cue on the mod so you still have 18 individual cues. The slat would be like having another mod on the same channel.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Okay. That's what I thought. So I don't see them as an option for me just yet. Seems like a fan would accomplish the same thing.

[Zippster]

I learned a ton.

1. When it doesn't rain all day the setup goes a lot faster!
2. When you glue cakes to boards instead of staking and taping them the morning of, the setup time is cut in half!
3. Don't just check continuity at the firing modules, check each module through the 18R2! I found I had one mod on the wrong channel, and numerous cues didn't have continuity when checked with the 18R2.
4. Never let anyone touch your sound system, even if he claims to be an audio engineer!! My show started and the music volume was at zero! Had to run over and turn it up after the effects started firing. Not cool.
5. Have water on hand for all the cake fires!!
6. Don't trust the firing duration of any cake video! I had periods of black sky because cakes fired twice as fast as the online videos and printed labels indicated.

#6 always crops up at one point or another every year for me too.

[esgrillo]

Okay. That's what I thought. So I don't see them as an option for me just yet. Seems like a fan would accomplish the same thing.

Rick, slats are the "affordable" way to avoid buying more mods. Basically every spot you see a slat on my layout would be another mod if I didnt use slats.

4279

[RalphieJ]

And 2 30-minute railroad fusee's as back-up.

[PyroGyro]

I learned a ton.

6. Don't trust the firing duration of any cake video! I had periods of black sky because cakes fired twice as fast as the online videos and printed labels indicated.

I have discovered that the same firework is not always the same year after year. For example, this year I discovered that a cake I really liked that used to have tails, did not have tails this year, which really sucked because that made the cake really unique. I also discovered that a cake that used to have a double break finale at the end, no longer had that this year, and because of that this year's cake was off by a couple of seconds. You can attempt to mitigate this problem by trying to find a recent demo posting of the firework on youtube and don't necessarily trust the video that is on dealer's website. Sometimes when you click the link on the store's website you'll see that the video was uploaded to Youtube 6 years ago! Also, if you haven't figured this one out already, sometimes the video of the firework on the dealer's website makes the firework look like it sux or isn't loud, but if you look for other videos of the same firework on youtube, sometimes that firework looks and sounds amazing.

[esgrillo]

I learned that Dominator sometimes puts an orange comet in the case of green ones lol

4280

[Jay_]

I learned that Dominator sometimes puts an orange comet in the case of green ones lol

4280

Lol! Feel your pain brother. Had a pfx5204 marked as a pfx5202. They were both white comets, but one fired 5 at a time and the other one swept across the cake.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Rick, slats are the "affordable" way to avoid buying more mods. Basically every spot you see a slat on my layout would be another mod if I didnt use slats.

4279

Wow... Yeah, I see your point. On the mods where you have 4 slats hooked up... How many initiators do you shoot per cue on each slat? My guess is just 1 since that would be equivalent to having 5 on the mod itself, yes?

[Rick_In_Tampa]

I learned that Dominator sometimes puts an orange comet in the case of green ones lol

4280

Lol... That's funny. Guess they weren't paying attention that day!

[bani]

1. absolutely do a e2e full test of your script. use dummy initiators and make sure everything is in order.
2. there's no substitute for trucking everything out. big truck, uhaul, etc.
3. 1/2" plywood and liquid nails fuze-it is all you need for cakes.
4. pre wired mortar racks and cake boards the day before saves a lot of time.
5. have multiple fire extinguishers available near the fireworks.
6. F-16 and Hot Take like to catch fire and burn.

[Robbro097]

1. absolutely do a e2e full test of your script. use dummy initiators and make sure everything is in order.
2. there's no substitute for trucking everything out. big truck, uhaul, etc.
3. 1/2" plywood and liquid nails fuze-it is all you need for cakes.
4. pre wired mortar racks and cake boards the day before saves a lot of time.
5. have multiple fire extinguishers available near the fireworks.
6. F-16 and Hot Take like to catch fire and burn.

I always like fill up a bunch of water jugs and leave a handful at each group of cakes (fire extinguisher get expensive and dont work as well for putting out cakes) then my buddy and i both large extinguisher at our table incase something else catchs on fire. But this year was so wet not a single cake caught fire in fact it was even hard the next day to find a cake to get started burning with the map gas torch to burn all the trash left behind

[morrison2951]

Still not sure about this- when shooting identical cakes do you place them closer together for sky puke or spread them apart for better sky coverage?

[AxeElf]

Still not sure about this- when shooting identical cakes do you place them closer together for sky puke or spread them apart for better sky coverage?

I don't think there's a definitive answer. I think fan and zipper cakes look better if there's some separation between them when they're shot simultaneously. Cakes that include a variety of effects can work pretty well close to each other, especially with a few seconds delay between the two so that the various effects overlap each other and essentially last longer. Some people may prefer the exact opposite. We are artists painting the sky; there's no right or wrong way to create a work of art. Try a few things, and when the magic happens, you'll know it.

[esgrillo]

Still not sure about this- when shooting identical cakes do you place them closer together for sky puke or spread them apart for better sky coverage?

Depends on your site and show IMO. I personally like to have symmetry when shooting the same cakes and with 3 platforms I will put them on the outside 2 and something else that compliments in the middle. Sky puke is great sometimes but I dont think for the majority of your show it's a good idea.a

[esgrillo]

here is another lesson learned....

If you shoot a lot of comets and mines from a 36m mod that you have paired with a rack, you may want to consider matching them with at least a 40 shot rack. I shoot 2 comets/mines in a "V" sometimes in a single rack on a single cue and when you do that on a rack that has 35 or 36 shots, you will run out of physical space on that rack before you run out of cues. Becomes a bit of a PIA and time waster during set up.

[Deanbc]

here is another lesson learned....

If you shoot a lot of comets and mines from a 36m mod that you have paired with a rack, you may want to consider matching them with at least a 40 shot rack. I shoot 2 comets/mines in a "V" sometimes in a single rack on a single cue and when you do that on a rack that has 35 or 36 shots, you will run out of physical space on that rack before you run out of cues. Becomes a bit of a PIA and time waster during set up.

What do you think about placing two of the racks side by side with a slat or mod mounted between them. One fires right and one left from the same cue, just wired together. To shoot the “V” you would still have to wire both comets. Then you either can use smaller racks or shoot MORE Comets! Just thinking out loud, thinking about next year already.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

I only shoot maybe 2 or 3 cases of comets in a show, and I tend to spread them out around the shoot site. So I don't have formal racks. I just use duct-tape to tape the comets together and then use dowel rods slid between the comets and the tape and sunk into the ground. Simple and effective. I can angle them any which way I want too. After the show the only thing I keep are the wood dowel rods.