Christmas Lights Battery

[TubaPresident]

So TubaChristmas is coming up in less than 2 months and I want to put Christmas lights on my tuba. What kind of battery do I need to do this?

Thanks,
Kevin

[UDELBR]

These work pretty well: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Set-of-20-Bat ... e/23864278

[bort]

You'll need a CC battery for that.

[edsel585960]

You'll need a CC battery for that.

UGH!

[tokuno]

I use USB light strings (steady and flashing) plugged into a two-port 13000 mah USB battery backup pack/charger.
Works great - very bright, and lasts a long time, and the battery pack is handy year-round for its intended use. Was a bit expensive when I bought it a couple years ago, but the prices have come way down (and they're smaller now, too). I strap it to the horn with clear packing tape and don't even notice it.

So TubaChristmas is coming up in less than 2 months and I want to put Christmas lights on my tuba. What kind of battery do I need to do this?

Thanks,
Kevin

[bort]

Clever!

[TubaPresident]

I use USB light strings (steady and flashing) plugged into a two-port 13000 mah USB battery backup pack/charger.
Works great - very bright, and lasts a long time, and the battery pack is handy year-round for its intended use. Was a bit expensive when I bought it a couple years ago, but the prices have come way down (and they're smaller now, too). I strap it to the horn with clear packing tape and don't even notice it.

Do you have a name or link for those lights? I thought about looking for USB powered ones since I have a USB battery pack already.

[tokuno]

I use USB light strings (steady and flashing) plugged into a two-port 13000 mah USB battery backup pack/charger.
Works great - very bright, and lasts a long time, and the battery pack is handy year-round for its intended use. Was a bit expensive when I bought it a couple years ago, but the prices have come way down (and they're smaller now, too). I strap it to the horn with clear packing tape and don't even notice it.

Do you have a name or link for those lights? I thought about looking for USB powered ones since I have a USB battery pack already.

You sent me scurrying for my bag of light effects . . .
One of my strings is a 30-light set of 1/2" stars on very fine copper wire. It has held up well, because I treat it with great care to avoid kinking/breaking the wires. I cannot remember whence it came, but it looks a lot like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Operated-Individu ... ar+led+usb

I also use a set of red & green USB rice lights (super tiny, but bright LEDs). Googling around, it looks like they're also called "seed" lights, but I can't remember my source, and I'm not seeing this same string. Into these I've spliced a set of 15 or so color-cycling, battery-operated Christmas-tree lights (these are also tiny LEDs, but they're in Christmas tree configuration; capped with a 3/4" pine-cone shaped light diffuser). These are easy to find at drug or home-improvement stores. They come attached to a double-A battery pack with a switch to toggle different light modes (flashing, all-white, all-color). I over-drive them a bit by powering them from the 5V USB battery pack. They were cheap, so I didn't bother adding any resistance, figuring I'd start over if I blew them out. But I've used them this way for a couple years with no issues. Looks like Amazon has similar strings:
http://www.amazon.com/InnooTech-Multi-c ... mas+lights
I have several more packs of the battery-operated lights that I picked up really inexpensively at the after-Christmas blowouts, but I haven't added them, because my array is pretty bright as-is (the hallway is 3-1/2 feet wide, so this is about 10 feet of lights, which is plenty for my sousaphone bell). I haven't run the math, but I'm sure I could add more light strings if I wished, because I've left this setup running for hours longer than my caroling gigs, and the lights kept shining and blinking merrily along.

xmaslights.jpg

[TubaPresident]

Thanks!