I acquired these for free, didn't build them sorry so no writeup :(
They're basically acrylic tubes custom made with 2 air ports low and high pressure for small and big bubbles, a regulator for low pressure across all 4 and solenoids for high pressure (still regulated but to a sensible...
The bubbles were very very popular for the 2025 Christmas season. My lawns and roof always also seem to get a lot of attention, I don't have any real eye catching pixel props that aren't common in many other displays (Megatree etc)
High density seeds = hard to repair, perhaps consider alternate node 50mm spacing strings if you want 25mm "spacing" between them.
Strip doesn't like being held under tension, tends to fail from being blown around
Bullet nodes, more expensive?
Moving more towards seeds here, light weight...
They are usable, I prefer them over RGB as they use less power if you're wanting to use white in your display, as they've got a dedicated white led rather than standard RGB mixing to make white.
I mean it's fine for 5-24v but anything more I would be using something more robust, I would not for example be doing that for anything 230v mains powered. I am an electrician so can confidently say, don't just leave live ends hanging out!
If I don't plan to connect anything to the end of a prop, i'll crop the wires and put on a bit of glued heat-shrink tubing, heat that up and squeeze the end to seal it together, I repeat this for each wire.
20 drones.. I'd estimate around $500 per drone perhaps, then the software to control them (unknown cost, probably a few hundred $$) expertise to program them (external source $$$) learning yourself - free but probably a very steep learning curve. Licensing to use aircraft probably in the dark in...
You are likely to be better off hiring a crane to hold a matrix, drones require batteries to stay in the air for a very short amount of time, even less with a load suspended from them, those batteries require charging which will take away time from being able to run your lights, unless you have...
Beginning to think I'll need a cherry picker at some point.
Rj45 crimpers and crimps are something I'll always have on hand.
Multimeter for sure
Thermal camera to see if there are any obvious issues before they become bigger.
Various ladder sizes and straps to tie them against something if I...
Depending on how big the load is, could you use one of those portable power stations, they often have a "UPS" mode, double use as a portable power solution for camping, travelling etc outside of the Christmas season, and will run for longer than a standard computer UPS will.