Extreme Backyard Fireworks 2021

[displayfireworks1]

This is my video from my recent visit to the Chicago area . This makes the third year for me helping with this display. Patrick was someone that watched my YouTube video, obtained an ATF license , a Cobra system and a fireworks magazine.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofXAbokW6cQ

[Engineer Cat]

Excellent video!

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Now that was an awesome show. Thanks for sharing the video.

If you know.... What's the price tag on a show like that? Ballpark...

[displayfireworks1]

This makes the third year for me being part of this display. I believe in the first years videos I showed a purchase receipt. I can't remember the price. He voluntarily showed me that first year. Past that point I never ask. I usually don't ask other pyro people many questions about funding or their personal finance's.
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Here is the 2019 Display

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD4S0yHpc18
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[BMoore]

I’m going to guess $5,000 - $8,000 in product but the real investment is in all the racks and cobra modules. Unless he has a lot of 1.3 friends loaning equipment there is a sizable equipment investment to pull that off especially for a once a year type thing. Very good video. That sure was a lot of salutes. Now I know why Lynch was out of Thunderkings when I ordered. LOL

[357pyro]

Dave - Most of those big 1/1 cakes from Lynch came packaged 2/1 with a plastic connector to bridge the first and second half together. I didn't trust it so I cut them off and put the black match together. Worked fine for me. Do you know if you were just using that plastic jumper connection on those?

[ssmith512]

That sure was a lot of salutes. Now I know why Lynch was out of Thunderkings when I ordered. LOL

I know,...right! LOL!!

[mikepete777]

Nice video as always, saw it yesterday

[displayfireworks1]

Dave - Most of those big 1/1 cakes from Lynch came packaged 2/1 with a plastic connector to bridge the first and second half together. I didn't trust it so I cut them off and put the black match together. Worked fine for me. Do you know if you were just using that plastic jumper connection on those?

I have video of my discovery of those connections on my displayfireworks1 Facebook. I was experimenting with some live video on my displayfireworks1 page. I'll post the video link. Everyone should be able to view it even if not part of Facebook. Part of me working that private Chicago display is to provide some expertise to the crew and the ATF license holder. When I reviewed some of what they set up I noticed two cakes in one box. The crew missed it. There were multiple cakes like this. Once I discovered this the crew went around and connected the ones that needed done. Looking at it now , I suspect they missed this cake connection. I will tell you why. This was the first time I saw these connectors , however I believed I figured them out pretty quickly. If someone has another experience with them I would be interested to hear it. One connection is green and the other is red. The part I liked is , once you plug those two together, it triggers a plastic locking device. As soon as I plugged one together a piece of plastic broke off and hit me. LOL When that happened , I know it was some sort of locking mechanism. I tired to pull it apart and it would not come part. I wish I could have captured that event on video.
Because that connection would not pull apart once connected, this is why I suspect the crew I was working with either missed this two part cake and/or did not properly push those two connection together with enough force to cause the plastic locking clip to break free.
This is the type of connection I want to see on either end of a finale chain of display shells. Of course we need to see how it performs in the field. In my video from this Chicago shoot I have to suspect this error was human error setting the display up as opposed to failure on that green/red connector. In this particular situation
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Displayfireworks1 Facebook Link
https://www.facebook.com/displayfireworks1/videos/845803726343140

[357pyro]

I have video of my discovery of those connections on my displayfireworks1 Facebook. I was experimenting with some live video on my displayfireworks1 page. I'll post the video link. Everyone should be able to view it even if not part of Facebook. Part of me working that private Chicago display is to provide some expertise to the crew and the ATF license holder. When I reviewed some of what they set up I noticed two cakes in one box. The crew missed it. There were multiple cakes like this. Once I discovered this the crew went around and connected the ones that needed done. Looking at it now , I suspect they missed this cake connection. I will tell you why. This was the first time I saw these connectors , however I believed I figured them out pretty quickly. If someone has another experience with them I would be interested to hear it. One connection is green and the other is red. The part I liked is , once you plug those two together, it triggers a plastic locking device. As soon as I plugged one together a piece of plastic broke off and hit me. LOL When that happened , I know it was some sort of locking mechanism. I tired to pull it apart and it would not come part. I wish I could have captured that event on video.
Because that connection would not pull apart once connected, this is why I suspect the crew I was working with either missed this two part cake and/or did not properly push those two connection together with enough force to cause the plastic locking clip to break free.
This is the type of connection I want to see on either end of a finale chain of display shells. Of course we need to see how it performs in the field. In my video from this Chicago shoot I have to suspect this error was human error setting the display up as opposed to failure on that green/red connector. In this particular situation
.
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Displayfireworks1 Facebook Link
https://www.facebook.com/displayfireworks1/videos/845803726343140

It was my first experience with these as well. The one issue that I had with them is it seemed that the black match strands were not going to completely touch even when connecting the red and green. I was shooting a time scripted show and half a cake not going would really be an issue. That led me to make the call to eliminate the unknown completely and cut them off and connect black match together and tape. If the connection is reliable, you're right it would be a perfect way to connect finale chains! I'm just not 100% sold on reliability of it yet.

