My First Attempt at Anything.... Mediocre Tree :/

Hi guys and gals,

just after a bit of advice here. ive picked up a fair bit in the last month or so, and my order from ray will be here in the next day or 2.

ive got in my possession and about to be possession the following:
21x strings of 50 led pixel 12v
1x p12s
1x hanson electronics dmx controller thingo
2x 350w power supplies

plus some 3led dumb rgb modules

so the first stuff is purely for the contruction of my mediocre tree, which is my first attempt/play time with any leds and remote control stuff.

here is the advice i am after

diametre of tree base and also top, and how big of a star should i construct

i was thinking of using 20 strings for the tree, which at 2.5m in slant height, would give me 1 up and 1 down per string of lights, which would give me 40 ups and downs in total for the tree.

i was thinking about 1m diametre, but is that too small considering the slant height of about 2.5m?

star i was thinking about .5m in height....

with the base of the tree about .5m off the ground



am i heading in the right direction or am i way off with my measurements im thinking about using?

cheers, would love to thank everyone for their input/advice/help so far and into the future.

I think you're worrying too much.

I can't give you any real advice on pixels or RGB or stuff, but maybe a bit of persective.

mangoat said:

Hi guys and gals,

just after a bit of advice here. ive picked up a fair bit in the last month or so, and my order from ray will be here in the next day or 2.

ive got in my possession and about to be possession the following:
21x strings of 50 led pixel 12v
1x p12s
1x hanson electronics dmx controller thingo
2x 350w power supplies

plus some 3led dumb rgb modules

Click to expand...

For comparison - my half-tree is built out of eight strings of BigW LEDs(simply bundled up and down until all used up) - so eight strings in a half circle. LOR DC controller.

so the first stuff is purely for the contruction of my mediocre tree, which is my first attempt/play time with any leds and remote control stuff.

here is the advice i am after

diametre of tree base and also top, and how big of a star should i construct

i was thinking of using 20 strings for the tree, which at 2.5m in slant height, would give me 1 up and 1 down per string of lights, which would give me 40 ups and downs in total for the tree.

i was thinking about 1m diametre, but is that too small considering the slant height of about 2.5m?

Click to expand...

The hooks at the top of my tree post are about 2.4 metres high, the trands are pegged to the ground about 80cm from the base(can't remember how long the strands are).

This tree gives me reasonable density of light and the ability to make simple effects like the tree is swinging from side to side and "spinning".

You have a hell of a lot more lights than that and greater density so it sounds like you'd nearly be able to display video on your "tree matrix".

star i was thinking about .5m in height....

Click to expand...

They is about the size of the star I have on my tree - one side(.5m) is only the length of my forearm. Given the amount of light you have on the tree, perhaps you should go bigger?

with the base of the tree about .5m off the ground

Click to expand...

Mine is pegged to the ground, but for where my audience is, that is OK. Height off the ground isn't too critical - I don't think there would be much visual difference between a 2.5m tree .5m off the ground or 1m off the ground, other than that higher tree being more visually imposing.

If you have a fence or anything between the tree and your audience you could go higher so they can see it better.

am i heading in the right direction or am i way off with my measurements im thinking about using?

cheers, would love to thank everyone for their input/advice/help so far and into the future.

Click to expand...

Have you drawn it up at all? Try doing bit of a scale drawing on a photo of your house, do a few different sizes and then ask the experts(kids) what looks best.

I'm guessing you may have enough lights to do two trees in the size you're looking at, but a pixel expert could maybe say more on the density of lights....

I don't think this tree will be "mediocre".....

Cheers!

As far as the size of the base goes depends if you like fat or thin. Most trees seem to have a ratio base diameter is half the height, angle of 60 degrees. So a 2.5m tree works out about 1250 base diameter, but 1m will be absolutely fine.

David_AVD added a spiral tree calculator to his site the other day. It is primarily used for doing the calculations for spiral trees but it can be used for normal trees.

http://www.da-share.com/calculators/spiral-tree/

ok, well, ive got the steely guy bending me up a 1500mm diameter base ring and a 200mm diameter top ring for my tree.

then ill just have to weld in a inside ring and supports for them to slide over my pole imma put in the ground.

now, my main question in this post is: what to use to go from top to bottom to be able to cable tie my strings to?

i was looking at 19x7 2 to 3mm stainless wire...... was thinking about going through holes in the bottom ring or d shackles or something like that.

anyone else got any other ideas? want something about 2 to 3mm.

cheers for any ideas guys.

goat

You will find lots of things will do the job. Just depends on what sort of job you want done. If you just want the lights to span the distance the cable will work, but the lights will be random orientation and point in different directions. If you want your lights to be dead straight and all pointing the same way the this is a little harder. Check out ruprects write up on his mega tree. The strapping he used works great but can be time consuming to manufacture.

the bottom ring is constucted......

I use plastic coated wire mesh from Bunnings and cable ties. You can strain it tight, it's repairable, relatively light weight, and low wind resistance. It's not vandal proof. I use heavy gauge guide wires of the same to tension and support the mesh. Encapsulated pixels are heavy and you have lots of them. Add a factor for the wind and interference if kids can reach your tree.

Is 20x50 now a 'mediocre' tree?

huh? what?
where do i find this said mesh stuff at bunnings?

how many tensioning wires do you use?

whats this about 20x50?

cheers

OK so you bought 21v50 ot 20x50. Size matter!

I'm saying that you need a light strong structure. You can use plastic covered steel garden mesh from Bunnings or other hardware. I add as many guide wires as necessary. Steel for tensile strength and plastic coated because we don't want shorts. It's a simple and cheap option.

yeah, my tree will be 20x50pixel strings, folded in half to give me 40 strands top to bottom in total

http://www.bunnings.com.au/clothesline-wire-core-30m-forest-wire-core-23516_p3351204

was thinking of something like that, maybe, and run 1 for every string, top to bottom, bypassing the need for a mesh of any sort.

my pole total length i got was 4.2m, 3.45m of it will be above ground level, you think 750mm sunk into a hole in the ground and concreted in is enough?

Mines only 500 into the ground and never budged.

Mine is about 500 with 2 bags of rapid set holding the gal post in the ground for my pole to slide in. It's holding put very nicely. I wouldn't go any less than 400 though.