[BMoore]

I have video of my discovery of those connections on my displayfireworks1 Facebook. I was experimenting with some live video on my displayfireworks1 page. I'll post the video link. Everyone should be able to view it even if not part of Facebook. Part of me working that private Chicago display is to provide some expertise to the crew and the ATF license holder. When I reviewed some of what they set up I noticed two cakes in one box. The crew missed it. There were multiple cakes like this. Once I discovered this the crew went around and connected the ones that needed done. Looking at it now , I suspect they missed this cake connection. I will tell you why. This was the first time I saw these connectors , however I believed I figured them out pretty quickly. If someone has another experience with them I would be interested to hear it. One connection is green and the other is red. The part I liked is , once you plug those two together, it triggers a plastic locking device. As soon as I plugged one together a piece of plastic broke off and hit me. LOL When that happened , I know it was some sort of locking mechanism. I tired to pull it apart and it would not come part. I wish I could have captured that event on video.
Because that connection would not pull apart once connected, this is why I suspect the crew I was working with either missed this two part cake and/or did not properly push those two connection together with enough force to cause the plastic locking clip to break free.
This is the type of connection I want to see on either end of a finale chain of display shells. Of course we need to see how it performs in the field. In my video from this Chicago shoot I have to suspect this error was human error setting the display up as opposed to failure on that green/red connector. In this particular situation
.
.
Displayfireworks1 Facebook Link
https://www.facebook.com/displayfireworks1/videos/845803726343140

I had a couple of these two-piece cakes this year. Its definitely a new design because I had some of these cakes as recently as last year and they were single one piece cakes. I have mixed feelings about it. The design is definitely secure and it worked fine for me, but it does seem like it introduces a potential failure point. I also don't understand the reasoning. Is the modular cake design an improvement or is it because of some other factor such as cakes being built less robust? The connector itself seemed great, I'm just not sure if two-piece cakes is the best application for it.

Incidentally, I saw some weird stuff with 1.3 cakes this year. I saw cakes that had no ports (but had them in the past). Cakes with 1.4 style visco fuse straight into the tube with no quickmatch, no back-up fuses, black match main fuse and visco back up fuse. I also had two cakes that were fused backwards. Seemed pretty clear to me that the factories were taking shortcuts to get product out the door this year.

[357pyro]

I had a couple of these two-piece cakes this year. Its definitely a new design because I had some of these cakes as recently as last year and they were single one piece cakes. I have mixed feelings about it. The design is definitely secure and it worked fine for me, but it does seem like it introduces a potential failure point. I also don't understand the reasoning. Is the modular cake design an improvement or is it because of some other factor such as cakes being built less robust? The connector itself seemed great, I'm just not sure if two-piece cakes is the best application for it.

Incidentally, I saw some weird stuff with 1.3 cakes this year. I saw cakes that had no ports (but had them in the past). Cakes with 1.4 style visco fuse straight into the tube with no quickmatch, no back-up fuses, black match main fuse and visco back up fuse. I also had two cakes that were fused backwards. Seemed pretty clear to me that the factories were taking shortcuts to get product out the door this year.

Those are all valid points. I'm guess with these big cakes its just easier from a manufacturing standpoint to make them in 2 pieces and then put them together in the box. The overall goal being more efficient in the manufacturing process. I didn't have any other oddities pop up on my other cakes but it's interesting to hear that it might be a broader issue.

[displayfireworks1]

This is video from the other side of the lake from my Extreme Backyard Fireworks 2021 in the Chicago area. The part of this video I enjoy is hearing the audience and the parties that are held in the homes from that side of the lake. This is the third year for me being part of this display. The parties and invites from the other end of the lake are growing rather large in anticipation of the display each year. The streets in that housing plan were packed the night we shot this. The fun part of all of this is, the display is not for the people across the lake. It is a private display for the family that owns the land on the opposite side of the lake. LOLL
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjmI4jCCpeU
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http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=5898&stc=1
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http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=5899&stc=1
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On a side note , I'm still crazy busy, its nice for me to see the forums so active and everyone posting and commenting on their fireworks displays. I'm glad to see so many advanced fireworks enthusiast part of the pyrotalk forums. When I see some of these display videos. Now I see why some display companies are worried. Advanced fireworks enthusiast are looking more and more like display companies.